After Killion’s Special Game, Scots Now Focus on Special Teams

Release Date: October 23, 2002

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College’s Jason Killion did a pretty good imitation of the Chicago Bears’ David Terrell last Saturday, minus the weird TD celebrations and the long-term injury.

Killion, who ranks only fourth among his fellow receivers at Monmouth in career receptions, used the height and athleticism often associated with Terrell to pull in three touchdown catches against Lawrence, accounting for half of the Scots’ scores in a 42-14 victory. He finished with seven receptions for 117 yards.

“The first touchdown was a wide receiver screen that I definitely called for Jason,” said Bell, who knows of the junior’s talents from their time together at MacMurray College, where their careers overlapped for one year. “He used his good athletic ability, and we got some good blocking downfield.”

That play went for 24 yards, and Killion added a 33-yard score in the first half when quarterback Rob Purlee “made a good read” and hit his open receiver. In the third period, with Monmouth ahead just 21-14, the Scots were able to break the game open following a botched Lawrence punt. The Vikings had set up to punt at the Monmouth 42-yard line, but the snap sailed over the punter’s head and resulted in a 36-yard loss. The Scots took over on the LU 22 and, two plays later, Bell called for a fade route to the 6-foot-3 Killion, who cashed in yet again.

“I saw a mismatch there,” said Bell. “It was their corner against our tall receiver. Jason’s a very good athlete. His height helps, and we can get him into some good matchups.”

It doesn’t hurt Killion that he is the least-known of Monmouth’s strong receiving corps, which also includes Ryan Wood (67 career catches), Nathan Gaskill (66) and Tyler Snyder (50). Of course, Killion might have blown his cover with the big game against Lawrence. Snyder was also a factor in the contest, catching six balls for 119 yards.

Another 100-yard performer on the day for Monmouth was Ed McCracken, the team’s starting fullback, who also logged time at tailback and finished with 117 yards on just 11 carries, including a 51-yard TD.

“Ed came in at tailback and gave us some of the physical running that we needed in that game,” said Bell. “He was running hard, and that paid off when he broke four tackles on his touchdown run. We weren’t running the ball that well until Ed came in at tailback.”

Speaking of running, finally shutting down Lawrence’s Justin Berrens proved to be the Scots’ defensive key in the second half. Although Berrens finished with a respectable 107 yards, he had just 11 yards on six carries and fumbled once in the third quarter as Monmouth extended its lead by 14 points.

“We made some adjustments in the second half and did a good job of stopping the run,” said Bell. “It was definitely a group effort.”

Now that the Scots have improved to 2-5, they’re hoping to extend their winning streak to three games with a victory in Jacksonville this Saturday against Illinois College (3-4, 2-4). Unlike recent seasons when the focus has been on Blueboys such as quarterback Derek Leonard and running back Patrick Bowman, this year the Scots have to stop … the punt returner?

IC’s B.J. Harvey ran two punts back for touchdowns last week against Lake Forest, earning the Midwest Conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week honor. Harvey enters the game ranked fifth in the nation in punt returns and 10th  in the nation in kickoff returns.

The challenge lies with special teams coach Dave Ragone, and his punt and kickoff coverage teams called, respectively, the “Bomb Squad” and the “Headhunters.” Their job will be to not make it “Showtime” for IC, which is what Ragone calls his own kickoff return team, led by Gaskill.

Ragone was asked who some of his standouts on special teams have been, and he answered, “Albert Greene and Dustin Schaibley both did good jobs for us last week.”

When the regular offenses and defenses are on the field, Bell said the Scots will need to be aware of an IC team that throws the ball nearly 70 percent of the time, and he hopes for good pressure from his front four, which includes Matt Lerner, Jake Hushka, Tobias Dickerson and Andy Stumpf.

“We did a good job of pressuring the quarterback last week,” said Bell. “It’s not always sacks that you need. You just need to make sure the quarterback is pressured into making bad throws.”

Keeping the Blueboys’ from doing the same to Purlee is also a must, and Bell is concerned about IC’s ends – Andy Wagenbach, who leads the league in sacks, and Willie Thompson.

On the injury report for the Scots, linebacker Steve Earnhardt has been lost for the year, so freshman Justin Zigler will be back in the starting lineup. Two others starters, cornerback Scott Stanton and fullback Oscar Scott, have been out for some time, and assorted bumps and bruises have a couple other Scots’ starters on a “day-to-day” basis, Division III’s version of “questionable.”

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