Football Lands Bumper Crop of Recruits

Release Date: June 22, 2001

Monmouth College head football coach Steve Bell will welcome another large recruiting class when practice opens in mid-August, and 15 players who competed for local high schools will be among the group.

"We feel that we added some quality area kids from good programs, so we’re definitely happy in that sense," said Bell, whose initial recruiting class prior to his rookie season in 2000 consisted of 51 freshmen and transfers. "Down the road, this could be a very strong recruiting class. We filled our need areas and we were able to strengthen our strengths."

The Olympic Conference will be represented by five athletes on the Scots’ roster next fall, including Ryan Ferry of Orion, Marshall Price and Jeff Wright of Rockridge and Jeff Wells and Danny Hughes of Macomb. From the Lincoln Trail Conference, Bell welcomes Courtland Davis, Aaron Kiddoo and Craig Smith of Westmer, Dan Hall of ROWVA, Brant Peterson of AlWood and Tyler Yarde of Alexis. Other local players include Nate Livermore of Roseville, Jason Lydic of Abingdon and Greg Monn and Nick Prosser of Lewistown.

By position, the Fighting Scots recruits include four quarterbacks – Matt Clair of Ottawa, T.J. Gordon of West Leyden, Brian Krier of Niles West and Aaron McKay of Erie – nine running backs, seven wide receivers, five tights ends and 10 offensive lineman. On the defensive side of the ball, there are seven linemen, nine linebackers and 11 defensive backs. Bell said one of his recruits, wide receiver Chris Knoepke from the state of Colorado, is also a punting prospect.

Of the teams that reached the state quarterfinals in one of the six classes in Illinois, Bell has recruited four players, including Pat Barney and Ross Brocies of Joliet Catholic, the undefeated state champions in Class 4A. Brocies, who was one of the team’s starting linebackers, is a converted defensive back who will likely return to the secondary at the collegiate level. The other two recruits who went deep into the playoffs were Matt Ray and Brian Vergauwen of Hinsdale South.

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