Football prepared for test
There has been one constant this season for Harper College football.
And it's a big reason the Hawks (6-1, 5-1) will feel good about their chances at 1 p.m. Saturday when they travel to Iowa to face Ellsworth (5-1, 5-0) in a nationally ranked showdown of Midwest Football Conference division leaders.
"The one thing I really love about this team is I love the way they prepare," said Harper coach Dragan Teonic. "It's absolutely incredible the way this team prepares."
The Hawks, ranked 11th in this week's NJCAA/JCFootball.com poll, will have to be prepared for a quarterback that defensive coordinator Geoff Durian said is close to the equivalent of record-setting Division I recruit Garrett Barnas.
Freshman Tirrell Rennie has thrown for 1,071 yards with 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and has rushed for 559 yards and 10 TDs for 13th-ranked Ellsworth. Tyrell Austin (514 yards, 3 TDs) is also a running threat and Quinton Robinson (40 catches, 535 yards, 4 TDs) is Rennie's top target.
The Hawks hope to use the same formula that has led to vast improvement defensively from a year ago.
"If we're able to play good up front," said Harper sophomore defensive tackle Nate McIntosh, "it allows us to start blitzing our linebackers and create havoc on them. Our coaches have prepared us very well."
Harper's offense will have to be ready for a pair of havoc-makers in defensive ends Joe Forgy (6-foot-5, 230 pounds, 9 sacks) and Aaron Strumski (6-3, 255, 11 tackles for loss, 4 sacks).
"One thing we're trying to do is come out and eliminate mistakes and turnovers," Barnas said. "It seems like all year we've been beating teams badly but the score hasn't shown it."
Rolling Rock Valley: There were plenty of reasons for Harper's women's volleyball team to be fired up Tuesday.
A chance to avenge a recent loss to Rock Valley in a nationally ranked showdown. A chance to rebound from a 1-3 finish in its own weekend tournament. And a chance to put on a show before a big home crowd.
Harper (29-11), which is ranked seventh in the NJCAA Division III poll, parlayed it all into a 28-26, 25-23, 25-20 win over third-ranked Rock Valley (33-4). They split last year's N4C meetings before Rock Valley won the regional final to advance to the national tourney.
"Everyone stepped up and played the way I know we can play," said Harper coach Bob Vilsoet.
Nikki Maize had 16 of her 31 assists and Anie Fitzpatrick had 7 of her 12 kills in a first game that had 18 ties. Katie Spychala had 5 of her 9 kills and Diane Janik and Kate Paulson had 7 digs apiece as Harper rallied from a 21-16 deficit in the second game.
The third game was all Harper as it took a 7-2 lead and never trailed with Torrie Raio and Maize each going 7-for-7 serving.
Harper starts a big three-day tournament today with some of the best teams in the country at Wisconsin Dells. Opponents will include Ridgewater (Minn.), last year's NJCAA Division III national champion, and runner-up Central Lakes (Minn.).
Rolling at right time: The Harper women's soccer team has turned it around at the perfect time at 2-1-1 in its last 4 matches to improve to 4-5-1 overall. The Hawks, with a roster of only first-year players, have outscored their opponents 18-5 in that span.
Leading the offense the last two games has been Rebecca Varilek (Rolling Meadows) with 4 goals, Movina Lazar (Maine East) with three and Kourtney Ciszek (Conant) and Heather Pawlish (Schaumburg) with two apiece.
The men's soccer team also posted its second straight shutout with a 9-0 win over Kankakee and improved to 3-7. Leading the way against Kankakee were Danny Weiss (Schaumburg) with a hat trick and Lukasz Borys (Elk Grove), Mike Schubert (Hersey) and Kyle Lurz (Barrington) with 2 goals apiece. Chris Hoffman and Kyle Boyer split the shutout in goal.
Heading toward the finish: The men's and women's cross country teams had solid tuneups for the NJCAA Division III regionals in last week's Sauk Valley Invitational.
Chris Hoffman (28:45) won the 5-mile men's race as Harper had five runners in the top 15 and won the title. Irene Villadares ran 20:48 to finish third in the women's race.
The regional is Oct. 25.
Smith takes charge: Former Elk Grove star and St. Charles North boys coach Mark Smith is the new head coach of the women's basketball program. Smith was an assistant at Harper to Rusty Becker.