Bell earned the Coach of the Year honor for the second consecutive season and fourth time overall. His 78-25 career record ties him with Bill Reichow as the winningest football coach in Fighting Scots’ history. His teams have compiled a 21-1 record over the last two seasons.

Tanney repeated as the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and picked up his third all-conference selection. His 3,495 passing yards leads Division III, and he has set career records at Monmouth with 116 touchdown passes and 9,797 yards. The junior’s 451 yards against Knox in the regular season finale broke his own single-game record for the second week in a row.

Goranson, the Fighting Scots’ leader in tackles for loss (19) and sacks (7.5), earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor and was named all-conference for the fourth time. The senior defensive end is just 1.5 sacks shy of the career mark of 34 set by Greg Bennett from 1987-90.

In all, a school-record 22 players were selected all-conference in a vote of the league’s coaches. Monmouth, ranked No. 8 in the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association polls will host St. Thomas (Minn.), which is ranked as high as No. 10, in the first round of the Division III playoffs Saturday at Monmouth’s April Zorn Memorial Stadium.

Shepherd sets record, earns conference award
November 9, 2009

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Wide receiver Matt Shepherd (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg) exploded for three touchdowns in the Fighting Scots’ final regular season game and earned the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor.

Shepherd scored three times as the Scots pulled away for a 42-0 win over Knox in the 121^st meeting between the two teams. The junior caught a game-high 14 passes for 141 yards, averaging over 10 yards per catch. His 948 receiving yards this season broke the previous high-water mark of 911 set by Evan Haffner in 2004.

For the second consecutive year, the Fighting Scots completed a 10-0 regular season, while winning their third Midwest Conference title since 2005. They will be making their second straight appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs on Sat., Nov. 21.

Tanney earns thirds conference award
November 2, 2009

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) picked up his third Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor after yet another record-breaking day in a 44-17 win over Illinois College Saturday.

Tanney threw for a school-record 437 yards Saturday to break the record of 405 yards he shared with his older brother, Mitch. Alex, a junior, had tied the previous record his freshman year against St. Norbert. He completed 33 of 46 passes with three touchdowns and one interception against Illinois College for an efficiency rating of 168.71. With more than a season left, he has thrown for a school-record 9,346 yards and 110 TDs, including 36 scores and 3,044 yards this season.

The win clinched no worse than a tie for the Midwest Conference title and guaranteed Monmouth their second consecutive berth in the NCAA playoffs. It will be their third trip to the playoffs since 2005.

Goranson's eight tackle, three sack performance earns honor
October 26, 2009

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Defensive end Anthony Goranson (Bartlett, Ill./Belvidere) had one of his best games this season and earned this week’s Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week honor.

Goranson played a big role in shutting down the Lake Forest offense in the Fighting Scots’ 51-14 win over the Foresters Saturday. The senior stuffed the Foresters with eight tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks for 20 yards. For the season, he leads the team with six sacks for 46 yards and 14.5 tackles for loss for 74 yards. He is tied for fifth with 40 total tackles and is just three sacks from tying Greg Bennett’s career sack record of 34 set from 1987-90.

With the win, Monmouth maintained sole possession of first place in the Midwest Conference.

Marcus is rough on Ripon, earns weekly honor
October 19, 2009

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Linebacker Marcus Ruff (Avon, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City) led the charge defensively in last week’s 35-13 win over Ripon and was named the Midwest Conference Defensive Performer of the Week.

Ruff made an impact early as the Fighting Scots took over sole possession of first place in the Midwest Conference. The junior started the game with a bang, recovering a Red Hawk fumble at the Ripon 16-yard line to set up Monmouth’s first score. Ruff when on to record 16 tackles, including a team-high 12 solos, and broke up two passes. His 16 tackles in the game was more than half his season total.

Tanney breaks another record, earns conference award
October 12, 2009

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) had yet another record-setting performance last weekend and picked up his second Midwest Conference Offensive Performer of the Week award this season.

Tanney broke Rob Purlee’s career passing yardage record in a 52-24 win over previously unbeaten St. Norbert Saturday. The junior threw for 361 yards to give him 8,188 passing yards in his career. With a season-and-a-half remaining in his career, Tanney surpassed Purlee’s mark of 8,017 yards set from 2000-03 as the Fighting Scots’ all-time leader. He connected for five aerial scores to five different receivers and completed 34-of-47 attempts (72 percent) with one interception to finish the game with a pass efficiency rating of 167.71. Playing in his 28^th career game, Tanney scored his first collegiate touchdown on a quarterback sneak with 8:44 left in the third quarter to put the Scots up 45-17.

For the year, Monmouth’s QB has completed over 70 percent of his passes for 1,886 yards and 23 TDs with just two interceptions for a rating of 166.80.

Monmouth moved up to No. 11 in the D3football.com poll and stayed put at No. 12 in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.