Playoff bound!!!

by Ian Van Anden
Asst. Sports Editor

The Monmouth Fighting Scots have clinched their first playoff berth in the history of the college with a narrow win oover conference foe Carroll. The Scots shot out to a quick 28-7 lead in the first half.

However, they saw their lead shrink when Carroll scored twenty points in the second half.  On Saturday Oct. 29, the Scots walked off the field as the Midwest Conference champions after beating Carroll 35-27.

For the first game this year the MC defense bent, but they never broke; they held off the Carroll comeback and snuck out of the game with an eight point victory.

Senior Mitch Tanney had yet another dynamic game. He was 17 of 28 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns. He also had nine carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown run accounted for the Scots’ lone score in the second half as Tanney scampered for a 40 yard score.

Unfortunately for the Scots offense, their other two main offensive weapons had very quiet games. Junior wide receiver Evan Haffner only caught three passes for 20 yards; he was one of four Scots to haul in three catches.

Junior Dante Daniels had a rough game but this was mainly due to a shoulder injury he sustained. After eight carries for 28 yards rushing and one catch for a 30 yard touchdown, Daniels was sidelined for the rest of the game.

Despite these offensive let downs, the Scots offense found a spark from sophomore running back Bobby Gibbs who led the Scots in both rushing yards and receiving yards. Gibbs carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. Gibbs also brought in three catches for 51 yards and a touchdown. After the game, Coach Steve Bell commented that Gibbs was the MVP of the game.

In this single game, Gibbs totaled 140 yards and two touchdowns. Gibbs who has moved rolls this season, after last year where he was almost strictly a special teams player. He preformed well there as he blocked several punts for the Scots last year.

The defense has been the unsung part of this season. Then men playing defense this year have been simply amazing. Their play has been highlighted by senior team leaders Ryan Bast and Justin Zigler.

Bast might epitomized the MC defense, quiet but deadly. Bast who roamed the Scots secondary often shutdown whole sides of the field, he is arguably the Midwest Conferences’ best defensive back. Against Carroll, Bast showed that he was more then just a cover corner as he laid out several Carroll players tallying nine tackles. Bast also intercepted a pass in the first quarter and returned the ball 32 yards to set up the offense for touchdown.

Zigler who has had a record breaking year this year for the Scots, will be hunting for the single season tackle record against Knox. In the Carroll game Zigler led everyone in tackles as he tallied an amazing 18 tackles. Along with his 18 tackles, Zigler brought down the Carroll quarterback two times for a total loss of 11 yards.

The Scots defense brought down the Carroll quarterback an impressive seven times. Leading the Scots in sacks was freshman Anthony Goranson with three sacks. Goranson also forced a fumble for the Scots. The other sacks recorded by the Scots were in gang tackling of the Carroll gunslinger.

The Scots defense has been extremely stingy on third down this year. In the game, Carroll only converted four of their 15 third downs. For the year, the Scots’ defense has only allowed its opponents to convert 35% of their third downs.

With their win over Carroll, the Scots have clinched their first playoff berth into the NCAA Division III postseason. The Scots have yet to find out who they will face in their first playoff game but it is unlikely that the game would be played in Bobby Woll Memorial Field.

This Saturday Nov. 5 the Scots will travel the 20 minutes on Route 34 to take on arch rival Knox. If the Scots can defeat Knox on Saturday they will achieve an undefeated regular season. This would mark the first time MC’s football team achieved a perfect 10-0 record in 100 years.