Scots nip Norbert 28-20

by Mallory Mulvihill
Sports Editor

In the last two seasons, Monmouth suffered its only two conference losses to the St. Norbert Green Knights, which has cost them their first ever NCAA playoff berth. The Scots lost to the Green Knights last season 55-19, which became their only loss in their impressive 9-1 season. “We've never had our best game with them. If we play out best game against them, there's no doubt in my mind we can't beat them,” said Coach Steve Bell. This year, the Green Knights played a talented, more experienced Monmouth team, with senior quarterback Mitch Tanney running the offense, and senior linebacker Justin Zigler controlling the defense. “We really don't have to say anything to these guys. Our kids are smart enough to know what this game means,” added Bell .

The Scots welcomed their first victory in five years of Norbert 28-20 on Saturday, Sept. 17. Red and White stormed the field and it wasn't just the red and white of the football jerseys, but the red and white of the fans. Parents, students, and siblings ran at the football team after their huddle after a six hour drive in hopes of a Scots's victory. “The fans were awesome. They were loud. HOLY MOLY! They were great. You would have thought we were at home. I usually don't notice the crowd or what they are doing, but man they made themselves known,” smiled Bell .

The first touchdown of the game came off of a 2 yard pass from Cody Craig to Kyle Thayese. The Green Knights made it to the endzone in twelve plays. The Green Knights suffered a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and were forced back 15 more yards on their extra point. The kicked was blocked and the Knights went up 6-0.

The defenses of both teams held strong until the end of the first quarter when the Scots made a drive at the 3:02 mark. Transfer Dante Daniels, started the drive as he rushed for 5 yards, and Tanney added 5 more to get the Scots the first down. Tanney took to the air for the next five throws, completing three to Haffner for a total of 19 yards and two to senior Matt Hammer for 12. This brought the Scots to the end of the first quarter and first in goal to Norbert's endzone. At the start of the second, Daniels ran the ball in seven yards to let Tanney finish the drive off with a one yard rush. Sophomore Nathan Palkovic's kick attempt was good, to put the Scot's up 7-6.

St. Norbert came back towards the end of the second quarter quickly tallying two touchdowns to go up at the half 20-7. Bell gave his defense a simple reminder at the break, “Settle down, relax and tackle better. The atmosphere was pretty quiet, but the guys understood what needed to happen in the second half,” said Bell . The men sure were fired up as they came out of the break fired up and ready to go.

Most of third quarter were strong drives, but stopped by great defensive plays. The first drive of the quarter was an impressive one, but stopped at the Norbert 7 yard line. Tanney completed five passes and rushed himself 12 yards. The Scots took a chance and 4th and 4, but were stopped on an incomplete pass from Tanney. The rest of the quarter remained a battle. Neither one to teams had gone fore than 33 yards. Monmouth then set up what was going to be the turning point of the game. With 1:34 left on the clock, and a lot of uneasiness from the team and the crowd, Tanney completed a 72 yard pass to a sprinting Haffner to score the Scot's second touchdown and make the score 14-20. It took one play and lasted 11 seconds. He left Norbert's senior, All- Conference cornerback Anthony Triner in his dust. “Haffner's catch was definitely the spark we needed. After that catch, the whole team knew we were going to win. There was such a big momentum swing when that happened, the team knew that even though we were down, we were going to win,” commented Bell .

The crowd at this point was uncontrollable. Every person wearing Monmouth red and white were on their feet, and didn't sit down for the rest of the game. Just like the team, the crowd knew a victory was looming. “The fans were so loud, they got us going, we got them going. At some points, the players couldn't even hear Mitch's calls they were so loud,” said junior Adam Troll.

After that the Scots couldn't be stopped. The Knights took the ball with 1:23 left in the third quarter and was sacked immediately by sophomore Wes Levey to lose 8 yards. The Knights only got in three legitimate plays and lost 13 yards. The following play Tanney and company went back to work. He again completed a pass to Haffner at a gain of 18 yards and again in the following play for a gain of 11. The on the Knights 9, Tanney found senior Jason Meyers slanting and hit him square in the numbers for touchdown. Palkovic again made good on his extra point and the Scots took their first lead of the game 21-20.

Zigler made two huge tackles out of nowhere to slow down Norbert's next drive and helped the S cots stop the Knights in just five plays. “Zigler was unbelievable. He was all over the place,” commented Bell . The Scots quickly turned their stellar defense into offense. Tanney found sophomore Danny Morrison twice for a gain of 17 yards, senior Shane Gordon once for a gain of 4, and junior Aaron Hogan for a gain of 10. He handed the ball of to Daniels who in his two times rushed for 12 yards, and jack of all trades Haffner who also rushed for 5. Mitch then took the honors of running the ball in from the 1 yard line for the fourth and final Scots touchdown to make the score 28-20.

Norbert had one last try to catch the Scots with 5:59 left to play. Zigler again had two huge stops for the Scots, and freshman standout Anthony Goranso came up big at first and ten and cost the Knights three yards that ultimately ended the game for them. Sophomore Aaron Payette tackled Craig to force the Knights to try and gain some yards on a 4th and 12. Craig's pass was incomplete and the Scots got the ball back with 2:16 left in the clock.

Tanney took a knee :39 seconds left and the Scots felt their first victory against the Knights in five years. When asked about what was different this year from all the other years Bell replied, “There has been a mental change from the past five years. We never got lost mentally out there. The team never got down and questioned the outcome of the game.” Tanney finished the game 31-42 on passing for 302 yards. “Mitch played intelligent. He really executed the plan to a T,” said Bell .

Haffner finished the game with 16 catches, which is now a Monmouth College record which was previously 12, for 190 yards. He also recorded 284 all-purpose yards, which is second in team history. His performance against the Knights earned him Midwest Conference Player of the Week, which the third week in a row a Scot has taken that honor.

Monmouth's defense also made a mark. Zigler, who is now the school's leader in career tackles added 12 more to his name and the record books. Also, Goranson was named to the D3football.com national Team of the Week as he had six tackles that resulted in a loss of yards for the Knights. He pushed the Knights backward for a loss of 30 yards, in which three of them were sacks. “Ryan Bast had a good day also,” added Bell , “he played well shutting down Norbert's wide receiver. Junior Doug Stichter also had a really good game.”

The Scots look to keep the winning streak going as they take on Beloit College this weekend, Sept. 24. The Scots have a test against them with the Bucs. They only lost by two to the Knights on Sept. 19. Against Lake Forest last weekend, Lee Rankinen had a field day as her gained 246 yards on 33 carries. “We need to focus on Beloit . We can beat them, but they are a very capable team with a good coaching staff. Its always been a dog fight with them, so we will have to come up with our best game to win,” commented Bell .