Cyclones earn share of District 8 title

 HARLAN -- The Harlan Community football team is back at the top of the mountain in Class 3-A, District 8. One year after missing the playoffs for just the second time in 34 seasons, the sixth-ranked Cyclones are co-district champions and a number-one playoff seed after crushing Adel-DeSoto-Minburn 49-7 in Friday night’s regular-season finale at Merrill Field. HCHS also got a little help from Glenwood when the Rams topped Dallas Center-Grimes, 12-7, to force a three-way tie for first place in the district standings. The Cyclones (8-1 overall), Mustangs (7-2) and Rams (8-1) all finished 5-1 in district play and went 1-1 against each other, forcing the use of the point-differential tiebreaker to determine first, second and third place for playoff seeding. Harlan’s 13-plus margin of victory Friday lifted their point-differential average to 9.67, followed by DC-G (8.67) and Glenwood (7.33). HCHS left little doubt against the Tigers (3-6, 1-5), building a 49-0 halftime lead and letting its reserves play the entire second half with a running clock.