(Harlan) Harlan will face a second straight top ten opponent when they travel to Creston this week.
The Cyclones passed their last test with flying colors. A 42-7 win against ADM put coach Todd Bladt’s team in sole possession of first place in Class 3A, District 6. “When we say we want to improve week to week you can’t sit there and look at what’s happened. The only play that you can control is the next one. It doesn’t matter what you done, it’s only going to matter what you’re going to do.” Coach Todd Bladt says, “After the season is over is the only time when you can really rest. I think our guys understand that. They’ve been through it and they know it’s a long haul. If you have any letdown or lack of focus, that’s when bad things will happen.”
Coach Bladt says the three big keys against Creston are the same as any game…take care of the football, limit penalties, and be assignment sound. “Those are the big things we’ll try to do this week and try to do better than we did last week. If you aren’t improving in football you are taking a step back. I do firmly believe that. We are going to try to get the guys playing fast and playing with confidence out there. We need to be in great position on defense and also be assignment technicians on offense. That’s going to be the goal for this week.”
Creston’s Brennan Hayes leads Class 3A in rushing yards with 1,177 yards. “They have a few different weapons that they use that are pretty effective. They’ve got a couple guys that average about eight yards per carry. They get out there and get physical. They have some big kahunas up front that can move people out of the way. All of a sudden there’s some running lanes in there and they have green pastures to run through. It’s going to be tough to stop some of their stuff. I think we have some guys up front that are going to give it a go.”
Last week the Harlan defense held ADM well under their previous average with 143 rushing yards allowed. Franz Reisz and Matthew Sorfonden each made multiple tackles for loss while Garrett Assmann and Bret Van Baale both had one TFL.
Teagan Kasperbauer continues to climb Iowa’s all-time leaderboard for passing statistics. With an 11/15 performance last week for 309 yards and five touchdowns he now has 7,407 career yards and 93 career touchdowns. He’s tied for 4th in state history for passing touchdowns and 11th in passing yards.
Harlan coach Todd Bladt:
