MOOSEHEART, Oct. 17 - A strong opening and a good first half proved to only be worth 24 happy minutes for Mooseheart's football team on Friday night.

Kirkland-Hiawatha scored 20 unanswered second-half points to overturn the Ramblers 26-13 in a key Northeastern Athletic Conference game for both teams. The host Ramblers (5-3, 5-3 NAC) head to CICS Longwood for the season finale still needing one more win to be assured of a spot in the IHSA Class 1A playoffs. Once 5-1, Mooseheart's playoff life is in a precarious state.

"We'll see how we respond," Mooseheart coach Gary Urwiler said. "We'll go back to the drawing board and hopefully have a good week of practice and get ready for our next contest on Friday night.

Kirkland-Hiawatha (4-4, 4-4) kept its postseason hopes alive with Friday's win.

"We had mental mistakes and penalties - that was not the way we expected to play football," Urwiler said. "Our inability to muster any offense in the second half hurt."

The Ramblers got off to a good start when they took the lead on a Jonell Crump 1-yard plunge with 6:14 left in the opening half. Crump had 72 yards on 18 carries on a sloppy field.

Mooseheart went further ahead when quarterback Isaiah Brigman scored on a 16-yard scamper with 7:33 to go in the opening half.

But momentum swung with 1:00 left. Keyed by a long pass fourth-down pass to keep their drive alive, the Hawks got on the scoreboard when quarterback Jason Keneway went over from the 1-yard line.

"Fourth-and-18 and we give it to them," Urwiler said. "That's hard. We continue to meet with our guys and tell them you can't make mistakes like that in key games."

Kirkland-Hiawatha closed the gap to 13-12 when Keneway returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. And when Keneway capped a long drive by scoring from the 1-yard line, the Hawks had the lead for the first time at 18-13.

Mooseheart twice intercepted passes in the fourth quarter but was unable to score. Kirkland-Hiawatha completed the scoring with 10 seconds to play when JB Watson intercepted a pass and went 91 yards for a touchdown.

Mooseheart held Kirkland-Hiawatha's Angel Hernandez mostly in check. The junior finished with 82 yards on 28 carries and now has 824 yards for the season.

Scoring plays
M-Crump 1 run (Cheneyon kick)
M-Brigman 16 run (kick failed)
K-Keneway 1 run (kick failed)
K-Keneway 80 kickoff return (pass failed) K-Keneway 1 run (run failed) K-Wilson 91 interception return (Hernandez run)

Mooseheart stats:
Rushing: Brigman 7-45, Moore 7-20. Crump 18-72.
Passing: Brigman 4-14-0 39. Crump 0-1-0 0.
Receiving: Yarngo 2-27, McReynolds 2-12.