FLIGHT 437 NOW BOARDING

Air Monmouth made sure the Fighting Scots secured their second straight Midwest Conference title and the automatic NCAA playoff berth that goes with it in a 44-17 win over Illinois College.

Alex Tanney broke the school’s single-game passing record he shared with older brother Mitch in the win clinched at least a share of the MWC crown and the NCAA berth. The younger Tanney’s 437 passing yards included three TDs and got a big boost from Matt Shepherd and Nick Wright. The pair caught 10 passes each for 191 and 106 yards, respectively. Shepherd’s total was aided by a 31 yard catch-and-run on the Scots first play from scrimmage and a 55 yard gain in the second quarter. Both were part of first half scoring drives.

The final score may have looked like a blowout. It was anything but, early. The Blue Boys ate up nearly seven minutes on their first possession and capped the 14-play, 70 yard drive with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead – the first time this year the Scots have trailed.

“They did a good job of executing their first-drive game plan,” said Steve Bell of the Blue Boys no-huddle offense that ran the play clock down to under five seconds on nearly every snap and was even called for one delay-of-game penalty. “After the first series, you could tell their philosophy was to run down as much of the clock as they could on each play. They wanted to use the clock and not give our offense many possessions. They employed basketball’s four corners offense. Our defensive staff did a good job of recognizing that and adjusting.”

The Blue Boys’ strategy worked…until Monmouth got their hands on the ball.

The Scots took all of 62 seconds to score on their first possession, helped along by Shepherd’s 31 yard reception. He actually covered about twice that yardage, but the extra was from sideline to sideline as would-be tacklers grabbed air. Monmouth hit pay dirt when Clay Bricker took it in from five yards out for his first of two scores on the day.

Monmouth added another score on their third possession when Tanney hit a standing – and wide open – Mike Blodgett in the end zone  to cap a five-play, 50 yard drive that took a mere 78 seconds. The Blue Boys retaliated with a 13-play, 60 yard drive capped by a one yard TD pass and ate up another five minutes.

It’s now 14-10 and the Scots look like they might have their hands full.

“I wasn’t worried,” claimed Bell. “I knew our offense would be able score, and I was confident our defense would make the necessary adjustments to get IC’s offense off the field. The key was to get their offense off the field as quickly as possible. We were able to get enough pressure on the quarterback to make him hurry some throws.”

Turns out, the coach was right.

After the Blue Boys’ second score, the Scots’ defense only allowed IC one 11-play drive and that ended when Erik Weber picked off a Mitch Niekamp pass at the Scots’ 26 and returned it 20 yards. None of the Blue Boys remaining possessions lasted longer than five plays, and none scored – if you don’t count that one kickoff the Blue Boys returned for a TD that cut Monmouth’s lead to 27-17 early in the third quarter. For the third consecutive game, Marcus Ruff led the defense in tackles. Cory Bishop was right behind Ruff’s 10 stops with nine of his own as Monmouth held IC to just 59 yards rushing and 169 yards passing.

Kicker Kyle Tuor gave the Scots a little breathing room with a 23 yard field goal (his record consecutive PAT string ended at 50 on a miss just before the half). A Tanney TD pass to Kyle Wantland at the end of the third quarter added more cushion. For good measure, the Scots engineered a 15-play, 97 yard TD drive that took nearly five minutes midway through the fourth quarter as Caleb Pratt gained 55 of his game-high 112 yards in the drive.

After last year’s 78-17 Monmouth win at Illinois College, the Scots expected a few different looks out of the Blue Boys – and that’s what they got.

“Alex did a great job recognizing the coverages,” praised Bell. “He was really seeing things well. He’s really matured in his coverage recognition. The key is when he recognizes the coverage, he knows where to go with the ball. IC was trying to disguise their coverages and not let him see what they were doing until right at the snap. Alex did a tremendous job of recognizing what teams are throwing at him.”

Of course, Tanney did a bit of throwing, too. His 3,044 passing yards this season marks his second straight year throwing for more than 3,000 yards. He’s just 654 yards from hitting the 10,000 yard mark for his career. Given his 338 ypg average, he could hit that mark in the first round of the playoffs.

And for you stats geeks, Tanney’s 337.44 total offense per game ranks him sixth in Division III and Shepherd’s 8.44 receptions per game ranks him ninth.

Not that the rankings matter this weekend when the Scots travel 15 miles east to meet Knox for the 121st time. Monmouth holds a 60-50-10 record in the series which began in 1888 and has a series-record 10-game winning streak.

The Scots put their 9-0 season and 22-game regular season win streak on the line against the one-win Prairie Fire, but don’t think Monmouth is taking this game lightly.

“Our goal is to go 10-0 in the regular season,” reported Bell.

A win Saturday would accomplish that goal AND give Bell his 78th career victory at Monmouth, tying him with Bill Reichow as the winningest coach in Fighting Scots football history.

One more morsel for you stats freaks – as of today, Monmouth has held the Bronze Turkey for 4,010 days.

MOVIN’ ON UP

Monmouth’s win Saturday over Illinois College at April Zorn Memorial Stadium helped the Fighting Scots return to the top 10 in two national polls.

D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) both ranked the Scots No. 8 in the latest polls released Monday. Monmouth and Central (Iowa) are the only two teams in the top 10 boasting 9-0 records with one game to play. Losses by Washington and Jefferson (Pa.), Otterbein and North Central opened the door for Monmouth’s move up in the polls.

Both polls agree on the top four – Mt. Union, UW-Whitewater, Wesley and St. John’s, in that order. Central is ranked fifth in the AFCA poll and Linfield (Ore.) is sixth. The teams trade positions in the D3football poll where Mary Hardin-Baylor is seventh, Case Western Reserve ninth and St. Thomas is tabbed 10th. In the AFCA poll, Case Western is seventh while Mary Hardin-Baylor and Thomas More (Ky.) round out their top 10.

BY THE NUMBERS: 4, 3, 3, 3

No, it’s not the Scots Scoop guess at the lottery numbers. It’s the very brief account of the Fighting Scots performance at the Midwest Conference cross country championships where four Monmouth College women and three men were named all-conference after Saturday’s meet at Rock Cut State Park in Loves Park, Ill.       

Running on the hilly – and muddy – course through the forest, the Scots’ men placed third in the 8K team competition for the third consecutive year. They were just five points behind Ripon for second. Perennial power Grinnell took first. Monmouth’s women placed third on the 6K course, just two points behind runner up Carroll and 11 points back of title winner Grinnell.

“It was a good course,” reported Roger Haynes. “They had some rain that week and made for a muddy course, but there is nothing you can do about that. It slowed the times somewhat.”

Katie Staab wasn’t slowed in her bid to become the Fighting Scots’ first women’s four-time all-conference cross country runner. Competing in her final MWC meet, the senior placed fourth Saturday. Staab clocked a 24:06.78 to finish just behind teammate Mary Kate Beyer who captured her third all-league honor. Beyer’s time of 23:28.69 was just five seconds behind the runner up.

“Mary Kate really narrowed the gap on the first two girls from two weeks ago,” said Haynes. “Katie was very solid as she has been throughout her career.”

Freshman Rachel Bowden placed 11th in 25:16.51 and earned her first all-conference recognition while senior Amy Aghababian’s 25:54.60 placed her 19th to earn her second all-league honor.

“Rachel ran very well,” praised Haynes. “That was the highlight of the meet. She’s very dedicated to try and be a quality runner. As a recruiter, you try to have someone to show as a shining example of how to do things and I think she’ll be that example. Amy was very good as well to pick up her second conference honor. She’s worked harder and more consistently in practice. That’s how you excel in cross country and she has done that.”

Rounding out the women’s field were Brittney Frazier in 36th, Whitney Didier was 40th, Tori Beaty 47th and Marlee Lane was 60th.

“All the women had good success,” claimed Haynes. “As a group, they ran well. It was not a fast course, but we ran as expected or maybe a little bit better. They went out harder than normal and held on to that. In cross country, you can’t blame an official, you get the time you run and we were good, but not great.”

Not too bad, either were two sophomores and a freshman who earned their first all-league honors on the men’s side. Geoff Bird’s 27:57.74 placed him eighth, Jon Welty was 10th at 28:02.82 and Connor Shields finished 17th in 28:18.54. Freshman Paul Davies clocked a 28:27.12 to place 22nd, just six seconds out of 20th and an all-conference performance.

“Connor stepped up and ran a bit better than he had been running,” said Haynes. “We were very solid top to bottom. I was pleased with the freshmen guys and (junior) Craig (Maher). Craig ran a solid race for himself. Obviously, for Geoff and Jon to be in the top 10 is a good indication of how well they’ve trained. It was a tough field. The conference has improved the quality of their runners and it’s much more difficult to earn all-conference than it was say, 10 years ago. ”

Monmouth could be included in that group of improved league runners. Senior Damon Bautista placed 26th, just in front of newcomer Jake Barr. Alan Rosiquez placed 30th and Maher was 45th. Matt Gatlin (61st), Nate Jones (81st), Brian Daly (84th), Tim Bentz (105th) and Peter Lipinski (113th) rounded out the men’s runners.

The team will be off until the NCAA Regional Meet at Oshkosh, Wis., on Nov. 14.

“We’ll do some prep work for the Regional,” reported Haynes of the routine for the next few days. “We’ve gotten some experience at the Lake Breeze course earlier this season. Our motivation will be to run faster than we ever have.”

Considering the Scots ran their fastest times this season at that course three weeks ago, Haynes could see some vastly improved times.

“We might not have any men capable of making the field for Nationals this year,” said Haynes. “We do have some men looking ahead to being improved to be in contention next year and set those goals. Our men will have a very good, solid class returning next year so it’s not out of the question.”

Beyer became Monmouth’s first woman to qualify for the national meet a year ago finishing 74th at the meet and could have company this season. Staab has been keeping pace with last year’s qualifier, finishing less than a minute behind Beyer in every race this season.

It won’t be easy. Only the top seven runners not a member of a national qualifying team will advance to the national meet on Nov. 21st.

WHERE THEY WANTED TO BE…ALMOST

If medals were given for never giving in, the women’s soccer team would be covered.

Entering the weekend needing two wins against a team contending for the final Midwest Conference berth and another which had already locked up a spot, Barry McNamara’s women nearly punched their ticket to the dance. It all came down to Sunday’s finale with Lake Forest.

Playing with a strong wind at their backs, the Scots knew they had a slight advantage on the Foresters powerful offense. An injury to goalkeeper Katerina Meletis on her one and only save just seven minutes into the game took the wind out of their sails, but it didn’t suck the life out of the squad.

Meletis came out of the goal on a breakaway to stuff a Lake Forest attack, but was injured in the process. The Scots’ once-deep ‘keeper corps dwindled from five at the start of the season to using a sixth-string keeper for the final 83 minutes of a must-win match.

“Katerina had been playing so well down the stretch,” praised McNamara. “It’s the equivalent of a football team getting depleted at quarterback.”

Give credit to the Scots’ last keeper standing – Natalie Rotz. Rotz took a deep breath before high-fiving McNamara and entering the game where she recorded four saves. It took the Foresters nearly the entire half to find the net for a 1-0 halftime lead in the match they eventually won 3-0.

It’s not like the Scots didn’t have chances, they fired 10 shots on the day – two on goal – but, at least four in the first half caught wind and sailed high of their intended mark. The Foresters only outshot the Scots 13-10, but eight of Lake Forest’s shots were on-target.

The Foresters took advantage of the wind in the second half, scoring a goal two minutes in and adding a third just five minutes later.

“That was a tough way to go out,” said McNamara. “We had a chance to punch our ticket on the last day. We felt all season like we were good enough to compete. We controlled our destiny right down to the end, but we couldn’t win just one more game.”

Of course, Sunday’s game wouldn’t have mattered in the conference tournament scheme of things if not for Saturday’s 2-0 win over Beloit. The win, put the Scots just two points behind idle Lawrence for the final playoff berth and knocked Beloit out of the picture.

How big was the Beloit game?

The Bucs fired nine shots on goal and Meletis stopped them all. That’s nine stops under pressure.

“Katerina played the best game in goal I’ve seen in my seven years coaching,” praised McNamara of his sophomore’s performance against Beloit. “I can’t remember a better game by a goalie. That was a memorable performance.”

Molly Ball’s goal in the 16th minute gave the Scots a 1-0 lead, something not lost on McNamara.

“We talk about the timing of goals,” reported McNamara. “Getting ahead changes everything. We didn’t have to take risks. That goal was huge for us.”

Just to give McNamara fewer gray hairs, Katie Fluegel took an Amy Unzicker pass in the 55th minute and deposited it in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. That would be more than enough for the Scots to ensure Sunday’s game meant something.

“Phenomenal,” was McNamara’s short description of Fluegel’s score. “It was a textbook counter attack. After a couple Beloit shots, we popped it free and Amy sprinted up the sideline for a 50 or 60 yard run and made nice pass to Katie. We really felt good about that win. It knocked a good team out of the picture and kept us in the hunt.”

To be in the hunt after an injury-filled season says something. McNamara was a bit prophetic in his assessing his team back in August. From the August 27 Scots Scoop – “We just have to avoid a rash of injuries at one position. As long as we can avoid that, we’ll be fine and should be able to contend.”

The Scots weren’t able to avoid a rash of injuries at one position, but they WERE able to compete to the very end. The final injury of the season came in the last game, but it wasn’t the Scots’ goalkeeper. Senior defender Whitney Ott set the all-time record for games played, playing and starting in all 70 games during her career at MC. Only an injury in the waning minutes of the Lake Forest game sent her to the sidelines.

“Whitney was a rock for us,” praised McNamara. “She never missed a game because of an injury. She played great down the stretch. When Brittney (Parker) went down with an injury, Whitney moved to sweeper and did a great job over the final three games.”

For the Scots to go through as many injuries and still have a chance at the playoffs on the last day of the season, the Scoop would say they ALL did a great job. If medals were given, the Scots might consider giving the MVP to their trainer.

THAT DIDN’T TAKE LONG

The swim team made sure first-year coach Kurt Niemeier didn’t have to wait too long for his first career victory.

The Fighting Scots posted wins over Millikin University in both the men’s and women’s competitions last Friday to give Niemeier two victories in his coaching debut. The men captured first in eight of the 11 events and the women took nine firsts.

“We swam very well,” reported Niemeier. “We hadn’t really trained that hard for speed in this first month, instead, we concentrated more on stroke work. I was curious as to how that transferred to the meet. We swam very well as a group, not just one of two people, but everyone. Our times were about what we expected, but I didn’t expect both teams to win by such large margins.”

The Scots swept the relays, winning both the meet-opening and closing events. The women used three sophomores and a freshman to take the opening 200-yard medley relay. Sophomores Kendra Kuehl, Krysta Sparks and Rachel Holm teamed with freshman Erica McAloon to post a 1:59.4 to win by more than five seconds. The time is also among the top 10 all-time at Monmouth. The women ended the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle relay. Senior Lauren Nelson, sophomores Rachel Buckham and Colleen Zumpf and freshman Amanda Zaidel finished in 1:52.70, more than seven seconds ahead of Millikin.

The men opened their portion the meet with a win, touching first in the 200 medley relay. Josh Dunn, Harrison Heilman, John Kaiser and Tom Pederson clocked a 1:45.26 to win by four seconds. Dunn, Pederson, Kaiser and Steve Collins then took first in the meet-ending 200 freestyle relay. The foursome won in 1:34.73.

Buckham, Kuehl and Sparks picked up two individual wins each for the women. Buckham won the 1,000 freestyle in 12:21.06 and was first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.70. Sparks’ time in the 200 individual medley of 2:19 46 was just three seconds off her season best from a year ago and she took the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.55.

Kuehl swam a personal-best to win the 200 freestyle in 2:10.27. She also took first in the 500 freestyle with a mark of 6:02.51.

“Kendra hadn’t competed at those distances in college,” said Niemeier. “She had been asking to switch to the mid-distance freestyle events. We decided to give her a shot and she surprised us with a really good time.”

Holm also clocked an impressive time and picked up the other women’s win in the 50 freestyle. She finished with a time of 27.52.

“That’s a pretty good time for Rachel this early,” said Niemeier. “She also swam three seconds faster in her 100 fly than she did at this point last season.”

Freshman Alexis Fulkerson impressed her coach, too, swimming her lifetime best in the 100 freestyle. Fulkerson was out-touched at the end and finished with a 1:00.79, to take second, just seven-one hundredths out of first.

Heilman and Andrew Wright brought home a pair of firsts for the men. Heilman won the 200 individual medley by 19 seconds with a time of 2:11.04. He also touched first in the 100 breaststroke clocking a time of 1:08.12.

Wright was the winner in the 1000 freestyle, winning in 10:51.26. He also placed first in the 500 freestyle. His time of 5:15.23 was more than eight seconds faster than the runner up.

“Andrew was great in the distance races,” praised Niemeier. “They weren’t his best times, but considering it was the first meet of the year, the times were very good.”

Pederson and Dunn took the men’s other firsts. Pederson swam a 23.61 to win the 50 freestyle and Dunn’s time of 50.12 in the 100 freestyle was good enough for first.

“That was a great time for Tom in the 50 free,” said Niemeier. “It usually takes him a while into the season to swim low times, but he’s come out strong. Josh’s time in the 100 free is the team’s best right now.”

Serving as an assistant last year, Niemeier is looking at meets this season through the eyes of a head coach. So far, he likes what he sees.

“The men were very good in the sprints and distances,” reported Niemeier. “We were a little weak in the middle distance races.”

The Scots will be a little weak on numbers this weekend when they open their home season with a pair of dual meets Friday and Saturday. In a typical Catch 22, a good portion of the Scots swim team will be competing on Monmouth’s club sport water polo team in this weekend’s national tournament.

“We’ll be missing at least half the men and quite a few of the women this weekend,” said Niemeier. “We’ll have to dial in the meet with who we have available. I’m really not focusing on the team scores. I’m more interested in how we do as individuals and relays.”

Friday, Monmouth hosts Knox and Saturday, they’ll entertain Lake Forest at the Pepper Natatorium. Friday’s meet begins at 6 p.m., a 1 p.m. start is scheduled for Saturday.

TESTED TOUGH

The season’s last tournament for the volleyball team didn’t turn out quite the way Kari Shimmin had hoped, but she is encouraged by her youthful team’s desire.

“They’re very motivated to get better,” said Shimmin of her young squad that included just two seniors – Alexis Keller and Sara Schoon. “We traveled five freshmen this year. We were very young.”

That youth gained valuable experience at last weekend’s Eagle Classic hosted by Benedictine University. The Scots opened the tournament by playing conference foe Grinnell – for the third time this season.

Monmouth dropped all four matches at the tournament, but gave North Central a run for their money on Saturday. North Central took the first set 25-22. The Scots roared back in the second, winning 26-24 before North Central pulled away in the final two sets.

“This was a good tournament for our younger players to see,” reported Shimmin. “It was a good experience to play against that caliber of players. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t get a win. We entered the tournament at .500 and competed hard with the hopes of finishing above .500.”

While that goal wasn’t achieved, Shimmin can take comfort in her team’s resiliency. The team pieced together a pair of four-match win streaks this season and four times followed a conference loss with a league win.

After junior attacker Alyson Schroeter was lost to an injury early in the season, the Scots were in a rebuilding mode for the remainder of the year. Freshman Chelsey Widdop came on strong as a hitter while junior transfer Alicia Yeakey, sophomore Megan Creen and freshman Claire Hermie were in transition, moving to new positions to fill the void.

“The team learned to play through adversities with the injuries and players missing for a variety of reasons,” said Shimmin. “We had to use so many lineups, we just didn’t have that consistency we needed to be a dominant team.”

With a year’s experience under their belts, and the return of the powerful Schroeter for 2010, Shimmin has a lot to smile about.

“Claire made a nice transition into the college game,” praised Shimmin. “Alicia went from a middle to an outside hitter and Megan did it all. Her athletic ability allowed her to play a variety of positions.”

Creen was a true jack-of-all-trades. The sophomore attacker was used as a setter early in the season when the Scots were short usual setters Keller and Laura Anton due to family and academic commitments. She also developed into one of the team’s best passers and defenders.

The challenge next season will be to develop consistency, both in the lineup and in the level of play.

“We used a lot of players this year,” said Shimmin. “We just need to keep building on that experience. We need to improve our ball control and execute better. We played five, five-set matches in the conference and lost three of them. Those close losses had a lot to do with poor execution and losing momentum. That’s typical of a young team that hasn’t played many years together.”

Barring injury, the Scots strong nucleus of talented freshmen and sophomores should be together for a long time, and Shimmin is hoping that means a return to the MWC Tournament in 2010.

THE NARROWEST OF MARGINS

“Close, but no cigar,” could be used to describe the men’s soccer team’s season.

Eight of the Scots’ 13 losses came by just one goal. That’s 60 percent, the majority, MORE than enough to be elected President of the United States.

The final weekend was no different for George Perry’s players. A 3-2 double overtime loss to Beloit on Saturday was followed by a 1-0 loss to Lake Forest Sunday.

“That was indicative of the entire season for us,” said Perry. “We moved the ball well and are getting better at creating more opportunities to score. We just haven’t been able to get it in the goal for the most part.”

Saturday, the Scots jumped out to a 1-0 lead against the Buccaneers. After a scoreless first half, Lucas Knox kept a head ball alive and Adam Buol continued the control setting up James Scimeca’s feed to Josh Del Valle for the game’s first goal at the 46 minute mark.

“Lucas and Adam kept it alive and Josh and James were able to slide free,” said Perry. “That was a great effort that paid off.”

The Bucs quickly countered, tying the game just a minute later and they took the lead in the 63rd minute. Trailing 2-1 with less than 20 minutes left, Del Valle got involved in another goal. His through-ball to Bryan Jackson netted the senior his first goal of the season and tied the game at 2-2.

“Bryan had one of his best games this season,” praised Perry. “After the pass, he stole the ball from a defender and slotted the goal very well. He finished up his career as a Fighting Scot in style.”

After a scoreless first overtime, Beloit punched in the game-winner with less than three minutes left.

The Scots improved play continued on Sunday against Lake Forest. Tied through the first 74 minutes, it looked like Monmouth was headed for their fourth overtime game of the year, but a foul on a breakaway gave the Foresters a penalty kick. Lake Forest’s Chris Haught-Thompson then drilled the PK in for the eventual game-winner.

“We had plenty of opportunities to score,” said Perry. “We moved the ball well, and defensively we didn’t give up too many chances. We got caught unbalanced on their breakaway that led to the penalty kick.”

Monmouth’s defense came to play down the stretch, surrendering less than two goals a game over the final four games.

“We have three very good goal keepers in the program,” said Perry of senior Owen Robinson and freshmen Nick Vyncke and Frank Bowman. “Owen had a tremendous four-year career for us. He has been a very good mentor to Nick and Frank. Offensively, we got better, too. Instead of playing kickball, we got better at playing the ball to the feet. When we did that, we were a very effective team.”

Only Robinson and Jackson will be lost to graduation, giving Perry nearly a full compliment of returners for his fifth year. Add in the return of injured junior Danny Davis and Perry is anxious for next season to get here.

“Danny’s return will give us more depth and options,” said Perry. “He’s good at midfield and has a good eye for the game. Not having someone like him on the field this season hurt quite a bit.”

Garrett White, Joe Howell, Knox and Buol also return next year as the team’s elder statesmen to mesh with a strong group of underclassmen, making for a young, but experienced squad in 2010.

If the Scots can just find a goal here or there next season it won’t be a case of “Close, but…” It might be more of a case of “Smokin’.”

CONFERENCE HONORS

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.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Nov. 6
Swimming – hosts Knox, 6:00 pm 

Sat., Nov. 7
Swimming – hosts Lake Forest, 1:00 pm
Football – at Knox, 1:00 pm

SCOTSIVATIONAL

“Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.”
David Joseph Schwartz