A pair of 3-0 teams battle this weekend at Monmouth
College’s April Zorn Memorial Stadium in what could be nothing short
of a "dogfight."
At least that’s the way Fighting Scots coach Steve Bell sees it
as his team prepares for Saturday’s match-up with Carroll University.
Last weekend, the Scots rolled to a 51-3 win over Beloit, a team
that narrowly lost to Carroll the week before by a 10-0 score. Matt
Shepherd set the tone on the first play of the game with a 99-yard
runback that is the second longest kickoff return in Monmouth
history. Kyle Wantland hauled in nine passes for 94 yards and two
touchdowns, while Marc Artozqui and Anthony Goranson led a defensive
unit that held the Bucs to just 136 yards of offense.
While the Scots were rolling up more than 500 yards of offense,
the Pioneers were piling up 355 yards of their own in a 31-12 win
over Grinnell. Freshman Joe Beckstrand pounded out 141 yards and two
touchdowns and sophomore Chris Casper threw for 151 yards. The
defensive unit got solid performances from linebacker Jeremy Winter
(11 tackles) and defensive lineman Jake Zeh (two sacks). The defense
also forced three Grinnell fumbles.
The teams fought to a 6-3 decision last season in a battle of
kickers. The Scots picked up the road win on a 25-yard Nate Palkovic
field goal with 4:28 remaining. With the Scots averaging more than
40 points per game and the Pioneers piling up 32 points per game of
their own, it could be a long afternoon this year, or it could be
another defensive struggle.
"Carroll’s defense is very talented," reported Bell. "They’re
fast and athletic. They’re a team that I believe matches up well
with us."
The Scots' offense has had a problem lately hanging on to the
ball. Eleven sacks and seven fumbles in the first three games are a
couple areas of concern for Bell.
"If we don’t fix the fumbles, they will come back and bite us,"
predicted Bell, who understands the cause of the high number of
sacks. "We had one offensive lineman moved to a new position and
another one got his first ever start at guard (last week), so those
are contributing factors to the sacks, but the fumbles just can’t
happen. We have to correct the turnover situation and shore up the
pass protection. We will be better this week."
Carroll may make it a difficult task to hang onto the ball, as
their defense has caused a whopping 11 fumbles and recovered eight
of those in the first third of the season. Despite the turnovers,
the Monmouth offense has been potent and the defense has reworked
the old philosophy of "bend but don’t break" to "don’t even bend."
They’ve been successful, keeping opponents out of the end zone for
the last 10 quarters, and they’re ranked third in the nation in
total defense (138.67 ypg).
A pass-oriented team when Bell first arrived at Monmouth, the Pioneers have
used the run more this season. Don't be confused, they have aired
it out, gaining more yards through the air than on the
ground, and that’s OK with the Scots. Monmouth ranks fourth in the
nation in pass defense, allowing a miniscule 64 yards per game.
"They’ve become a little more run-oriented the last few years,"
reported Bell, who has presided over seven straight MC wins in the
Carroll-Monmouth series. "They are pretty balanced offensively now.
They do a really nice job running the ball and we know our defense
will have their hands full. We’ll need to force them to do something
they’re not good at. That will be difficult because they can run and
throw very well."
Like the Scots, the Pioneers have the option of running a
bruising type backfield or a smaller, quicker set of backs. Carroll
has primarily used Beckstrand
