Harper falls short against Iowa Central

A sterling matchup of two top 12 teams in the NJCAA went the wrong way for host Harper College on Saturday afternoon in Palatine.

Iowa Central College escaped with a 38-35 win over the Hawks in the Midwest Football Conference game.

Harper (4-1, 3-1) had a chance to tie the game with 38 seconds left but Ryan Fillingim's 43-yard field goal attempt was deflected by the Tritons' Kasey Wiele. Iowa Central then ran out the clock.

"They had a lot of success running the ball," Harper coach Dragan Teonic said. "Their long running plays and our missed tackles hurt. We hurt ourselves in the red zone. We came away with 2 field goals instead of touchdowns. We score touchdowns on those two possessions, and we win the game."

The 12th-ranked Hawks were hard-pressed to stop the No. 8 Tritons' (4-0, 3-0) running game. Iowa College pounded out 381 yards rushing out of their 418 total yards.

Trailing 31-27 following a 39-yard touchdown run by the Tritons' David Ferris, the Hawks received a break that helped them regain the lead.

A punt snap sailed in to the end zone for a safety for the Hawks, narrowing the gap to 31-29 with 6:54 left.

On the first play following the free kick, Senica Jackson raced 50 yards with the aid of a key block by Eric Watts to give the Hawks a 35-31 lead with 6:38 left.

Kyle DeMoss returned the ensuing kickoff to the 50, where it took the Tritons 8 plays to take the lead on David Washington's 3-yard run with 3:08 left. Runs of 16 and 15 yards by Ferris (22 attempts, 208 yds) keyed the drive.

"We've been one of the top rushing teams in NJCAA for years," said Iowa Central coach Kevin Twait. "Our backs run hard and we made their defense adjust to us.Our offensive line just took control out there."

"It's hard to say this after a loss," said Teonic, "but I am very proud of the way our kids played. It's a tough loss but they'll be back next week."

Quarterback Garrett Barnas completed 31-of-52 passes for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns. He is the fourth Harper quarterback to complete more than 300 passes and the sixth to pass for back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

John Baldwin also surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in receiving.