HERDING CATS

Football coach Steve Bell chuckled when Sports Information Director Dan Nolan described the Fighting Scots’ no-huddle offense akin to “Trying to herd cats.”

St. Norbert coach Jim Purtill wasn’t laughing after the Scots’ 52-24 win over the Green Knights last Saturday. Trailing 31-10 at halftime, Purtill could only shake his head when the Scots scored on their first possession of the second half. It may not have been the fact that Monmouth scored that had Purtill shaking his head. It was probably more of the efficiency of the drive – two plays, 67 yards, 43 seconds.

Not that the Scots ALWAYS score in a hurry, but their average Time of Possession on scoring drives has averaged UNDER two minutes. The Green Knights actually did hold the Scots to their longest TOP on a score this season, but more on that later. 

The third quarter Alex Tanney to Mike Blodgett 60-yard TD was one of five touchdown tosses on the day for Tanney – to five different receivers.

Of course, the day didn’t begin on a positive note for the Scots’ offense. Tanney’s first pass of the day was a rarity. An interception. His second of the season.

Drew Oudenhoven’s pick of Tanney’s pass gave the Scots’ first drive a Time of Possession of seven seconds.

Oops. Hey, even the Scots aren’t perfect.

“Oudenhoven made a good play,” praised Bell. “Alex didn’t see him coming on the coverage from the inside. It wasn’t any type of exotic coverage, but Alex hasn’t had too many intercepted this year. He handled the game well and he’s always come ready to play in the big game so we weren’t worried about the pick.”

Given the fact that it was only the second interception Tanney had thrown all year, the Scoop can forgive that one mistake. Even Tanney knew there was plenty of time to make amends. By the end of the day the junior QB had redeemed himself with 361 passing yards, eclipsing Rob Purlee’s career mark of 8,017 set from 2000-03. Tanney now has the gold standard with 8,188 yards…and counting…with more than a year of eligibility left.

After the interception and a face mask penalty, it was Green Knight ball at the Scots’ 21. A couple of rushes and St. Norbert can smell the end zone just 16 yards away. Defensive lineman Nathan VanMetre returned the favor on the next play, intercepting a Rob Berger pass at the Scots’ 17.

“That was a big stand,” said Bell. “For them to come out of there with no points was huge at that point.”

Also huge was Clay Bricker’s return to the lineup. The senior, who sat out due to an injury a week ago, made a triumphant return, scoring a TD and running through, around and over the Green Knights defense for 114 yards.

“Clay’s first four or five rushes were probably as hard as I have ever seen him run,” reported Bell of his back who gained 16 and 20 yards on his first two carries. “He and Caleb (Pratt) did exactly what we needed them to do. They ran hard…and give the offensive line credit, too. They opened the holes and did a good job of protecting the quarterback.”

The Bricker-Pratt combo gained all but two of the Scots’ 172 rushing yards behind an offensive line that was blocking to near perfection. Even Tanney reaped the benefit of the unsung heroes. With 8:44 left in the third quarter, Tanney scored his first career rushing TD on a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line. That leaves him seven behind big brother Mitch (Tanney) and 31 back of career leader for QB’s Mark Reed.

“I told him I’d get him one,” laughed Bell when describing Tanney’s TD. “I didn’t know HOW I’d get him one, because he’s not a runner.”

Tanney’s score was thanks in large part to a bit of trickery.

With 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the Scots faced a fourth-and-one at the St. Norbert 39 yard line. Punter Shane Reschke – also a pretty fair speedster for Roger Haynes’ track team – lined up for an apparent punt.

BUT WAIT! There’s more, as the adman says.

The fleet-footed Reschke pulled the snap down and headed for the left sideline. Eleven yards later, it’s a Scots’ first down. Four plays later, Tanney is in the end zone. Time of Possession – a season long 3:45.

Reschke also had a hand, er, foot in an earlier Scots’ score.

Trailing 21-10 late in the first half, St. Norbert’s defense held, forcing the Scots to punt from near midfield. That would give the Knights the ball, but more importantly keep the Monmouth offense off the field.

Not so fast, Sparky.

A roughing the kicker penalty put the ball back in Tanney’s hands. Four completions and two Bricker carries later, Nick Wright caught a Tanney toss for another TD, making it 28-10 with 2:31 to play in the half.

“We can’t take credit for that,” explained Bell of the roughing penalty. “But it was big because it kept the drive alive. We scored and that gave us momentum.”

Let’s not forget the defense. When Anthony Goranson forced St. Norbert’s only fumble on their ensuing possession, the defensive end quickly pounced on the loose pigskin at the Green Knight 47. That makes 12 of 13 opponent fumbles recovered by the Scots.

Monmouth took advantage of the late miscue, driving 46 yards and capping the drive with Kyle Tuor’s 19-yard chip-shot field goal. Even a PAT is longer. Speaking of Point Afters, Tuor hit all seven of his attempts to tie kicking coach Nate Palkovic’s consecutive PAT string of 38.

In an effort to NOT put a whammy on Tuor, the Scoop asks that Kyle does NOT read the following…Tuor hasn’t missed an extra point since his first attempt of the season against Loras on Sept. 5.

OK, Kyle, you may resume reading…

The Scots’ “take-what-they-give-you” philosophy gave Blodgett a team-high 125 receiving yards and Matt Shepherd hauled in 11 catches for 103 yards including the first TD of the day in the first quarter. Shepherd also ran back five kickoffs for 128 yards.

“You’ve got to credit the offense and defense,” said Bell. “Those units came ready to play. Our defense didn’t get any sacks, but they were pressuring the quarterback all day. Give their quarterback credit, too, he’s very mobile.

“Our kickoff and punt coverage special teams did a great job, too,” continued Bell. “Our receivers were exceptional. Really, you’ve got to give credit to everyone, they played well.”

Sean Wells continued his role as the hit man. The senior safety recorded a game-high 11 tackles and broke up two passes. One on a critical third down play.

Now that the Scots have taken what many fans perceived as the marquee matchup, does Bell breathe easier?

“Heck no,” was Bell’s simple reply. “It was good to play well in a game of that magnitude. Of course, every game from here on is a big game.”

The next “Big game” for the Scots– ranked 11th this week in D3football.com and 12th by the American Football Coaches Association – will be on the road at Ripon, Wis.

Monmouth’s quick-score offense pulled out a 38-35 win last year at home. A little foggy on the details? We’re recap it for you.

Trailing 35-25 with 5:25 to go, the Scots capped a nine play, 72 yard, 2:36 drive to pull within three. A three-and-out by the Red Hawks gave Monmouth the ball with 3:28 to go. Nine plays, 77 yards, 1:43 Time of Possession = TD. Scots lead 38-35 on their way to an unbeaten regular season.

“We’re still progressing,” said Bell. “I feel good about where we are right now, but there’s still a ways to go.”

A reminder for those fans who won’t be able to “Go a ways” to Wisconsin, you can log on to MWCTV for live audio and video coverage of the game which kicks off at 1 p.m. To access MWCTV, fans should log on to www.midwestconference.tv.

IN THE HUNT…PART I

A sweep would have been more to women’s soccer coach Barry McNamara’s liking, but he’s not complaining about last weekend’s split with Ripon and Carroll.

“If we hoped to stay in the conference race, we couldn’t go 0-2 for the weekend,” said McNamara of his team’s 4-1 win over Ripon and 6-0 loss to Carroll. “Carroll is a very, very good team and they’re playing well right now. They’re tough at home, so we had to target the Ripon game as a must win.”

The Scots certainly hit the target’s bull’s eye, jumping out to a 4-0 halftime lead and – with the wind at their backs – dominating first half play. Becca Baur blasted in her first two goals of the season. In between Kerry Kost added her team-leading fourth goal and Emily Shoemaker scored her first on a 25-yarder over the Ripon goalkeeper.

“It was nice to see Becca get the lid off the goal,” said McNamara of one of his leading scorers from year ago. “Becca finally caught a break. She’s hit a few that have caught the post and didn’t go in. We took some shots from longer range since we had the wind at our backs…and we were on. All four goals came from 25 yards out or farther.”

Of course, the first half might have played out differently if not for an early Sarah Wintersteen save.

“Sarah made a great save on a breakaway,” said McNamara of the attempt that would have put Ripon up 1-0 early. “If Sarah doesn’t make that save, they probably score and then they might pack it in defensively. That save allowed us to play a more even-up game.”

“Even-up” might not exactly an accurate assessment, at least of the first half. The Scots outshot the Red Hawks 10-3 over the first 45 minutes.

“We came out and played an exceptional first half,” praised McNamara. “We did so well in the first half, we put the game out of reach. I was a bit worried Ripon might get a goal early in the second half when they had the wind, but when that didn’t happen, I felt a bit more comfortable.”

McNamara – and the majority of the league’s coaches – tabbed Carroll as the favorite heading into the MWC season and the host Pioneers supported the voting, blanking the Scots 6-0 on Sunday.

“We were encouraged after tying them last year,” said McNamara. “They have largely the same lineup as last year, but we’re a little banged up right now, AND they’re very good on their artificial turf.”

The Pioneers struck quickly, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of the first half and repeating that feat in the second half. Carroll outshot the Scots 25-2 and put 18 of their attempts on goal. Scots’ goalkeeper Katerina Meletis came off the bench to play the final 79 minutes, making 10 saves.

“We’d like to see them again,” said McNamara. “We think we’re a playoff team and would like another chance at them in the tournament. We played well in stretches, so we think we could give them a game if we saw them again.”

The Scots – currently tied for the fourth and final MWC playoff berth – are in for a crucial weekend Saturday and Sunday when they host St. Norbert and Lawrence.

The Green Knights picked up two first place votes in the coaches’ poll and lead the Scots 10-1-1 in the series. Monmouth’s lone win came in 2005 – just prior to the arrival of this year’s senior group, although that group did play St. Norbert to a 3-3 double overtime draw in 2007.

Like St. Norbert, Lawrence also owns the overall edge on the Scots, but Monmouth has been gaining ground – winning in 2005 and playing to a 1-1 double overtime time in 2007…the day after the Scots tied with St. Norbert at Peacock Park.

“We’re facing a couple of teams that will provide challenges for us,” predicted McNamara. “St. Norbert was the regular season champion last year and Lawrence is a team on the rise. We tied them both the last time they came here on a double-header weekend. We have five conference games left and feel like we need to win three or four to qualify for the conference tournament. We’d like to at least split. I don’t believe we could afford two ties like two years ago. The more we win now, the less we HAVE to win on the last weekend.”

No, sports fans, coach McNamara DID NOT major in mathematics and statistics in college…but it sounds like he could have.

IN THE HUNT…PART II

Like the women’s soccer team, the volleyball team would have preferred a sweep last weekend, but splitting with Lawrence and St. Norbert was OK, too.

“We were happy with the split,” said Kari Shimmin. “The women played very well Friday night. We had some tired women Saturday.”

That was to be expected after the Scots rallied from a 2-1 deficit to give Lawrence their first conference loss of the year on Friday. None of the five sets were decided by more than five points with the Scots taking the decisive fifth set 15-13.

“It was two very similar-type teams playing each other,” explained Shimmin. “There were some really long rallies. Our goal was to stop number 18 (Melissa Schnettler).”

While the Scots didn’t exactly stop Schnettler – 20 kills for the Vikings – they were able to answer with Chelsey Widdop’s career-high 21 kills. Defensively, when Lawrence was able to get an attack through the Monmouth blocks, libero Sara Schoon was usually there, leading the team with 26 digs, Megan Creen was right behind with 22 and Widdop added 18 for good measure.

Widdop was in attack mode for most of the game, but it wasn’t just the outside hitter doing the damage. Middle hitters Kendra Newlon and Claire Hermie got their share. Newlon slammed a dozen winners, Hermie added 10 and Creen accounted for 11 more.

“Chelsey’s success had a lot to do with how well our middle hitters played,” said Shimmin. “That was the best match our middles have played in terms of offensive output. With our middles being an offensive threat, that took some of Lawrence’s focus away from our outside. They had to pull one of their blockers from the outside to the middle and that meant Chelsey only had to deal with one blocker. That was a great match and it could have gone either way.”

The two-hour match and Homecoming festivities took their toll on the Scots the next day. An unbeaten St. Norbert team rolled into town and handled Monmouth in a quick three-set match.

“The women were telling me how tired their legs were Saturday,” said Shimmin. “Friday’s match took a lot out of us. If we could have played St. Norbert with fresh legs, I think it might have been a bit closer.”

Losing the first two sets 25-17, 25-14, Shimmin’s team gave the Green Knights a run in the third set before falling 25-23. The fourth loss in conference play has put the Scots in a must win situation for their remaining two league contests.

Five teams are above the Scots for the league’s four playoff berths.

Now the good news. The Scots have just two conference matches to play while the teams ahead of them have at least four to play, so if those teams can knock each other off, and the Scots win out, Shimmin could be making travel arrangements for the league tournament.

“We have to win these last two conference matches,” said Shimmin of the remaining matches against Knox tonight and Illinois College in two weeks. “Our most important match is the Knox match tonight.”

After tonight, the Scots will head to Memphis, Tenn., for the Rhodes College Invitational. Four matches this weekend and their own triangular the following weekend will have them prepped for the Illinois College match in Jacksonville on Oct. 27. The playoff picture should be a bit clearer by then.

“Most of the teams above us haven’t played each other yet,” reported Shimmin. “We should see some separation this week and know where we stand.”

THE CULMINATING EVENT

The conference fate of the women’s tennis team was sealed early this season after a 5-4 loss to Knox on Sept. 17, but that doesn’t mean the Fighting Scots are ready to pack it in.

Knowing they wouldn’t qualify for the team portion of this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships, the squad has been hard at it working on the individual singles and doubles competition.

Monmouth battled with conference opponent Beloit last Saturday in a marathon that took more than three hours to complete. Beloit came away with a 7-2 win, but the Scots didn’t go down without a fight.

The Bucs took all three doubles matches, but it wasn’t easy at No. 2 where freshman Nicole Anson and senior Sarah McLinden gave the Beloit pair all they could handle before succumbing 8-6.

“Nikki and Sarah were ahead most of the way,” explained Patrick Montgomery of his doubles team that had been together for all of two matches. “That was a tough loss to take, but they were pleased with how they played, just not the outcome. It’s been an adjustment for them. Sarah is Nikki’s third doubles partner this year. Sarah has provided a nice stabilizing presence.”

Anson turned the trick in singles, winning 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. She joined Amy Unzicker at No. 1 singles as the only Scots to record wins. Like Anson, Unzicker had a close battle, edging her Beloit opponent 7-6 (11-9), 6-3.

“I was really pleased with Nikki’s performance at No. 3,” said Montgomery. “She had to move up a spot early in the year and for her to get this win was huge. She’s finding her way in college tennis and is improving daily. It was nice to see her get the win.”

Actually, the entire top of the order gave the Bucs problems. Playing at No. 2 singles, Kimi Wegner narrowly fell in a three-setter. Beloit took the match 3-6, 7-6, 10-4.

Playing at Division II Quincy on Monday, the Scots fell 8-1, but like the Beloit match, the Scots didn’t go quietly.

Anson and McLinden – as they had done against Beloit – proved to be the Scots closest to victory in the doubles competition. The tandem fell 8-5.

All six singles matches went the way of two sets. Only Unzicker was able to pull out a win, posting a 6-3, 6-4 decision.

“Amy beat a very good player,” praised Montgomery. “She was tall and rangy. Amy just stepped up her game and outplayed her opponent. Quincy is a tough team. They’re very good up and down the lineup.”

Unzicker realized the relevance of the win, commenting to Montgomery after the match “That’s the best I’ve hit the ball since high school.”

Wegner hit pretty well, too and played solidly in the first set, before falling 6-3, 6-1, but it was McLinden’s 6-0, 6-0 loss at No. 4 that had Montgomery smiling.

Hold it, how could a 6-0, 6-0 loss have the coach smiling? Has the stress of the season finally gotten to him?

“Sarah’s opponent could have easily been a No. 2 player for a lot of Division III teams,” explained Montgomery. “The score doesn’t show how well Sarah played. That was the best I’ve seen her play. She was hitting shots she had never hit before. She rose to the level of play and I was very pleased with her performance.”

Monmouth traveled to St. Ambrose for a quick warmup with the Bees last night before heading to the MWC Championships this weekend. Due to their absence from the team portion of the meet tomorrow, the best the Scots can hope for is a fifth-place team finish. But, in singles AND doubles, Montgomery is hoping for a few surprises.

Unzicker at No. 1 singles appears to have the best shot at hardware. The sophomore took the No. 2 singles title a year ago and is 6-3 vs. conference opponents this season at No. 1.

Anson has come on strong at No. 3 after starting the year at No. 4. The Colorado native is 4-4 against Midwest Conference teams after moving up a spot.

“Nikki and Sarah have both stepped up their games,” reported Montgomery. “They could surprise some people in doubles. Amy is playing as well as she has all year. If we can duplicate how we’ve played in the last week, we could have some players make a run. As a whole, I feel we’re much better than we were two weeks ago.”

Tournament seeds will be announced Friday evening after the team portion of the meet. Doubles competition will be held Saturday with the singles matches wrapping up the weekend on Sunday.

EVER SO CLOSE

Forgive men’s soccer coach George Perry if he looks like he’s aging rapidly, but the Scots have been ever so close – and last weekend was no different.

The Scots have lost seven games by two goals or less – including Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Ripon. Despite being outshot 10-5 in the first half, the Scots were tied 1-1 after the first 45 minutes.

“The guys played extremely well in the first half despite a very difficult wind,” praised Perry. “We did a good job going into the wind of keeping the ball on the ground and to the feet.”

The good play paid off after the Red Hawks drew first blood in the 14th minute. Monmouth answered quickly – just five minutes later – when Lucas Knox passed Josh Del Valle’s feed on to Daniel Medina for the Scots’ lone score. Knox and Del Valle have been assist machines in the last two games – combining on an Eddie Martinez goal last week at Millikin.

“That was a great goal,” said Perry. “We did a good job of not giving Ripon too many good chances to score. Owen Robinson made a couple of very good saves in the first half.”

Robinson had 10 saves on the day. A penalty kick goal in the 86th minute was the senior’s only blemish in the final half.

“We got away from playing the ball to our feet in the second half,” reported Perry. “We’re a very, very good team when we play the ball to our feet. We had some very good chances to score, but couldn’t do so. It still comes down to finishing our opportunities.”

The Scots made use of the few opportunities they had in a 4-0 loss at Carroll on Sunday. Monmouth was held to just three shots, but put all three on goal.

“We played extremely well in the first half,” said Perry. “We made a communication error on their first goal in the 14th minute. Beyond that, we didn’t give them many good first half chances to score. I was VERY pleased with the first half. We played with them defensively.”

Monmouth only allowed six Pioneers’ shots in the first half – three on goal – as Monmouth trailed 1-0 at halftime. An early second half goal made it 2-0 and the Pioneers stretched the winning margin to four with a pair of goals late.

“Playing on the artificial turf really fits in with what we try to do,” said Perry of Carroll’s artificial surface. “We practiced on our turf last week in preparation for the Carroll surface, but their field is a few years older and a little faster than ours. I thought as a team, we played well.”

Adam Buol and Del Valle were credited with superb forward play the first half. Garrett White, Joe Howell, Jake Scimeca and Andy Sheller helped keep the Pioneer threats to a minimum on the defensive end.

“Jordan Lankford came in off the bench and did a nice job at midfield,” said Perry of his reserve. “Tony Swierczewski gave us good minutes in both halves. We used a lot of players to get them some experience against a very strong team.”

The Scots will need to draw on all that experience this weekend when they host St. Norbert and Lawrence – two teams ahead of them in the conference standings.

“They should be two good games,” predicted Perry. “St. Norbert is ranked highly in the conference. Lawrence has been up and down. We’ll have to be ready for them. We still have the opportunity to qualify for the conference tournament, and that is our ultimate goal. We don’t have to win out, but we certainly do need to win the majority of them.”

The Scots have been close, and with four of their five remaining games at home, Perry hopes the home cooking will be enough to get them over the hump.

CONFERENCE HONORS

Football
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 28th 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.

Women’s Tennis
Two-sport athlete Amy Unzicker (Morton, Ill./Morton) knocked off a Division II opponent to end a perfect week in singles tennis and was rewarded with the Midwest Conference Performer of the Week honor.

Unzicker, who also does duty with the Fighting Scots women’s soccer team, focused on tennis for three matches last week and went 3-0 at No. 1 singles. The sophomore began the week with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Megan Funk of Knox, she then outlasted Beloit’s Hannah Perwin 7-6 (11-9), 6-3 and finished the stretch with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anele Novak of Division II Quincy. Unzicker teamed with Kimi Wegner as the Fighting Scots No. 1 doubles team and was 1-2 in that competition. Unzicker and Wegner downed Knox 8-4, but fell to Beloit and Quincy by identical 8-2 scores.

For the season, Unzicker is 9-4 overall at No. 1 singles and has won seven of her last 10 matches.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Thurs., Oct. 15
Volleyball – at Knox, 7:00 pm

Sat., Oct. 17
Cross Country – at UW-Oshkosh Invitational, 10:30 am
Women’s Soccer – hosts St. Norbert, 11:00 am
Football – at Ripon, 1:00 pm
Men’s Soccer – hosts St. Norbert, 1:30 pm
Volleyball – at Rhodes, 2:00 pm
Women’s Tennis – at MWC Doubles Championships, 11:00 am

 Sun., Oct. 18
Women’s Soccer – hosts Lawrence, 11:00 am
Men’s Soccer – hosts Lawrence, 1:30 pm
Volleyball – at Rhodes, TBA
Women’s Tennis – at MWC Singles Championships, 8:00 am

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want, the number one thing today and tomorrow. Persevere and get it done.” – George Allen