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Look no further, St. Norbert week
is here
Release Date: October 4, 2006
MONMOUTH, Ill. — Although a star
quarterback had something to do with it, there would be many who
would say the primary reason for Monmouth’s less-than-stellar
performance in its 51-31 victory at Grinnell on Saturday was due to
the “sandwich game” effect.
After all, the Fighting Scots got pretty pumped up on Sept. 23 to
play rising power Carroll, and they had perennial Midwest Conference
champion St. Norbert on the horizon.
If the Scots were indeed looking ahead, they can look no further –
St. Norbert week has arrived. Monmouth will travel to De Pere, Wis.,
for a 1:30 p.m. game at Minahan Stadium.
For those thinking, “Didn’t Monmouth just play there last year?” –
the answer is “Yes.” The MWC schedule changes every four years, and
the 2006 season marks the start of another four-year cycle. Lawrence
and Ripon are both on the Scots’ 2006 home schedule after playing
here in 2005, too, and Monmouth’s trip to Grinnell last Saturday was
its second in as many years.
Last fall, the Scots finally got over their St. Norbert hump,
winning 28-20 in what proved to be the key game in the MWC title
chase. It’s shaping up to be that important of a game this time,
too, as both teams enter with 4-0 league marks. The Green Knights
are 5-0 overall.
“This is this year’s team, so it’s different,” said MC coach Steve
Bell. “The only thing that can translate from last year to this year
is that now we know that we can beat them. I think for several
years, it was mental for us. Hopefully that mentality is gone now.
But it will be two different football teams than the teams that
played last year.”
The main difference for Monmouth is their switch in focus from a
tremendous passing attack to one of the best ground games in the
nation. Senior Dante Daniels leads the nation with 850 rushing
yards, and his 201-yard effort against Grinnell marked the third
time he has cracked 200 this year. Daniels scored on runs of two and
34 yards and now has a conference-best 11 touchdowns. That TD total
ranks second in Division III.
Defensively, some of the names have changed, but the Scots are still
getting solid performances from every level. Junior Aaron Payette
picked off another pass against Grinnell, giving him five for the
year. While linebacker Jason Goldsworthy heals in hope of returning
against St. Norbert, the Scots have gotten strong performances from
players like Marc Artozqui, Luke Sandrock and Matt Morgan. Sandrock
had a team-high 10 tackles vs. Grinnell and forced a fumble, while
Morgan was in on six stops.
The special teams got into the act, too, with Jeff Davis returning a
blocked punt 13 yards for a score. Nathan Palkovic booted a 37-yard
field goal and has missed only one kick all year while averaging
39.1 yards per punt.
Like Monmouth, St. Norbert brings a balanced offense to the table,
although, said Bell, “They throw far more than they run.”
Quarterback Cody Craig had passed for 1,316 yards and 10 scores,
with Judd O’Connell catching 28 balls for a league-best 580 yards
and six TDs.
“It’s our game plan every week, but we have to put pressure on the
quarterback,” said Bell. “If we can get in their quarterback’s face,
it bodes well for us. We’d like to do that with our front four as
opposed to bringing pressure every time and playing man coverage.”
When St. Norbert’s defense is on the field, Bell said it will be a
challenge, as the Knights are fast and physical.
“We’ve got to get a hat on a hat and let Dante get space,” he said.
“That’s the formula for every game, too, but our level of play has
to be raised.”
Which brings the story back to the Grinnell game. Monmouth had
allowed just 13 points in three MWC contests, but the Pioneers more
than doubled that total.
“We had some fundamental breakdowns,” said Bell. “We weren’t playing
things correctly, and they exploited that. (Sean Pfalzer) is a tough
quarterback to defend because he’s so active.”
Pfalzer ran for 46 yards and two scores and also threw for 228 yards
and a TD.
Monmouth led just 27-18 at the half, but Jess Miller capped a quick
six-play, 62-yard drive with a five-yard TD catch on the Scots’
first series of the second half, and Davis tacked on his punt block
return two minutes later to put Monmouth in command.
Freshman quarterback Jared Mundt finished 14-of-24 for 205 yards and
threw TDs to Miller, Dan Morrison and Shane Gordon. Morrison had a
team-high 99 yards receiving.
First-string quarterback Steve Zidow (326 yards, three TDs) is
recovering from an injury and may be available against St. Norbert.
“We’ll make that decision during the week,” said Bell. “Both are
extremely capable. We’ll make the decision based on what we see in
practice.”
Added the coach, “We should be healthy across the board. Some guys
who have been sitting out should be healthy and ready to play.”
Besides Goldsworthy and Zidow, that list also includes starting
safety Doug Stichter.
“These are two very good football teams,” said Bell of the big game.
“The advantage will go to the team who can take care of the
football, create some turnovers and get great special teams play.
It’s a fun game, I’ll tell you that. We’ll have great fan support,
as we always do. It should be an entertaining game.”
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