CRESTON -- The football schedule-makers wasted no time setting up early-season drama among the presumed playoff contenders from Class 3-A, District 7. With all due respect to the other four teams, most prognosticators would list Carroll, Glenwood, Creston/Orient-Macksburg and Harlan Community as this year’s “favorites” to compete for the district’s two guaranteed playoffs spots later this fall. The postseason hunt begins in earnest Friday nig

 AMES -- More than 45 bowlers participated in the Iowa Games “Bowl for the Gold” qualifying tournament held earlier this year at Cyclone Lanes.

 LAKE CITY -- The IKM-Manning volleyball team opened the season by placing fourth out of six teams at last Saturday’s South Central Calhoun Tournament. The Wolves finished 2-3 on the day, defeating Greene County and Glidden-Ralston in two sets each while losing competitive matches against South Hamilton (2-1), Audubon (2-0) and South Central Calhoun (2-1).

 COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Greichaly Kaster, Reagan Hansen and Drew Voge each secured individual medals Saturday morning as the Harlan Community girls placed seventh out of 10 teams and the boys finished eighth out of 11 at the Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln Cross Country Invitational. Due to new construction on the campus of Iowa Western Community College, the cross country course was modified from previous years and much flatter overall, resulting i

 LAKE CITY -- South Central Calhoun scored three long touchdowns in the opening four minutes, 16 seconds and never looked back Friday night, rolling past IKM-Manning 50-8 in the second and final non-district game for both squads. The Wolves dropped to 1-1 going into Friday’s Class 1-A, District 7 opener at OA-BCIG (Ida Grove), while South Central Calhoun bounced back nicely from a 56-20, Week 1 loss to Carroll.

 AVOCA -- Joel Becerra’s 93-yard touchdown catch from R.J.

IKM-MANNING (9-12) VOLLEYBALL TEAM Front row, L-R: Riley Barry, Mya Nelson, Miranda Benton, Mya Doyel, Kamryn Lesle. Second row, L-R: Chelsea Fishback, Hanna Mullen, Lily Doyel, Mya Irlmeier, Montana Rhodes, Miranda Lingle, Joanna Freese, Lexi Branning. Third row, L-R: Amanda Ranniger, Bailey Schechinger, Sydney Wegner, Caitlin Muhlbauer, Gabrielle Cadwell, Rylie Muhlbauer, Kia Rasmussen, Peyton Gross, Sadie Thompson, Abby Lingle, Emily Kerkho

 WEST DES MOINES -- The competition was as good as advertised at Saturday’s West Des Moines Valley Marj White Volleyball Classic. Facing five teams ranked among the top 12 in Class 5-A, Harlan Community finished 0-5 and was unable to take a set against 8th-ranked Dowling, No. 4 Valley, No. 12 Iowa City West, No. 7 Ankeny and No. 6 Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

 HARLAN -- Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor have the Harlan Community Cyclones fixed all that ailed them in a season-opening 32-point loss at Lewis Central. But there were certainly positive strides taken Friday night at Merrill Field as HCHS racked up 581 total yards - compared to 109 in Week 1 - and scored 28 of the last 34 points in a 42-19 non-district football win over Greene County. Cyclone junior quarterback Deren Schmitz started slowly

 Front row, L-R: Allen Fries, Kyle Nelson (Bywater), Alex Livingston, Ethan Lemon, Kobe Livengood, Andy Bruck, Malachi Purcell. Second row, L-R: Carter Bendorf, Damien Bissen, Cody Christensen, Matt Kloewer, Nathan Henry, Alex Schechinger. Third row, L-R: Mavrick Schmidt (manager), Austin Schumacher, Ethan Arkfeld, Thomas Frederick, Michael Gaul, Michael Heithoff, Joseph Devine. Back row, L-R: Coach Jeff Hastert, Jordan Fink, Connor Kohles, Jo

 HARLAN -- An old football adage states that the biggest improvement a team makes will occur between the first and second games of the year. Following a humbling 45-13 loss at Lewis Central in last Friday’s season opener, Harlan Community has certainly left itself plenty of wiggle room for Week 2. “If we line up correctly we’ll be ahead of where we were last week,” joked HCHS head coach Curt Bladt, only somewhat facetiously.

 AVOCA -- R.J. Harris capped AHSTW’s overtime possession with a two-yard touchdown run, then intercepted a pass on Shenandoah’s first O.T.

 AVOCA -- AHSTW placed second in Pool A and reached the championship bracket in last Saturday’s first annual Lady Vike Volleyball Classic, finishing with a match record of 2-2 that leaves them just one win shy of last year’s season total. Clarinda won the brand new tournament with wins over Denison-Schleswig and Sidney in the championship bracket.

 GUTHRIE CENTER -- Four area runners secured top-15 finishes at the ACGC Charger Cross Country Invitational on Thursday, August 25, at Guthrie Center. Emily Copic of Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton placed seventh in the girls varsity race with a time of 22:49 while AHSTW’s Jaycie Schueman (23:17) and McKenzie Mantell (24:34) came in 12th and 14th, respectively. In the boys race, Dalton Fischer of AHSTW placed eighth in 18:57.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Two big takeaways emerged from Friday night’s Week One football game between Harlan Community and Lewis Central. A) The Titans are a very good team and likely a force to be reckoned with in the Class 4-A playoffs later this fall. B) The Cyclones have a lot of work to do before facing the upper-tier teams in Class 3-A, District 7. LC dominated every facet of the game on Friday, holding HCHS to zero first-half yards in buildin