HARLAN -- On a warm, muggy morning to compete, AHSTW’s Dalton Fischer and Heidi Hall posted impressive top-three finishes Saturday while Harlan Community’s girls and boys teams both placed fourth in the annual Cyclone Cross Country Invite at the Harlan Golf and Country Club. Due to a rainout, HCHS was running in its first meet in 12 days but fared well overall as five individuals earned medals and 11 of 14 varsity runners finished in the top

 MANNING -- Stephen Grimm and Carter Irlmeier scored two touchdowns each and IKM-Manning’s defense held Missouri Valley to 137 yards while forcing four turnovers in an impressive 34-7 victory Friday night. The Wolves improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Class 1A, District 7, tied for first place with AHSTW (5-0, 3-0) going into this week’s area showdown in Avoca (Friday night, 7:00 p.m.). Takeaways aided the Wolves’ cause against Mo.

 AVOCA -- Junior fullback Gabe Pauley led the way with 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns last Friday night as 7th-ranked (Class 1A) AHSTW hammered Treynor 58-0 for its fourth straight shutout. The Vikings (5-0 overall, 3-0 in District 7) will now host IKM-Manning (4-1, 3-0) in an area showdown for the outright district lead this Friday at 7:00 p.m. AHSTW finished with 328 rushing yards and 526 total yards against Treynor (2-3, 1-2) and cont

 CLARINDA -- Senior Cole Madsen and junior Cole Burmeister combined to rush for 274 yards and five touchdowns Friday night as the Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton football team rolled up 579 total yards in a 70-38 win at Clarinda Academy. Junior quarterback Josh Pettepier also had a big night for the Spartans, completing 7-of-10 passes (one interception) for 157 yards and two touchdowns while scoring twice on the ground. Burmeister was the team’s top

 ELK HORN -- Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton won the first set but struggled the rest of the way Thursday night in a four-set home loss to Coon Rapids-Bayard. The Crusader volleyball team won the match 24-26, 25-22, 25-15, 25-19, handing Exira-EHK its first Rolling Valley Conference defeat of the year. Sydnee Young led Exira-EHK with 12 kills and three ace serves in defeat.

 HARLAN (Sept. 19) -- For the first two sets on Tuesday night, Harlan Community battled the Lewis Central volleyball team to an even draw. Long, competitive rallies were common. One-sided scoring runs were scarce.

 HARLAN -- Oh, what a difference a year makes. With four football games in the books last season, Harlan Community stood at 1-3 overall (0-2 in District 7) and had already allowed 183 points, including 70 in one night at Creston. Fast forward to 2017 and the Cyclones are 3-1 overall (2-0 in District 7) and have allowed just 59 total points going into Friday night’s Week 5 Homecoming game vs.

 RED OAK (Sept. 16) -- The Harlan Community volleyball team lost two out of three games and did not make it past pool play last Saturday at the Red Oak Tournament. The Cyclone defeats came against a pair of state-rated Class 2-A opponents. Fifth-ranked Sidney beat HCHS 21-16, 21-16 and No. 15 Tri-Center edged the Cyclones 21-19, 18-21, 15-10.

 HARLAN -- Fourteen schools are scheduled to compete at the Harlan Golf and Country Club Saturday morning (Sept. 23) as part of this year’s Harlan Community Cyclone Boys and Girls Cross Country Invitational. The meet will get underway at 9:30 a.m. with the boys and girls middle school races.

 GLENWOOD -- Perhaps it was only fitting that Curt Bladt’s 400th career coaching win came in a low-scoring, old-fashioned slobberknocker of a game with a share of the district lead up for grabs. Harlan Community and Glenwood butted heads for 48 physical minutes here Friday night, and when it was all said and done these new-school Cyclones made an old-school football coach proud, outlasting the 10th-ranked (Class 3A) Rams 17-14. HCHS improved t

 Nearly midway through his 40th season as Harlan Community’s head football coach, Curt Bladt joined exclusive company Friday night by picking up his 400th career win as the Cyclones defeated Glenwood 17-14. Only two other Iowa prep football coaches, according to the Iowa High School Athletic Association, have reached the 400-win mark. Dick Tighe, most recently the coach at Fort Dodge St.

 ATLANTIC -- The losing “streak” was only two games, but a 16-day gap between wins left the Harlan Community volleyball team feeling hungry Thursday night. The Cyclones responded with a road victory they needed to have, sweeping Atlantic 25-21, 25-15, 25-17 to even their Hawkeye Ten Conference record at 2-2. They improved to 7-3 overall. “A win is a win...

 CARROLL -- Due to heavy rain and lightning, Saturday morning’s Kuemper Catholic Cross Country Invite was cancelled and has not been rescheduled. Area teams planning to attend the meet were Harlan Community, IKM-Manning and Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton.

 LOGAN -- One year after losing a heartbreaker vs.

 GUTHRIE CENTER -- Posting its third consecutive shutout on defense, AHSTW improved to 4-0 on the gridiron last Friday night with a 36-0 win at ACGC. Ranked seventh in Class 1A, the Vikings are tied for first place in District 7 with IKM-Manning - both teams standing 2-0 in district play. Senior quarterback R.J.