Harper football meeting clears the air
A 55-24 loss would figure to put a football team in a surly mood.
Not so for Harper College as it looks to rebound from a 31-point loss at North Iowa Area Community College when it hosts Ellsworth (Iowa) at 1 p.m. Saturday in a Midwest Football Conference matchup.
"It's not very often after a loss like that where you're very excited," said Harper coach Dragan Teonic with a smile. "But I am excited."
Teonic said the Hawks (3-4, 2-3) had their best practice of the year Tuesday. A day earlier they had a team meeting to clear the air about concerns and issues.
"We had a soul-searching meeting … it was awesome," Teonic said. "I let the (players) have it (their forum) and it was excellent."
Harper will have three of its top players back this week from injury and illness: linebackers Aaron Diggs and Aaron Miller and quarterback Garrett Barnas.
Barnas was lost 15 minutes before last week's game with the flu. Freshman Matt Brandt stepped in and went 27-for-47 for 310 yards and a touchdown.
"Matt did a pretty darn good job," Teonic said.
Teonic has been pleased with the play of the Hawks' lines but said the wide receivers and running backs need to get better the next two weeks.
Ellsworth (4-2, 3-2) has a balanced offense with running backs Joe Morris (545 yards, 4 TDs) and C.J. Francis (512 yards, 3 TDs) and quarterback Jessie Bundrage (55-for-97, 773 yards, 8 TDs, 1 interception).
Teonic said Ellsworth also looks to blitz frequently. But he believes the Hawks are ready to build some momentum in the final two weeks of a regular season that ends at Rock Valley on Oct. 20.
"We'll win these next two games," Teonic said without hesitation. "And they (other teams) don't want us in the playoffs."
No net letdown: So much for a letdown by Harper women's volleyball with a big rematch at Rock Valley played Thursday.
The Hawks, who moved up two spots to No. 5 in the NJCAA Division III volleyball poll, improved to 22-18 overall and 6-0 in the N4C with a 30-25, 30-21, 30-17 win over the College of DuPage on Tuesday.
"We played as well as we could," said Harper coach Bob Vilsoet. "If you can play like that all the time I'll take whatever losses I can.
"The way we played (Tuesday night), it's either good enough to win a national championship or it's not. I had chills up my spine."
Christy Lima had a team-high 18 kills after being named the NJCAA Division III co-hitter of the week Oct. 3. Lisa LaMasse had 11 kills and 5 blocks and Aprille Richter had 8 kills and just 2 hitting errors.
Richter also had 13 kills and 6 aces, Nikki Maize had 38 assists and 12 digs and Katie Reed had 10 digs.
"This team has improved and it shows," Vilsoet said.
Rock Valley (21-7, 6-1) fell three spots to No. 8 as it tried to avenge a four-game loss to the Hawks two weeks ago.
If Harper wins, the Hawks clinch the N4C title for the third straight year. If they loses, they will need to win at Joliet on Tuesday to share the crown.
Harper will host its own invitational Saturday, with a field that includes Moraine Valley, McHenry, South Suburban, Black Hawk East and Carl Sandburg.
Net gains: After just 1 win in its first 7 matches, the Harper men's soccer team came to life with consecutive wins.
After a 3-0 win over the St. Ambrose JV, the Hawks rallied from a 2-goal halftime deficit to beat College of Lake County 3-2. Donato Pesce (Palatine), Bartosz Krupinski and Lukasz Borys (Elk Grove) scored the goals.
Back on the run: The Harper men's and women's cross country teams finished sixth and 14th, respectively, in last weekend's Benedictine Invitational in Lisle.
Tim Hoskinson finished 11th (28:22.6), and Matt Damhauser took 15th (28:53.3) in the men's 8K race. Tabitha Thomas was 29th (27:24.8), and Heather Cebulka took 30th (27:26.0) in the women's 10K race.
Harper competes in the Sauk Valley Invitational this weekend before a two-week layoff to prepare for the Region IV meet.