One down, one down to go: Scots look to upset St. Norbert

MONMOUTH, Ill. — When Monmouth College football coach Steve Bell drew for his schedule for the 2002-05 seasons, the two teams that he did not want to pick out of the hat for Week 1 and Week 2 were Ripon and St. Norbert.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened, but thanks to the Fighting Scots’ convincing 24-12 victory over Ripon last Saturday, the Scots are riding high heading into their biggest game in two seasons, a 1:30 p.m. meeting with the Green Knights in De Pere, Wis.

The last big game was a matchup of 4-0 MC and SNC teams in 2001, but St. Norbert got the better of things that day, topping Monmouth 31-7 at Minehan Stadium. Bell hopes his 2003 team, which includes many of the same players from the 2001 squad, are more mature and better prepared this time around.

That 31-7 loss crossed the minds of more than a few Monmouth faithful as last Saturday’s game unfolded. In a constant rain, St. Norbert took an early 21-0 lead and then watched the Scots try in vain to play catch up with a slippery and heavy ball. Scots’ quarterback Rob Purlee wound up just 8-of-24 passing for 97 yards.

In Saturday’s win in the rain over Ripon, Purlee was able to throw well early before the pigskin got soaked and, with a 17-0 lead, he then turned things over to Monmouth’s revitalized ground game. Meanwhile, Ripon’s Matt Trickey, last year’s first-team All-MWC signal-caller, never could seem to get a good grip, completing 19-of-35 passes for 162 yards and two interceptions.

“Going into the game, we wanted to throw the ball against them,” said Bell. “When we realized it was going to rain all day, we adjusted our thoughts and decided we’d better throw early before the game balls got soaked.”

Bell couldn’t have scripted the contest any better, as Purlee’s passing put Monmouth on top and then junior Todd Sabean and senior Oscar Scott took turns ripping off nice gains in the ground game. Sabean finished with 127 yards, while Scott added 82 more.

“We were able to run the ball by being more physical than them,” praised Bell. “Our backs did a great job of running physically.”

Although neither Sabean nor Scott reached paydirt, both runners set up scores. So, for that

matter, did Purlee, who scrambled for 13 yards on two carries during Monmouth’s opening drive. He sealed the deal with a 25-yard TD pass to senior Nathan Gaskill. On the Scots’ next drive, Scott had a pair of six-yard carries, and Purlee covered the final 45 yards on a 14-yard strike to senior Jason Killion and a 31-yard TD to senior Ryan Wood.

Sophomore Ryan Bast ended Ripon’s first drive with an interception, and classmate Matt Floming stopped the second one, picking off Trickey at the Monmouth 24. On the Scots’ ensuing possession, Sabean broke loose for a 35-yard gain on a third-and-one carry, and senior Andy Full booted a 35-yard field goal three plays later for a 17-0 lead, which was also the halftime score.

Three straight eight-yard carries by Scott sparked a third-quarter drive which ended when Purlee and Gaskill hooked up for their second scoring play of the day, a 23-yarder.

Ripon was finally able to light up the scoreboard with 11:21 left in the fourth quarter, but when the Scots stopped their two-point attempt, it meant Ripon would need three more scores to take the lead, and there simply wasn’t enough time. The win was Monmouth’s first over the Red Hawks since 1989, snapping a seven-game RC winning streak in the series.

“Defensively, if this wasn’t the best game we’ve played since we’ve been here, it was pretty dang close,” said Bell after consulting with his defensive coordinator, Chad Braun. “When you hold Ripon’s offense to basically six points, that’s pretty good.”

How stingy was the Scots’ defense? A year ago, Ripon averaged 445 yards per game to lead the league and scored 36.3 points per contest. On Saturday, the Hawks could manage only 221. “Our linebackers were 1-2-3 in tackles,” said Bell, referring to the total tackles posted by senior Rob Rogers (13), junior Greg Monn (10) and sophomore Justin Zigler (10). “Greg played the cutback really well, our defensive line played pretty well and our secondary was improved.”

Monmouth will need all that and then some against St. Norbert, the four-time defending league champions. The 2-0 Green Knights were led last week by Aljay Wren, who gained 175 yards and scored three times in a 41-6 victory over Beloit.

“I hope that we understand that this is the best team in the conference,” said Bell, whose Scots fell 28-21 last year to SNC despite three TD grabs by Gaskill. “We hope to raise our level of play another notch. We better bring our hard hats on Saturday.”

From an X-and-O standpoint, Bell is concerned with SNC’s multi-formation offense, as well as the different scheme the Knights play defensively.

“The key is to stop their running game,” he said. “They can hurt us both ways, but when they pass, it’s usually play-action, so if we can limit their running game, they won’t be able to use play-action as much.”

Bell would be the first person to acknowledge that “one game does not a season make,” and the victory over Ripon, although very nice, won’t mean a thing to St. Norbert.