ATLANTIC -- Perhaps a little adversity was just what Harlan Community needed Friday night as it wrapped up the regular season with one final tune-up for the 2017 Iowa high school football playoffs. Locked in a scoreless halftime tie with Atlantic and held to just 82 first-half yards, the sixth-ranked (3A) Cyclones scored points on their first four drives of the second half and pitched their second shutout of the season to escape the Trojan Bo

TRI-CENTER -- IKM-Manning tuned up for the playoffs last Friday with a 40-14 win at Tri-Center, getting 121 rushing yards and four touchdowns from Stephen Grimm. Carter Irlmeier led the Wolves with 135 rushing yards and also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jared Johnson. The Wolves fell behind 7-0 late in the first quarter before scoring 40 unanswered points.

 MISSOURI VALLEY -- AHSTW’s undefeated run came to an end Friday night as Missouri Valley knocked off the Vikings 24-14 in the regular season finale for both teams. The Vikings (8-1) still won the District 7 (Class 1A) title with a mark of 6-1 and will host Western Christian in a first-round playoff game this Friday (7 p.m.). Missouri Valley finished its season at 6-3 overall and 4-3 in the district. AHSTW's only touchdowns vs. Mo.

 EXIRA -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton football team finished the 2017 season on a good note Friday night, outscoring East Mills 61-24 to secure a winning record.

 ATLANTIC (Oct.

 HARLAN (Oct.

 AUDUBON (Oct.

 AVOCA (Oct. 17) -- The AHSTW volleyball team finished the season at 14-14 overall Tuesday night following a five-set loss to Underwood in a Class 2-A regional contest. The Eagles alternated winning every other set, 25-11, 20-25, 26-24, 21-25, 15-12 to avenge a pair of regular-season losses to the Lady Vikes.

 TREYNOR (Oct.

 HARLAN (Oct.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Oct.

 CLARINDA (Oct. 12) -- Led by Greichaly Kaster’s sixth-place finish for the Harlan Community girls, five Cyclone harriers earned top 20 medals at Thursday’s Hawkeye Ten Conference Cross Country Meet in Clarinda. The HCHS girls moved up one spot from last year’s H-10 meet, placing fourth with a team score of 94.

 HARLAN -- Harlan Community football coach Curt Bladt was honored prior to Friday night’s home game vs. Denison and presented a plaque in recognition of his 400th career win on September 15 at Glenwood. The Cyclones defeated the Monarchs 56-14 at Merrill Field, improving Bladt’s record to 404-59 during the last 40 seasons at HCHS.

 HARLAN (October 13) -- The Harlan Community quarterback trio of Preston Mulligan, Brett Sears and Johnathan Monson have held down the fort through seven weeks of the high school football season, passing for a combined 566 yards and seven touchdowns as the 6th-ranked (3A) Cyclones have gone 6-1 overall and 5-0 in District 7. With the team now just one win removed from clinching a district title, it appears that senior Deren Schmitz is ready to

 HARLAN (October 10) -- Sometime during the third set Tuesday night, Harlan Community’s student section erupted in cheers and held up a sign congratulating senior libero Sidney Craig on career dig number 1,000. While appreciative of the gesture, as well as her peers’ constant enthusiasm in the stands, Craig was fairly certain she had already passed the four-digit milestone in set two with her fifth dig of the match. “They don’t know what a dig