EXIRA -- The 2017 Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton football team returns 13 letter winners on a current roster of 28 players, but is a young group overall with just four seniors compared to seven juniors, 10 sophomores and seven freshmen. The Spartans, who were defeated by third-ranked Audubon 55-14 in last week’s 8-Player, non-district opener, will look to continue a seven-year run of playoff appearances this fall as Tom Petersen’s squad also rebui

 SHENANDOAH -- Junior running backs Gabe Pauley and Korbin Martin both rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns last Friday night (August 25) as AHSTW opened the football season with a commanding 55-18 non-district win at Shenandoah. Pauley carried the ball 10 times for 163 yards and Martin added 115 yards on 11 attempts, including a 56-yard scoring run to open the second half. The Vikings led 28-14 at halftime before pulling away wit

 HARLAN -- Willie Baughman couldn’t have asked for a much better start to his first year as the Harlan Community High School head volleyball coach. Baughman’s squad stayed undefeated until their sixth and final match of Saturday’s season-opening Cyclone Tournament, finishing 5-1 overall and winning the gold pool championship via tiebreaker criteria over Treynor and Indianola. All three gold pool teams entered the final round with 4-0 records b

 HARLAN -- All things considered, it wasn’t a bad season opener for the Harlan Community football team. Less than 10 hours prior to kickoff Friday night, HCHS coaches learned that senior quarterback Deren Schmitz’s right pinky finger was broken and would require surgery, putting him out of action indefinitely. Six and a half minutes into the first quarter, the Cyclones had netted only six yards on three offensive series and trailed 14-0 agains

 WALL LAKE -- Stephen Grimm rushed for two touchdowns and Carter Irlmeier capped the scoring on a 21-yard TD run with 3:59 to play as IKM-Manning opened the football season with a 21-7 non-district win at East Sac County Friday night. The game was tied 7-7 at the half before the Wolves put together two long scoring drives to pull away. The first was a seven-play, 85-yard possession in the third quarter, capped by a Grimm four-yard run.

 AUDUBON -- The Audubon Wheelers proved as good as advertised in Friday night’s 8-Player season opener vs.

 GLENWOOD -- Greichaly Kaster placed second and Abby Alberti came in eighth on Saturday, leading the Harlan Community girls to a second-place team finish in the season-opening Glenwood Ram Cross Country Meet at Glenwood Lake Park. The Cyclone girls scored a 75 with their top five varsity places, trailing only the host Rams (51) for first overall.

 HARLAN (August 25) -- The Harlan Community football team’s revamped defense will be tested right off the bat here Friday night - perhaps their biggest test of the season - when Max Duggan and the Lewis Central Titans come to Merrill Field for a Week 1 non-district game at 7:30. Duggan, still just a junior, has become one of the nation’s highest-rated quarterback recruits in the 2019 class.

 AREA -- Three area volleyball teams will open the 2017 season in two separate tournaments this Saturday (August 26) at Harlan and Avoca. Harlan Community will host the annual Cyclone Tournament, starting at 8:30 a.m., with IKM-Manning also in the field for the first time. In the first round of pool play, HCHS will face East Sac County and Logan-Magnolia. IKM-Manning will play Abraham Lincoln and Treynor.

 AVOCA -- No matter which position group you’re talking about - linemen, backs, offense, defense, receivers or the secondary - the AHSTW football team has experience and talent returning at every spot on the field. While graduation surely took away several terrific players from last year’s 8-2 playoff qualifier and Class 1-A, District 7 runner-up, the pieces are in place for another outstanding Viking season on the gridiron. Sixth-year AHSTW h

 MANNING -- The IKM-Manning football team missed the playoffs for just the second time in nine years last fall, but the Wolves were much closer to a postseason berth than their 5-4 overall record and 4-3 district mark would indicate. In a 14-8 home loss to Class 1-A, District 7 champion Logan-Magnolia, IKM-M’s final drive stalled at the 5-yard-line.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team is hoping that history is about to repeat itself. Two years ago, HCHS bounced back from its first losing season in 49 years to win a district title and finish 8-2 overall. Following another down year in 2016 - 4-5 overall, 3-4 in District 7, no playoffs - the Cyclones might very well be poised for another nice turnaround this fall. Returning 24 lettermen and 19 seniors among its 61-player varsity r

 HARLAN -- Despite their 4-5 record last season, the Harlan Community Cyclone football team had one of the most prolific offenses in all of Class 3-A. HCHS averaged 242 yards passing per game and 194 on the ground, scoring at least 32 points in seven of nine games and averaging just under 38. The good news is that many of the key cogs from that group are back in 2017. Senior quarterback Deren Schmitz passed for 1,875 yards and ran for 323 in h

 HARLAN -- The question really isn’t whether Harlan Community’s defense will be better in 2017. The real query is how much better? The answers might vary depending on who you ask, but second-year defensive coordinator John Murtaugh is optimistic that the overall improvement on ‘D’ will show up early and often. Just to review, last year’s Cyclone defense allowed 38.6 points and 449 yards per game, surrendering 70 points vs.

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community baseball team’s sustained success over the last two and a half decades or so has officially reached juggernaut status. The 2017 Cyclones raised the bar another notch this summer, setting a single-season school record for wins (36-3) in qualifying for a seventh consecutive state tournament and reaching the 3-A championship game for the third year in a row. HCHS was unable to defend last season’s third state title