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Game 10 -- Nov. 4, 2006
Monmouth vs. Knox, Monmouth, Ill.
Monmouth
41, Knox 6
First, a disclaimer: The MC sports
information department was not involved in a plot to mislead Knox's
defense. Billed all week long as a running showdown between the Fighting
Scots' Dante Daniels and the Prairie Fire's Kevin Megli, the
Bronze Turkey Game instead featured a four-touchdown passing game by
Monmouth's Jared Mundt, who completed three of his scoring
strikes to Evan Haffner. The Mundt-to-Haffner connection clicked
twice in the game's first 5:26, taking virtually all of the suspense out
of the 118th meeting between the storied rivals. The first TD, a
12-yarder, capped a 73-yard, 11-play opening drive that featured five
Mundt completions, four to Haffner. The second came after Wes Levy sacked Logan Schroeder on Knox's first play from scrimmage,
forcing a fumble that Adam Troll recovered. Mundt found Haffner
in the end zone from 32 yards out on the ensuing play. Daniels finally
got involved in the scoring with 8:45 left in the second quarter,
breaking a seven-yard TD run up the middle to cap a short drive. Nate
Palkovic tacked on field goals of 42 and 36 yards to complete the
first-half scoring. Knox pulled within 27-6 after halftime by marching
82 yards on eight plays, but the Scots regained control from there, with
Mundt throwing nine-yard TD passes to Haffner and Shane Gordon in
the fourth quarter. Haffner finished with nine catches for 124 yards,
while Daniels added 98 yards rushing. Goranson was in on 10 tackles,
including 3.5 for loss, and Phil Kleckler and T.C. Olsen
had 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Megli topped the Prairie Fire with
105 yards on the ground.
Game 9 -- Oct. 28, 2006
Monmouth vs. Illinois College, Jacksonville, Ill.
Monmouth
17, Illinois College 7
Reduced to the role of playing
spoiler this season, the Fighting Scots have taken to the new task quite
well. Two weeks ago, they handed Ripon its first league loss of the
year, and today's victory at IC knocked the Blueboys out of the title
chase. The formula in both victories was the same, as the Scots used a
steady dose of Dante Daniels and a stingy defense to come out on
top. Daniels hit the 200-yard mark for the fifth time this year,
finishing with 205 yards on 36 carries. The record-setting back's
44-yard run tied the score at 7-7 late in the third quarter, and he
pushed across the winning points on a two-yard run with 6:50 left in the
game. The play capped a short 24-yard scoring drive that was set up by
an interception by Phil Kleckler, one of five Scots' interceptions on the day. Forced to go for it on
fourth down in their territory, the Blueboys' ensuing drive was stopped,
and Nate Palkovic iced the victory with a 32-yard field goal with
44 seconds left. In a game that featured a scoreless tie at halftime, the
Scots defense held IC to just 169 yards for the game.
Game 8 -- Oct. 21, 2006
Monmouth vs. Lake Forest, Monmouth, Ill.
Lake Forest 12, Monmouth
8
On a day when many in the
Homecoming crowd waited for Dante Daniels to break Ron Baker's
32-year-old single season rushing record, it was the Lake Forest defense
that shined, holding Daniels to a season-low 67 yards in a 12-8 Forester
victory. The Fighting Scots defense limited Lake Forest to just 210
yards, but gave up two scores. The Foresters' Jeff Ziemnik hooked up
with Dan Carter for two TDs, the last a 45 yard catch and run to put
Lake Forest up 12-0 at the half. Daniels set Monmouth's single season
rushing record with his first carry of the second half, but the Scots
could mount little offense until freshman quarterback Keegan Jones
dived into the end zone early in the fourth quarter, capping a 4 play,
41 yard drive. A steady light rain in the second half hampered any big
play opportunities for either team as Monmouth was limited to a
season-low 155 yards total offense. The Scots' Wes Levy led the
defensive charge recording a game-high 13 tackles.
Game 7 -- Oct. 14, 2006
Monmouth vs. Ripon, Monmouth, Ill.
Monmouth 24, Ripon
14
The Fighting Scots' game plan was
simple -- get back to what they do best. That's running the football,
and Dante Daniels did a lot of it, gaining a school-record 249
yards on 36 carries and becoming Monmouth's first 1,000-yard back since
the 1993 season. Daniels' one-yard run early in the second quarter was
the only TD of the first half, which ended with the Scots ahead 10-0.
With the score 17-7 in the final period, Daniels iced the game with a
65-yard score. He had rushed for 37 yards on the Scots' previous 73-yard
scoring drive, which was capped by a seven-yard TD pass from Jared Mundt
to Shane Gordon. Defensively, Monmouth kept the Red Hawks' option
attack in check, surrendering just 148 yards rushing. Ripon's longest
play from scrimmage was a 20-yard pass. Linemen Wes Levy and
Adam Troll combined for 19 tackles and shared the Scots' lone sack,
while Cole Norman and Danny Weiden combined for 13 tackles
and each added an interception. Daniels improved his single-season
rushing total to 1,187 yards and will need just 32 yards next week at
Homecoming to break Ron Baker's school record. Another Baker record did
fall, as Evan Haffner had 62 all-purpose yards and now has 3,995
yards for his career.
Game 6 -- Oct. 7, 2006
Monmouth vs. St. Norbert, DePere, Wis.
St. Norbert 48, Monmouth
0
The Fighting Scots couldn't
overcome eight turnovers in a 48-0 loss to St. Norbert. The Green
Knights avenged last season's loss to Monmouth and remained tied with
Ripon for first place in the Midwest Conference. The Knights stifled
the Monmouth offense, intercepting Jared Mundt four times and
recovering four Scots fumbles. St. Norbert scored on their first
possession driving 73 yards in nine plays. The Green Knights rolled up
452 yards of total offense to just 181 for the Scots, their lowest
output of the season. Dante Daniels' string of 100 and 200 yard
games ended as the Knights held the senior speedster to 90 yards
rushing. Jason Goldsworthy came back from an injury to lead the
Monmouth defense with 10 tackles.
Game 5 -- Sept. 30, 2006
Monmouth vs. Grinnell, Grinnell, Iowa
Monmouth 51,
Grinnell 31
For one half, the Pioneers nearly
matched the Fighting Scots score-for-score before Monmouth used a 14-0
third quarter to secure their 20th straight Midwest Conference victory.
The Scots had yielded just one first-half touchdown in their first three
league games, but Grinnell reached the end zone three times in the first
two quarters to keep the halftime score at a respectable 27-18 in
Monmouth's favor. The Scots responded to their wake-up call in quick
fashion, punching in a TD on their first third-quarter drive and then
blocking a punt two minutes later that Jeff Davis took 13 yards to the
house for a 41-18 lead. Davis tacked on a 34-yard TD run in the fourth
quarter, but the bulk of the rushing yardage again went to Dante
Daniels, who topped 200 yards for the third time this season. His
201-yard day, which included scoring runs of two and 34 yards, puts him
at 850 yards for the season. Freshman Jared Mundt again handled
the quarterbacking duties, completing 14-of-24 passes for 205 yards and
three touchdowns. On the receiving end of the scoring passes were
Shane Gordon, Dan Morrison and Jess Miller, and
Morrison was the leading receiving with 99 yards. Luke Sandrock
had a team-high 10 tackles and forced a fumble, while Aaron Payette
picked off his fifth pass of the season.
Game 4 -- Sept. 23, 2006
Monmouth vs. Carroll, Monmouth, Ill.
Monmouth 38,
Carroll 7
In a game that featured two
second-string quarterbacks, the Monmouth defense gave another first-rate
effort, extending the Fighting Scots' Midwest Conference unbeaten streak
to 19 games. The defense forced three turnovers, including a pair of
interceptions by Aaron Payette, and held the Pioneers off the
scoreboard following a first-quarter TD. In his first college start,
Carroll's Dan Clay was held to just eight completions for 122 yards, and
the Pioneers were 10-of-29 overall. Monmouth freshman Jared Mundt,
meanwhile, was impressive in his starting debut, completing 16-of-29
passes for 273 yards and two scores. Evan Haffner was on the
receiving end of both of those as he had his best game of the season,
catching 10 balls for 191 yards. The scoring plays covered 34 and 59
yards. Haffner broke the career reception record during the game (he now
has 124) and moved within 16 yards of that career milestone. Monmouth's
other offensive star, Dante Daniels, again reached the century
mark, gaining 114 yards, and he also reached the end zone, scoring three
times on runs of two, eight and eight yards. Rounding out the scoring
was Nate Palkovic, who had a 28-yard field goal in addition to
five PATs. Marc Artozqui again led the team in tackles with 10,
while Phil Kleckler had nine stops, including a sack. Monmouth
has not lost in the MWC since falling to St. Norbert on Sept. 18, 2004.
Game 3 -- Sept. 16, 2006
Monmouth vs. Beloit, Beloit, Wis.
Monmouth 31,
Beloit 0
Paced by Dante Daniels'
school record 229 rushing yards, Monmouth improved to 2-1 with the
shutout victory that spoiled their hosts' Homecoming. Daniels' day bested Ron Baker's mark of 223
yards set in 1973 and moved the Fighting Scots to 2-0 in the MWC. Nathan Palkovic got the Scots' scoring started
with a 26-yard field goal late in the first quarter, and Monmouth
then erupted for three second quarter TDs, two by Daniels on runs of six and
22 yards and the third on Aaron Payette's 53-yard interception
return. Jared Mundt came off the bench to toss his first
collegiate TD pass, a 44-yard catch and run to Dan Morrison to
round out the scoring in the third quarter. The Monmouth defense sacked
Bucs' quarterback Joe Davis twice and picked off two passes while
holding Beloit to just 177 yards of offense.
Game 2 -- Sept. 9, 2006
Monmouth vs. Lawrence, Monmouth, Ill.
Monmouth 49,
Lawrence 6
After being blanked to start the
season last week, the Fighting Scots offense got rolling en route to an
easy win in their Midwest Conference opener. In particular, Dante
Daniels got rolling, as the senior speedster rushed for 205 yards
and four TDs, including a 71-yard score. His big day ranks fifth on
Monmouth's all-time single-game honor roll, trailing only legendary Hall
of Famer Ron Baker, who had four games of 206 yards or better in the
mid-1970s. Sophomore quarterback Steve Zidow also shared the
spotlight, completing 10-of-13 passes for 157 yards and three TDs.
Evan Haffner, Shane Gordon and Jess Miller each had
one of the grabs, and Haffner finished with a team-high 79 yards through
the air and 141 all-purpose yards. Monmouth's defense was also a big
factor, limiting a dangerous Lawrence ground game to 49 yards on 32
carries. The defense had only one breakdown, surrendering a 99-yard TD
in the third quarter when the Vikings' Aljay Wren turned a short toss
into the longest pass play in school history. That cut the Scots' lead
to 28-6, but Daniels answered with his fourth score, a 37-yard dash with
6:10 left in the period. In a game that some
observers around the conference felt would be close, turnover margin
played a major role. Lawrence lost all five of its fumbles and threw an
interception, while the Scots had just one miscue. Danny Weiden
forced a fumble and recovered two others, while Doug Stichter had
the interception. Anthony Goranson had a team-high seven tackles,
including 2.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Nate Palkovic drilled
all seven PATs to give him 99 for his career, which ties the school
record.
Game 1 -- Sept. 2, 2006
Monmouth vs. Wartburg, Waverly, Iowa
Wartburg 20,
Monmouth 0
The Fighting Scots' string of 55
straight games without being shut out came to a close, as did their
17-game regular season unbeaten streak. Midway through the third
quarter, Monmouth looked like it was poised to take the upper hand in
the low-scoring affair, as Dante Daniels broke loose for his longest
college run, a 45-yard scamper to the Wartburg seven yard-line. But he
lost the ball at the end of the run, and the Knights recovered. Wartburg
then marched 93 yards, capping the 5:59 drive with a 24-yard TD pass to
take a 13-0 lead. They sealed their victory with another 93-yard
touchdown drive with 2:23 to play. It came after Monmouth was stopped on
downs at Wartburg's seven-yardline. Nearly 6,000 fans saw the hosts
outgain Monmouth 368-232 and control the ball for 35 minutes. Daniels
finished with 101 yards on 18 carries, but Wartburg tied up the Scots'
other proven star, holding receiver/returner Evan Haffner to just 78
all-purpose yards. New quarterback Steve Zidow was 10-of-19 for 100
yards and one interception, with Shane Gordon catching four passes for
40 yards. Linebackers Jason Goldsworthy and Phil Kleckler combined for
25 tackles for the Scots, who were shut out for the first time since a
45-0 loss to St. Norbert in 2000. |
