The Monmouth College Fighting Scots claimed their 59th Turkey Bowl victory on Saturday, Nov. 3, when they defeated the Knox College Prairie Fire 42-14.

The Scots marched into the Knox Bowl with bragging rights in the 119-year-old Turkey Bowl, having now won eight straight contests against the Prairie Fire.

The 14 points that Knox scored was their highest total since 2002 when the Prairie Fire scored 23 points in a losing effort.

Alex Tanney, the Scots’ freshman quarterback, capped his first collegiate season nicely by completing 24 of his 29 attempts for 309 yards; he also had five touchdown passes on the afternoon.

After the game, Tanney commented on his first Turkey Bowl saying, “I enjoyed playing in this atmosphere. When you walk in this bowl it just feels like a big game. It is just a great atmosphere to play in.”

The freshman quarterback helped lift the Scots to an early 7-0 advantage when he found sophomore wide receiver Nick Wright open for a 10-yard touchdown pass. The two hooked up earlier in the drive to convert on a third and long play.

In the game, Wright had five catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman wide receiver Mike Blodgett also had a solid first Turkey Bowl, as he hauled in five passes for 70 yards.

Junior tailback Jeff Davis had a nice afternoon for Monmouth, as he tallied 53 yards on 15 carries, as well as a score. Davis was credited with the Scots’ second touchdown of the afternoon, as he cleared the goal line midway through the first quarter on a nifty 27-yard run up the middle.

Monmouth concluded its first half scoring when Tanney found senior fullback Jess Miller open in the end zone for a 3-yard score. This came at the 11-minute mark in the second quarter and gave MC a 21-point lead.

Knox was able to answer back, as they scored on an impressive 11 play, 62-yard drive that lasted just under five and a half minutes. Knox running back Cody Engle found the end zone on a hard earned, one-yard run to close out the drive.

Monmouth was able to take over in the second half, however, as they scored 21 more points while holding Knox to just seven.

The MC defense played at a high level all afternoon and their performance was highlighted by junior Marc Artozqui’s sack in the fourth quarter.

The linebacker hurdled over a Prairie Fire blocker and flew into the face of the sophomore quarterback, George Nicholson. The sack forced a Knox punt from deep in their own territory and electrified the Monmouth College faithful.

On his junior linebacker’s big play, Monmouth head football coach, Steve Bell, said, “We had a lot of guys make big plays; Marc’s play was just one of them.”

Bell praised his defense for their play, saying, “Our defense did a good job by getting Knox off schedule with what they wanted to do. What I mean by that is we forced a lot of second and longs. They did a great job of setting up our offense in good position.”

Freshman defensive back Sean Wells had a great game for Monmouth as he had a team-high 14 tackles. Junior linebacker Danny Weiden joined Wells with 14 tackles of his own for Monmouth.

Senior defensive back Aaron Payette nabbed an interception, the lone MC takeaway of the game.

After the game, Monmouth senior captain Wes Levy announced to his team that he would be returning next year for another season of Fighting Scots football. Levy has a year of eligibility remaining after being sidelined with shoulder injuries for all of his sophomore year.

The Fighting Scots left the Knox Bowl with their ninth straight Turkey Bowl victory. The 2007 season concludes for both programs with Monmouth holding a record of 7-3 overall and 7-2 in the Midwest Conference.

Monmouth will not be eligible for the Division III playoffs. However, MC should end the season in a tie for second in the Midwest Conference with the Ripon Red Hawks.

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