Cyclones host Grinnell in Week 1 clash of 3A powers

 HARLAN (Aug. 28) -- No matter which set of preseason football rankings you follow, Friday’s Week 1 non-district clash between the Harlan Community Cyclones and Grinnell Tigers is expected to be a good one in Class 3A.
 HCHS is listed third in the first Radio Iowa Poll of the year and sixth by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Grinnell is ranked third by the Gazette and fifth by Radio Iowa.
 The two teams will kick things off tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Merrill Field. Both squads return a myriad of starters from 2019, when the Cyclones finished 7-3 overall and the Tigers went 6-3.
 “It’s going to be getting guys in the right spot on the first night and getting them to play hard,” said HCHS head coach Todd Bladt. “It’s going to be the first time that a lot of these guys compete in a lot of months, so there’s probably going to be some jitters - butterflies flying around - but it will be the team that can stay composed and play the game from start to finish that’s going to be on top.”
 One intriguing matchup to watch will be the Cyclones’ highly-touted defense against Grinnell’s potent offense.
 Led by junior linebacker Will McLaughlin (43 solo tackles, 64 assists last year), HCHS brings back starters at nearly every defensive spot.
 The Tigers’ spread offense features a 6-foot-1, 136-pound sophomore quarterback in Dallas Sauser, who passed for 1,748 yards as a freshman last fall, and his brother, 6-5, 280-pound senior right tackle Dodge Sauser, an Iowa State commit. Both are sons of Grinnell head coach Brian Sauser.
 “One must have been eating a little bit more at the dinner table than the other,” Bladt quipped.
 “(Dodge is) a big boy. He gets after it too. They have some good [defensive] linemen, they have some good talent in the secondary. They’ve got guys that can fly around and make plays back there. Their receiving corps is all back, their big running back is back and they have good offensive linemen. So they’re looking poised to make a run, and we just want to play real well and play to our game plan and see if we can’t foil some of their plans.”
 Grinnell senior running back Wyatt Hunter (6-foot, 210) led Class 3A with 1,589 rushing yards last year, scoring 23 touchdowns and averaging 7.5 yards a carry.

Series Scores
1998: HCHS 49, Grinnell 7 - Class 3A title game at UNI-Dome
2000: HCHS 56, Grinnell 55 (4 ot) - 3A semifinal at UNI-Dome
2001: HCHS 20, Grinnell 13 - 3A semifinal at UNI-Dome