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Scots nationally ranked in
preseason
Release Date:
June 8, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
The Monmouth College
football players aren’t due to arrive on campus for another two
months, but already the team is making national headlines.
Steve Bell’s
troops will enter the 2009 season projected to be among the
favorites to win a national title according to two sports magazines.
Lindy’s Sports Annuals and The Sporting News ranked
the Scots fifth and 11th, respectively. Monmouth had climbed as high
as No. 14 in last season’s American Football Coaches Association
poll.
The Fighting
Scots, with 35 letterwinners returning, lost just one offensive
starter from their unit that led the nation with a 46.75
points-per-game average. Defensively, the Scots return five starters
from a potent sack attack, led by sack leader and preseason
All-American Anthony Goranson (12). Nick Leffler and
Peyton Lumzy add more big-play potential after tying for
second in sacks last season. Last year’s No. 2 tackler, Sean
Wells, returns for his final season as does Marc Wozniak,
who tied for the team lead in fumble recoveries in 2008.
The offense
returns three preseason All-Americans. Quarterback Alex Tanney
and offensive linemen Josh Kotecki and Dan Schwindenhammer
(Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) joined Goranson on the second team.
Tanney, Kotecki and Schwindenhammer were also named to the
D3football.com All-West Region first team last season. Kotecki was
eventually named second team All-American by D3football.com.
Mount Union and
the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater were ranked 1-2 by Lindy’s.
The Purple Raiders and War Hawks traded places in the Sporting News
rankings. Mount Union defeated UW-Whitewater 31-26 in the Amos
Alonzo Stagg Bowl for the national title last December.
Monmouth
finished the 2008 season with a school-record 11 wins and advanced
to the second round of the NCAA playoffs. The Scots completed their
second unbeaten regular season and earned their second Midwest
Conference title since 2005.
Football
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