Harper looks to bounce back

After last week’s tough last-second 24-21 loss to North Dakota State Science, the Harper College football team plays a nonconference foe for the second time this season.

This time the Hawks play their first non-NJCAA Midwest Football Conference opponent when Dakota College at Bottineau (2-2) comes to Palatine for today’s 1 p.m. kickoff.

Bottineau is in its third season as a football program and comes into the first meeting between the two schools on a two-game winning streak. This is the first meeting between the two programs and the Jacks are 0-2 against junior college opponents this year.

After a rough first day of practice early in the week, Harper coach Eric Waldstein believes the effects of last week’s loss are starting to wear off.

The player to watch on the offensive side of the ball is Jacks freshman quarterback Jose Sanchez.

“He is their best athlete,” Waldstein said.

The Jacks are not hesitant to put the ball in the air, more out of necessity than by design, according to Waldstein.

In watching video of Dakota Bottineau, the Harper coaching staff saw Sanchez consistently being forced to throw the ball quicker then he would have liked. Waldstein attributes that to a Jacks offensive line Waldstein called “small in some spots.”

Look for the Hawks to attack the Jacks offense with more blitzes. Waldstein said defensive coordinator Geoff Durian has added new packages to this week’s game plan “to take advantage of the small offensive line.”

Waldstein assessed his defense this way: “(Let’s) see if our athletes can outmatch their athletes.”

The Harper offense, meanwhile, should be prepared to see more blitzes.

“They do that just to get some better athletes playing football,” Waldstein said of the Jacks’ defensive unit.