Harper rally falls just short

Harper College was nearly unstoppable in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon in its Graphic Edge Bowl game.

But time finally stopped the Hawks and quarterback Garrett Barnas from completing a furious rally as they fell 24-22 to Iowa Central before 6,000 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

"We had more than enough chances," said second-year Harper coach Dragan Teonic of his team's rally from a 24-3 deficit after three quarters. "We didn't play good enough to win but the kids played hard."

Barnas set bowl game and Harper (6-6) records for completions (37), attempts (66) and passing yards (378) in a game.

The freshman's TD passes of 9 yards to Sean Stochl on fourth-and-goal with 4:33 left and 14 yards to Brian Whitehead with 2:52 left got Harper within 2 points.

But Iowa Central (9-2), ranked ninth in NJCAA, ran out all but the final 21 seconds to hold off Harper.

"He started off a little slow but he is a performer," Teonic said of Barnas, who finished the season with 2,899 yards passing in only seven complete games. "That's a competitive son of a gun."

Harper was down from the opening kickoff when Amari Spievey, the game's defensive MVP, returned it 87 yards for a touchdown.

"I thought we came ready to play," Teonic said, "but that set us back a little bit."

And Harper was poised to answer but lost a fumble at the Iowa Central 3 on its first possession.

Iowa Central also got touchdown runs of 15 and 2 yards by offensive MVP Jake Peterson (35 carries, 116 yards). A 23-yard field goal by Ryan Fillingham was Harper's only scoring until Senica Jackson started the rally with a 3-yard touchdown run with 12:08 to play.

But Harper had an extra point blocked and a 2-point conversion try stopped after its first two touchdowns.

Eric Watts had 9 catches for 145 yards and John Baldwin had 6 catches for 104 yards. Teonic said Erik Fossen, Aaron Diggs and Troy Jones played well defensively.

"Unbelievable -- what a game," Teonic said of Harper's 13th straight non-losing season. "What a great experience for the kids."