Flushed by the Johns

By Ian Van Anden
Asst. Sports Editor

The Monmouth College Fighting Scots football season is done. On Saturday Nov. 19 the Scots trekked to Collegeville, Minn. to take on the St. Johns Johnnies. The game was easily the worst of the year for the program.

The Scots took an early 3-0 lead before yielding 62 straight points to the Johnnies. Junior Doug Stichter got the Scots off to a hot start. He intercepted St. Johns quarterback Alex Kofoed on the second play of the game.

After sophomore Nathan Palkovic nailed a 29-yard field goal, the Scots were optimistic of their chances in the game. However, the game unfolded differently.

After these first quick minutes, the Scots and their fans had little reason to cheer for. By the end of the first quarter, the Scots’ 3-0 lead had turned into a 14-3 deficit. In less that five minutes, the Scots saw St. Johns score two easy touchdowns.

The second quarter was no better for the Scots; there were only two bright spots. One of them was a missed extra point by the Johnnies kicker. The second was an interception by senior defensive back Ryan Bast.

The rest of the game was pretty much the same. In the second half, that Scots offense continued to be ineffective. Meanwhile, the Johnnies offense was relentless. St. Johns scored 48 points in the half while shutting out the Scots’ attack.

For the first time all year, the Scots offense was unable to protect senior Mitch Tanney, who in his final appearance in a Monmouth uniform was sacked 13 times. Tanney, who has had a stellar year was left frustrated and beating the ground.

The Johnnies defense was lead by defensive end Kevin McNamara, who led the team with 12 tackles. which included seven and a half sacks. McNamara was a menace all day long, and was in the backfield on almost every play.

For the Scots, junior Jason Goldsworthy continued his solid play as he is rebounding from an injury. In his second straight game, Goldsworthy registered 12 tackles, including two take downs behind the line of scrimmage.

Junior Dante Daniels could not get rolling. The Scots’ usually potent rusher, Daniels, only gained 36 yards. But due to the fact that yards lost on sacks are included in the rushing statistics, the Scots officially had negative three net rushing yards on the game.

Tanney also had a miserable passing day by his standards. He only completed 20 of his 30 attempts for an unimpressive 118 yards. Tanney was left frustrated and dirty at the end of the day.

The Scots were simply over-matched on this Saturday. The Johnnies dominated in every facet of the game with ease. The MC defense yielded 555 yards to a very balanced Johnnies attack.

The Johnnies tallied 287 rushing yards, and 268 passing yards. St. Johns scored five touchdowns through the air, and four by way of the ground game. This balanced attack left the Scots defense guessing on what to do next.

After all was said and done the Scots returned to Monmouth crestfallen but also proud to have been the first team in the school’s history to make it to the Division III playoffs.

Although the season ended on a low note, there is plenty to build towards next year. The offense will remain relatively intact as it only looses three starters. Offensive guard Matt Woods, wide receiver Matt Hammer, and quarterback Mitch Tanney will all be moving on.

Tanny will be the hardest to replace. Division III Heisman candidate Tanney, has led the Scots in all their games, both physically and emotionally. Hammer and Woods both leave positions with a large amount of depth. Tanney, on the other hand, vacates the position most important to Coach Steve Bell’s system, quarterback.

Behind Tanney the Scots are very young and green at quarterback. The Scots have four back-up quarterbacks on their roster. Two will be juniors next year and two will be sophomores.

Out of the four potential athletes current sophomore Joe Exline and freshman Robert Garcia are the only two with pass attempts on their résumé. It is rumored that neither of these two finished the season well after having given back-up quarterback responsibilities.

Garcia played horribly in the annual freshmen sophomore game. He threw four interceptions. After the game, Garcia did not see any real playing time in the Scots last two games of the season.

Exline who started out the season as the back-up behind Tanney saw little playing time as the season came to an end. He apparently lost the job, but then again no one apparently stepped up to claim the job.

Coach Bell knows best and one thing is for sure, he will have his team ready and quarterback chosen by the start of the ’06 season.

The Scots will take a much bigger hit on the defensive side of the ball. The Scots will be losing a key member of the team at every level. Dominant defensive back and senior Ryan Bast will graduate with fellow seniors Tyler Dihle and Justin Zigler.

Dihle helped anchor a solid defensive line and has played solidly for all four of his years at Monmouth. He will be sorely missed.

Zigler, who is the Scots’ all-time leader in tackles leaves a giant hole in the Scots’ linebacker core. Zigler has prowled the field in dominant fashion during his years at MC and his shoes may be tough ones to fill next year.

Ryan Bast, who has been a force in the Scots defensive secondary, is also graduating. Bast, who throughout the season has taken the opposing team’s number one receiver out of the picture, will also be hard to replace. He was one of the top corners in the Midwest conference, although he went unnoticed and underappreciated throughout the year. Well…at least by most media organizations (including the Courier).

Despite their losses the defense will remain a very senior group. With nine returning starters and several key role players waiting in the wings, the Scots defense should once again improve.

One thing is for sure, at least for right now, the Scots’ coaching staff will remain intact. This staff has seen their team improve steadily over the past couple of years. It was in this year that they were finally able to see their squad reach the Division III playoffs.

Next year the Scots will look to return to the playoffs and even win their first playoff game ever. With all of this momentum, the future is bright for the Monmouth College Fighting Scots football team.