ADEL (Sept. 21) -- The defense of Adel-DeSoto-Minburn was as good as advertised Friday night.

 ELK HORN (Sept. 20) -- The Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton volleyball team lost a pair of Rolling Valley Conference matches last week vs. CAM and at Coon Rapids-Bayard. The Cougars swept the Spartans 25-11, 25-9, 25-12 on Tuesday night (Sept. 18) in Elk Horn. Two nights later, Exira-EHK won a set but was defeated 3-1 at Coon Rapids-Bayard (25-20, 12-25, 18-25, 16-25), dropping to 1-4 in the RVC and 1-17 overall.

 COUNCIL BLUFFS (Sept.

 CRESTON (Sept.

 ADEL (Sept. 21) -- What a difference a year makes; or a month, for that matter. When glancing through Harlan Community’s 2018 football schedule in August, the Week 5 district opener at Adel-DeSoto-Minburn was not necessarily the attention grabber that it is today. The Tigers finished 1-8 last season, including a 55-7 loss in Harlan.

 WALL LAKE (Sept. 14) -- East Sac County scored two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions in the fourth quarter last Friday night to rally past IKM-Manning, 16-14, in the final non-district game for both teams. The Wolves and Raiders will both enter district play with a 2-2 overall record. IKM-Manning, which finished with just 163 total yards, led 14-0 at halftime but was unable to score the rest of the way.

 MARTENSDALE (Sept. 14) -- The AHSTW football team beat Martensdale-St. Marys 65-8 last Friday night despite running just 25 plays from scrimmage. Let that sink in for a moment. Eight of those 25 offensive snaps went for touchdowns to go along with a 90-yard kickoff return TD by Drake Partridge. The 3rd-ranked (Class A) Vikings (4-0) averaged 15 yards per play and outgained the Blue Devils 378-113 in total offense.

 EXIRA (Sept. 14) -- Senior quarterback Josh Pettepier completed 24-of-31 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns last Friday night as Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton stayed unbeaten with a commanding 51-20 win over Glidden-Ralston in a matchup of unbeaten football teams. The 2nd-ranked Spartans improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in 8-Player, District 8 and currently own a one-game advantage on six teams at 1-1.

 GLENWOOD (Sept. 15) -- Harlan Community won its final two matches of the day to win the bronze pool of last Saturday’s Red Oak Volleyball Tournament, which was moved to Glenwood because of renovations at the Red Oak school. HCHS finished with a 2-4 match record on the day (4-9 in sets), with all four losses coming against teams rated in the top 10 of their class. In the first round of pool play, the Cyclones lost to No.