(Harlan) Harlan sits in the driver’s seat for a district title, but needs to take care of business the next couple of weeks ahead of a big showdown with Lewis Central in Week 7.
The 4-0 Cyclones will travel to take on the Carroll Tigers Friday night. While Carroll is just 2-2 on the season they are an athletic group that is getting back to full strength. Coach Todd Bladt says, “They took a couple of big losses, but they are getting some people and they have some big boys on the offensive line with some guys on “D” that like to fly around. They give people fits with that. You’re going to see them develop and start to improve week-to-week. Their quarterback Kellin Jones is throwing to Tory Feldman and that connection is pretty lethal right now. They throw the deep ball about as well as anybody I’ve seen on film.”
Bladt notes his defensive backs have been solid this year. “We have Aidan Hall back there, Jordan Schechinger, Michael Erlmeier and a few others that are going to be covering people. When they try to stretch the field vertically we are going to have to run with them and we’ve got some guys with some speed.”
The Cyclone offense is preparing to see a lot of pressure put on the quarterback. “We have to be gap sound. We have to see the things coming so we can communicate them. They run a 3-5 and sometimes the slide into a 3-4 and they are going to bring people. We have to be prepared for it and see that second level coming trying to get after our quarterback.”
Coach Bladt has been proud of the character his team has shown in winning through a variety of different ways. They’ve pulled out tight contests, they’ve come from behind, and last Friday night was their most lopsided win with a 35-0 decision over Denison-Schleswig. Against the Monarchs they rolled to 418 yards of offense while allowing just 108.
