Dramatic loss stings Harper

When sophomore defensive back Lionel Lamarre picked up a fumble and raced 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter, it was looking like a great comeback win for Harper College over highly-ranked Joliet in Saturday's season opener in Palatine.

Lamarre's dramatics gave the Hawks their first lead at 28-23 after trailing by as much as 23-6.

Unfortunately for Harper fans, there were more dramatics to come with less than a minute to play and the Hawks suffered a heart-breaking 29-28 loss.

After Lamarre's big play, on which he credited fellow defensive back Jacob Powell for stripping the ball, Joliet got great field position at the Hawks' 42-yard line thanks to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the ensuing kickoff going out of bounds.

On a fourth-and-3 play at the Hawks' 21, Joliet quarterback Mitch Watkins fumbled the shotgun snap, picked it up and scrambled to his right.

Three Hawks quickly arrived on the scene, but the sophomore somehow managed to escape and fire a 21-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Harmon in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown with 32 seconds left.

Joliet's 2-point conversion pass was intercepted.

The Hawks had one more chance from its own 29-yard-line with 25 seconds left.

But after an incomplete pass, freshman Garrett Barnas's next toss was picked off by Jeff Clemens with six seconds left.

Barnas (20-for-41, 244 yards) did a superb job, replacing starter Trevor Bupp (4-for-9, 26 yards), who injured a bone in his lower non-throwing arm early in the game.

"It was an absolutely heroic effort (by Barnas)," said Harper coach Dragan Teonic. "He's an all-stater (at Bureau Valley High School). He's a great athlete."

Harper plays Grand Rapids next week. Teonic plans to start Barnas at quarterback.

"I'm sure we'll be ready for them," said Lamarres, who also had 2 interceptions. "This is a totally different team from last year. We would have folded after getting down like that. This time we came back. We had a few mental breakdowns at the end, but this is the type of loss that builds a lot of character."

Teonic called it a disappointing loss.

"We have work to do in all phases of the game," said the second-year coach. "We have three good kickers but they made some critical errors today that hurt us.

"I thought our effort level and conditioning were great. We are going to get better."

Barnas's 43-yard-pass to Charles Davis provided Harper its only first-half points with 1:30 left.

Barnas threw touchdown passes to Brian Mitz (5 yards) and Brian Whitehead (15) to cut the deficit to 23-21 before Lamarre's big play gave the Hawks their first lead.

"Harper is a young team." said Joliet coach Tom Minnick. "They're going to be a good team because they throw the ball all the time. I thought I was going to have a heart attack in the second half. I think our kids became over-confident."