Teonic expects Grand Rapids to excel

Harper College comes into its home football opener Saturday off a 45-14 win at 16th-ranked Joliet.

Grand Rapids comes to Palatine off a 43-3 home loss to fifth-ranked Georgia Military.

But third-year Harper coach Dragan Teonic knows his team had better be ready for the 1 p.m. Midwest Football Conference East Division matchup in Palatine.

"I think Georgia Military is a very talented team but I don't think there's a 40-point difference between the two," Teonic said. "That score means nothing."

But the striking difference between Harper and Grand Rapids is experience.

Grand Rapids has only 3 sophomore starters and 13 total on its roster after an uncharacteristic 4-5 finish last year. Harper had 19 sophomores starting last Saturday.

Grand Rapids was outgained 471-214 by Georgia Military and gave up touchdown passes of 74, 72 and 57 yards.

"Those are things you don't see from a Grand Rapids team," Teonic said.

"We gave up a lot of points but what is disappointing is the way we gave them up," Grand Rapids coach Jim Schulte told The Grand Rapids Press. "We gave up 3 touchdown passes that were thrown right over the top of our defense and that's not good football."

And the Raiders will have to be on top of their game this week against Harper sophomore quarterback Garrett Barnas. He was 10-for-17 for 203 yards and Teonic said it could have been 15-for-17 for 320 yards with five plays where receivers were open.

But Harper showed an added dimension with freshman Rithner Jean-Baptiste running for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 carries.

"He's a horse - he's a good football player," Teonic said of the 5-foot-9, 214-pound transfer from Alcorn State. "We established the line of scrimmage and that's big. That's something we lacked in the past."

Teonic also was happy with the special teams as Ryan Fillingim hit all 6 of his extra points and a field goal. The defensive front led by returning end Kyle Jenkins was solid and there were few missed tackles.

And Harper also gets freshman linebackers Ryan Hourigan (Palatine) and Blair Lane back from injury last week.

Grand Rapids does return quarterback Austin Cole (12-for-23, 114 yards) and all-conference receiver D.D. Hardy (3 catches, 21 yards).

"This isn't going to be easy," Teonic said.

Certainly not 40-point margin easy.

Post patterns: Harper will have to wait a week to see if it breaks into the NJCAA polls. The first regular-season version comes out next Tuesday - New defensive coordinator Geoff Durian is no stranger to Harper as a 10-year faculty member and assistant professor for mathematics. Durian had also coached high school at Marmion, Glenbard West and Driscoll - Also new to the staff this year are former Prospect and Harper standout quarterback Jared Dall, Hoffman Estates product John Lawlor and Charles Biggins - Former head coach John Eliasik and Rich Sharkey are back on Teonic's staff - Lou Nunez Jr., is now in his 20th year as statistician, public address announcer and historian for the Harper program.