MONMOUTH,
Ill. - The question is on every Fighting Scots football fan's mind, so it was posed to
head coach Steve Bell following a heartbreaking 28-21 loss to nationally-rated St.
Norbert last Saturday.
Now that Monmouth is 0-3, can the team rally and win the rest of
the games on the schedule?
"Let's not look ahead," Bell replied. "It doesn't matter who we
play in the conference, it's going to be the same type of dogfight that we've had our
first three games. We play Beloit this Saturday, and we're going to take it one game at
a time. I don't care what the comparative scores are. There's no step down in the level
of competition."
Although Bell's staff won't look ahead, the Scots probably feel
a bit relieved to have the toughest part of the schedule behind them. There are seven
teams remaining to be played, and Monmouth defeated them all last season, although
victory over Beloit wasn't achieved until Andy Full's field goal in the final two
minutes lifted the Scots to a 26-23 win.
"Coming in, we knew our schedule was the toughest in the league
when you look at the first three games," said Bell. "Did we come out in a positive
manner? No. But we know what we need to work on as a team."
Playing St. Norbert as tough as they did had to be a lift for
the Scots, though, and Bell agreed.
"Obviously, we don't accept a loss as a football program, but I
think we can take a lot of good things from that football game," he said. "It's
frustrating, because we know we had chances to win. We showed how we can play. There was
a totally different atmosphere than our first two games."
By moving the ball against St. Norbert, one of the things the
Scots showed was that their offense is talented enough to play against the rest of the
competition they'll see this year. Although Bell would have liked the running game to do
better, his team still racked up 392 yards, including 343 through the air. Nathan
Gaskill had a game for the ages, catching seven passes for 209 yards and three TDs. The
latter statistic tied a school record, and his receiving yards put him second on the MC
single-game honor roll behind a 231-yard effort by Jeff Timmons in 1996.
"Obviously, Nathan was getting open, and that was the key," said
Bell. "But I think we have three, four, even five receivers that anyone in this league
would want. Tyler Snyder had his day in our first game (168 yards on 10 catches), and
Nathan had his Saturday. But that's good - it might make someone think about
double-teaming one of them."
Gaskill's 26-yard TD catch in the first period was just an
appetizer for two memorable scoring plays. Early in the second quarter, he got behind
St. Norbert's defense, hauled in a Rob Purlee pass around midfield and sprinted home to
complete a 76-yard scoring play.
"There are very few, if any, defensive backs that are going to
catch him when he hits his stride," said Bell.
With the Scots trying to rally late, Gaskill caught a 31-yard
pass to set up a beautiful diving 12-yard catch in the end zone, which Bell called
"probably the best catch I've seen since I've been coaching."
Sadly, Purlee couldn't find Gaskill or any other red jersey on a
crucial interception late in the third period after Monmouth, trailing 28-14, had
first-and-goal at the SNC 3.
"On the first running play, we had a missed blocking assignment
on the left side of the line," said Bell. "Then we tried to run again. On third down, we
took a shot. I've talked to Rob about the throw. You don't want to force anything in
that situation, but give credit to their DB. He did make a good break on the ball.
That's a learning experience."
The Midwest Conference certainly gave credit to the DB, as Joe
Masciopinto, who made the pivotal interception, was named the league's Defensive Player
of the Week. He also led the Green Knights in tackles.
While the interception was huge, Bell also looked back at the
14-14 halftime score and pointed out it could have been a Monmouth lead.
"We dropped an interception that could've been a touchdown," he
said, noting that the Scots also had three drives that reached inside the SNC 35 before
faltering, including an interception in the final minute of the first half.
"Still, we thought we were sitting good at 14-14 at halftime. I
told (defensive coordinator) Coach Braun that St. Norbert is probably ticked, and
they're going to try to run the ball down our throats. Obviously, that's their strength.
They took it to us for a good chunk of time in the third quarter."
The Knights came out of the locker room and accomplished exactly
what they wanted and what Bell feared - a 12-play, 62-yard drive that balanced the run
and the pass and included a key fourth-and-three pass down to the Monmouth 5-yard line.
Alec Getschow scored on the next play, and the Knights then padded their lead with an
11-play, 70-yard drive the next time they had the ball.
"We legitimately could have won that football game, and that's
nice," said Bell. "But that was not our best game. We can play much, much better."
The Scots would like to do just that at Beloit Saturday. The
game, which will help the Buccaneers celebrate Homecoming, will kick off at 2 p.m.
Last week, the Buccaneers dropped a 24-23 decision to Lake
Forest, surrendering two TDs in the final five minutes. The Bucs are led on offense by
running backs Scott Weber (190 yards) and Damian Harrell (186 yards), and quarterback
Nate Skelton has thrown for 367 yards and three TDs, all to Nate Edwards, who has 212
receiving yards. Defensively, All-MWC performers Joe Kostiha and Mike Dempsey lead the
team with 35 and 32 tackles, respectively.
Football Homepage
Academics
