College of DuPage turns back Harper
College Of DuPage's Eze Obiora came up with the recovery of a fumble by Harper's Jackson Davenport's at the Hawk 14 with 11:23 left in the fourth quarter that provided a game-changing moment.
The second-seeded seeded Chaparrals (6-4) converted both that possession and then next one into points thanks to touchdown passes from quarterback Cole Lanham to eliminate the visiting third-seeded Hawks 28-7 in a Region IV playoff semifinal at Bob MacDougall Field in Glen Ellyn on Saturday.
The win enabled the home team to secure two more 2010 postseason tickets: 1) A Region IV championship game berth at top-seed Grand Rapids (9-1), a 24-10 winner over Joliet in the other Region IV playoff semifinal, next Saturday. And 2) a guaranteed berth in the Graphic Edge Bowl on Sunday, Nov. 21 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, against either Iowa Western, Ellsworth, or Iowa Central.
Harper (2-7) left knowing that it had missed the opportunity to pull off one of its biggest upsets in its 40-season history.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed 13-7 using a wildcat-style offense after a game-ending knee injury to starting quarterback Stuart Augustine on the opening play of the second quarter. Harper produced a 58-yard Ronald Zollicoffer TD run with 8:35 left in the third quarter. Three plays before the decisive fumble, Zollicoffer nearly got free for another long run but his feet got caught up in the turf.
Harper's defense had denied COD on four separate occasions inside the Harper 30. COD's scores came on an 8-yard Darnell Ratcliff run in the first quarter and a 17-yard toss to from Lanham to Malcolm Jackson with 9:21 to play in the third.
Then, the game changed.
With a third and 4 from the Harper 25, Davenport (24 carries, 45 yards), on a halfback option play, decided to keep the ball when he was unable to find a receiver. It was there that he lost the ball at the ball at around the 17, where Obiora, a 6-foot-3, 251-pounds sophomore from Manchester, England, recovered.
Two plays later, Lanham found Steve Seitz for a 9-yards score, and a 2-point conversion pass to James Kurtz made it 21-7 with 10:58 to play.
The Chaparrals, who outgained the Hawks 430-171, put the final points on the board after Harper's subsequent possession ended on downs at the 50. Lanham found Kurtz in the end zone on a 24 yard pass with 3:16 to play.
Women's soccer: The Harper women's soccer team beat College of DuPage 4-3 to win the NJCAA Region IV, Division III title Saturday on a goal by Jackie LaRocco with 5:05 left to play.
It is Harper's third regional title overall and first since 2002. They will advance to the NJCAA Div. III National Tournament in Largo, Md., where play begins Thursday.
Harper's first team all-Region selection were LaRocco, Melissa Hernandez and Amanda Hertigan; second team all-Region picks were Allie Fernandez, Keegan Michael and Heather Polish. Coach Dwayne Cruz was named Region IV coach of the year.