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SCOTS SCOOP
– Oct. 31, 2007
– Vol.
8, No. 13
SCOTS POST FIRST WALK-OFF TD SINCE ’94
The long list of walk-off touchdowns in NFL history received its
latest entry Monday when Brett Favre and Greg Jennings hooked up on an
82-yard score to lift the Green Bay Packers to a sudden 19-13 victory
over the Denver Broncos.
Monmouth College has been playing football several decades longer
than the pros, but the Fighting Scots’ list of walk-off scores is far
shorter. The list grew by one last Saturday, though, when sophomore Kyle
Wantland (Fisher, Ill./Fisher) caught a five-yard touchdown pass from
freshman Alex Tanney (Lexington, Ill./Lexington) to lift Monmouth to a
26-23 overtime victory in its Homecoming game against Illinois College.
It was the Scots’ first walk-off TD since Kevin Matarelli turned the
trick in 1994.
The Scots trailed three times in the game, with their final deficit
coming when Conner McMakin’s 39-yard field goal staked the Blueboys’ to
a three-point lead in overtime. In reality, though, that score was a
victory for the Scots, who held IC to just three yards on three plays
from the 25-yardline.
"We did a really nice job on second down," said coach Steve Bell of
the defensive stand. "That was the key. It put them in a third-and-long
situation."
Senior Nate Palkovic (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff) had already booted a
school-record 46-yard field goal, so it figured that as long as the
Scots didn’t go backward on their turn from the 25, they could do no
worse than force a second OT.
The first play set the tone, as Tanney found junior Bobby Gibbs
(Roseville, Ill./Roseville) on a bootleg pass for 14 yards. A Jeff Davis
(Oswego, Ill./Oswego) run got the ball down to the 5 and, one play
later, Tanney again rolled out and found Wantland in the back of the end
zone.
"At first, their cornerback stayed with Kyle," said Bell. "Then Kyle
kind of backed off and slipped into the back of the end zone. Alex
pressed the line of scrimmage and right at the last second threw it to
Kyle."
While the Scots had control in overtime, it was a different story in
regulation. The Blueboys took leads of 7-0 and 13-10, and they worked
themselves into good position at the end of regulation. Starting from
their own 19, they marched 58 yards to get within striking distance as
the clock moved to under one minute remaining.
Junior Cole Norman (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) then made the Scots’
defensive play of the game, picking off a pass at the 1-yardline to
preserve a 20-20 tie. Norman, who had another interception in the game
and also forced a fumble, was named the Midwest Conference Defensive
Player of the Week.
The Scots did not have an offensive nominee after a performance that
Bell called "inconsistent."
Referring to four third-quarter drives that Monmouth started from
between the MC 40 and midfield, Bell said, "We only got three points out
of those and just didn’t make the plays to keep the drives alive. We had
an opportunity to go up two or three touchdowns." In the first half, the
Scots actually got zero points off of two drives that started in IC
territory.
Tanney finished the game 27-of-42 for 200 yards, including a 35-yard
TD pass to sophomore Nick Wright (Canton, Ill./Canton), and Davis rushed
for 67 yards on 18 carries. Wright caught nine balls for 87 yards,
including the only pass that went for more than 16 yards for the Scots.
He also scored a touchdown on a fake field goal, putting the Scots up
17-13 on a one-yard run.
"He’s our holder, and he ran the ball, with the option to pitch to
Nate," said Bell.
That special team success was part of a solid day for the unit, as
Palkovic added a 27-yard field goal and two PATs to his record-breaking
kick, which surpassed his previous best boot by a yard. Freshman Matt
Shepherd (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg) had kickoff returns of 44 and 41
yards.
The Scots will now try to end their season on a three-game winning
streak when they visit Galesburg to play Knox at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Speaking of streaks, Monmouth has won all seven Bronze Turkey games
under Bell, and the overall streak stands at eight games. Knox’s last
win was a 28-20 triumph in 1998.
"It is what it is," said Bell of the rivalry game. "We’ve got a lot
riding on it. We’re shooting for a seven-win season and finishing second
in the conference again. It’s definitely a great game to play in. I’ve
enjoyed it every year I’ve been here, and I want the kids to have a
passion to play in it."
The Prairie Fire are also streaking, having lost three consecutive
games by an average score of 47-17. The last four trophy games have been
even more one-sided, with Monmouth winning by an average margin of 39
points. Included in that run was a 48-0 victory the last time the Scots
visited the Knox Bowl. Tanney’s older brother, Mitch, had his signature
performance in that game, completing 21 of 23 passes for 405 yards and
five TDs.
"We’re still going to try to run the ball," said Bell, who has seen
the Scots throw for 19 touchdowns in the last four Bronze Turkey games.
That included four aerial strikes last season, when many fans thought
that the success of the teams would be determined by first team All-MWC
running backs Dante Daniels and Kevin Megli.
"If you look at our running and passing attempts, we’re very
balanced," added Bell. "Against IC, we ran 38 times and passed 42. In my
rathers, I’d rather run the ball and have a 300-yard running game than a
300-yard passing game. And that’s saying something, coming from a former
quarterback."
Both Daniels and Megli are gone, but the Fire still feature a
ground-based attack led by another 2006 all-league pick, Aaron Willits,
who has 648 yards on 139 carries. Willits, however, missed Knox’s last
game, and Bell did not know his status for Saturday.
Two other backs have rushed for more than 200 yards, and quarterback
George Nicholson has added 266 yards and is averaging around four yards
per carry on his non-sack carries.
Besides Willits, the Fire feature five other All-MWC players,
including offensive linemen Brad Becque and Will Becque, linebackers
Tyler Hill and Kevin Corley and defensive back Zack Lomonaco.
However, if the Scots have their "rathers," this will be a contest
that is decided far before the final play is run.
SPIKERS GO FROM RAGS TO RICHES
A week ago, there seemed to be a dizzying number of playoff scenarios
in the MWC volleyball race. Had we known that the Fighting Scots would
put such an emphatic exclamation point on their regular season, we could
have saved ourselves a lot of time pouring over information on the
conference website.
Coach Kari Shimmin’s Scots certainly had a happy Homecoming, knocking
off Beloit and Lake Forest Friday and Saturday to move from possible
playoff outsider to the No. 3 seed in the six-team tournament, which
begins Friday in Waukesha, Wis. The Scots’ first-round foe at 4 p.m.
will be a Lake Forest team that Monmouth defeated 29-31, 30-23, 30-20,
30-12 at Glennie Gym.
Junior Samantha Robinson (Milan, Ill./Rockridge) starred in the
match, posting team highs of 11 kills and nine blocks. She hit .455 on
the day, leading an attack that hit .265 for the match and .351 in a
dominant fourth set.
"We passed the ball well all weekend long, and we didn’t make many
mistakes," said Shimmin, whose team also had a lopsided 30-12 win in the
opening set of the Beloit match. "It was the best we’ve played all
season long."
Against Beloit, the Scots started out with a .378 percentage. The
middle set was a struggle, with Monmouth hanging on to win 33-31, and
the Scots then closed things out by hitting .302 in a 30-27 final set
victory.
Robinson and senior Ashley Yeast (Sciota, Ill./West Prairie) had 10
kills apiece, and senior Kendra James (Fulton, Ill./Fulton) was even
better, blasting 11 kills without an error to hit .500. She and Yeast
each had a team-high four blocks. Yeast added nine kills, two aces and
four blocks in the Lake Forest match.
Shimmin believes the tone for the weekend was set by her team’s
comeback victory in the second set against Illinois College last
Tuesday. The Scots were down by six at one point, but turned things
around to post a 3-0 sweep.
Monmouth now enters the wide-open tournament with an overall record
of 18-11.
"You can look back to last year, when we beat IC at home in the final
week of the season, but then lost to them in five sets in the playoffs,"
said Shimmin of the unpredictability of the event. "I think that loss is
still in the back of these women’s minds. They don’t want history to
repeat itself."
If the conference needed more proof that any of the six teams could
win the event, fifth-seeded Ripon provided it Saturday, handing Carroll
its first league loss of the season. The Pioneers still retained the No.
1 ranking, but it appears the conference coaches were on to something in
the preseason poll, when five different schools received first-place
votes. That included the Scots, but not Ripon, which was predicted to
finish outside the six qualifiers.
So the great news is that the Scots season is still alive and that
they are peaking at exactly the right time. The bad news is that Shimmin
may miss the playoffs, as she is nine months pregnant. Her due date is
Saturday.
"We’ll make the decision on Thursday after I visit the doctor," said
Shimmin. "I don’t want to miss it, but we’ve got to do what’s best for
the baby."
Should Shimmin stay home, there is one way she could see her team
play again this fall. Winning the championship at the MWC playoffs would
put the Scots in the NCAA tournament. So the message to her players this
weekend seems clear:
Just win, baby.
RUNNERS RECEIVE HIGH MARKS FROM HAYNES
Had the Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships been run
another day, Monmouth’s teams might have posted a pair of fourth-place
finishes at Nichols Park in Jacksonville, Ill. In fact, coach Roger
Haynes thought his women’s team might even have to settle for a
seventh-place finish.
But two all-conference races by senior Adam Rodriguez (Sterling,
Ill./Sterling) and junior Damon Bautista (Silvis, Ill./East Moline)
pushed the men five points ahead of Ripon and into third place at the
meet. Meanwhile, the Fighting Scots women were edged out of fourth-place
by Beloit by a mere three points. A few tenths of a second here and a
full second there would have been enough to push Monmouth into fourth.
"I told the kids afterward that it was about a 98 out of 100," said
Haynes. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I’m looking for 8s and 9s out of our
runners, and we got that. Now I’ve challenged them to not expect to
finish where they did again. If we’re in the same place a year from now,
it’ll mean we got outworked."
The performances by Rodriguez and Bautista joined four other
predicted All-MWC finishes for the Scots. Sophomores Clay Staley (Hanna
City, Ill./Illini Bluffs), Brad Begyn (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island)
and Katie Staab (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) each repeated as all-league
performers, while freshman Mary Kate Beyer (East Peoria, Ill./East
Peoria) had a solid conference meet debut, placing fifth in 19:06. Staab
was ninth in 19:53 on the 5K course.
Staley, who placed fourth a year ago, took a run at winning the
individual title, but he settled for second place, finishing 26 seconds
back of St. Norbert’s Jeff Pentek, who won the race in 25:17.
"Clay gapped the rest of the field, but Pentek was able to gap him,"
said Haynes. "He pretty much ran most of the race by himself."
Rodriguez, who "ran very well," took 13th in 26:48, while Bautista
finished one second and one spot behind Begyn’s 17th-place time of
26:52.
Also scoring for the Scots at the meet were freshman Scott Sheller
(Morton, Ill./Morton) for the men and sophomores Amy Aghababian (St.
Charles, Ill./Burlington Central), Kaile Schreiner (Dixon, Ill./Newman)
and Jayme Ayers (Normal, Ill./West) for the women.
"Our guys improved 101 places from our pre-meet ranking and 11
runners took a total of 4:01 off their best times," said Haynes. "For
the women, we improved 144 places and eight runners took off a total of
8:42."
Leaders in that category included Rodriguez, Bautista and Sheller, as
well as freshmen Tim Bentz (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) and Craig Maher (Oak
Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn), who each took about a minute off their best time.
For the women, freshman Whitney Didier (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) cut 2:21 off
her previous best and Aghababian, Ayers and sophomores Allison Carroll
(Iowa City, Iowa/Solon) and Sara Ditzler (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) all
chopped off more than a minute.
The outlook is certainly good for both programs, as the men lose only
Rodriguez and Seth Leitner (Edelstein, Ill./Dunlap) from a team that
should challenge for the league title in 2008. Five of the conference’s
top 10 runners were seniors, including Pentek.
On the women’s side, there were also five seniors in the top 10,
including the top three. Beyer and Staab will be the second- and
fourth-ranked runners returning in the MWC next fall.
After a weekend off, the Fighting Scots will compete Nov. 10 at the
Midwest Regional in Oshkosh, Wis.
SCOTS SETTLE FOR FIFTH IN LEAGUE
(Editor’s Note: This fall, the women’s soccer updates will be written
in first-person form, as the coach, Barry McNamara, is also the editor
of Scots Scoop.)
Sunday was a day of endings in the sports world. The Chicago Bears’
playoff chances effectively came to an end with another frustrating loss
to the Detroit Lions. Another Chicago Cub-free World Series ended with
the Boston Red Sox sweeping the Colorado Rockies.
And in Waukesha, Wis., our soccer season came to a close with a 6-0
loss to conference champion Carroll.
How will the 2007 season be remembered? Certainly not by the final game,
which was simply a matter of catching a very good team on a very good
day. Playing on their home artificial turf, the Pioneers flashed their
speed and talent in a devastating five-minute, three-goal surge that
turned a 1-0 lead into an insurmountable 4-0 advantage midway through
the first half.
Saturday’s game at Ripon came closer to representing our season, but
it was also far from a perfect example. As we did in most of our games,
we outshot the competition, including a 14-5 edge in the first half. The
difference from the norm was our finishing ability, which resulted in
goals from freshman Becca Baur (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville), junior
Sarah Kisner (East Moline, Ill./United Township) and sophomore Emily
Caron (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville), as well as a hat trick from
freshman Niki Sue Williams (Elmhurst, Ill./Immaculate Conception).
Williams had the goal of the match, running on to a beautiful pass from
Caron, beating the Ripon goalkeeper to the ball and then deftly slipping
around her before knocking the ball into the empty net.
We were able to get all 22 of our healthy players into the game, and
the only thing that would have made the day better is if Grinnell had
not scored with just over two minutes left in the second overtime to
beat Lawrence. A tie result would have kept our postseason chances alive
heading into the Carroll game.
But the Ripon victory did clinch a winning season for our 8-7-3 team,
and it locked up fifth place in the league for the second year in a row.
That’s no small feat, really, as we lost seven starters and a total of
10 letterwinners from our 10-5-1 team in 2006.
Ultimately, our season will probably be remembered for our
back-to-back ties against St. Norbert and Lawrence teams that finished
second and seventh, respectively, in the MWC. Once our players settled
into their roles, we proved we could play with almost anybody, but our
lack of a dominant offensive player meant many teams could stay in the
game with us, too.
The latter situation is one we will certainly try to resolve through
recruiting, and if we are successful, I am confident we have the
personnel to be an MWC playoff team
– and more
– for years to come.
SLOW STARTS COST MEN IN WISCONSIN
Low-scoring teams simply can’t afford to fall behind early, but
that’s what happened to the men’s soccer team in both ends of their
season-ending road trip to Wisconsin last weekend.
At Ripon on Saturday, the Red Hawks scored twice in the first seven
minutes. Monmouth responded quickly with a goal from junior Chris
Anderson (East Moline, Ill./United Township), but the Scots couldn’t net
the equalizer despite controlling play for most of the middle portion of
the game.
With the clock winding down, coach George Perry pushed extra players
into the Monmouth attack, but Ripon took advantage instead, scoring
three times in the final 6:39 to post a 5-1 victory.
The next day at Carroll, Monmouth allowed a goal four minutes in, and
that would prove to be all the stingy hosts needed. The Pioneers tacked
on three more first-half goals and posted a 4-0 win that secured the No.
2 seed in this weekend’s MWC playoffs, which will be hosted by St.
Norbert. Grinnell and Beloit also made the four-team field.
Monmouth finished with a record of 1-7-1 in the league and 3-11-3
overall.
SWIMMERS DIVE INTO SEASON
When we last left the Fighting Scots swim teams, they had just
completed a stellar MWC meet, placing second in the men’s competition
and fourth in the women’s field.
Coach Keith Crawford has added depth and talent to both squads, with
a men’s roster that now boasts 19 swimmers and a women’s team that has
17 competitors.
Both teams were in action twice over the weekend, competing against
Millikin on Friday and Western Illinois on Saturday. The men posted the
lone victory, topping Millikin 125-80 before falling 144-120 to WIU. The
women lost 119.5-85.5 to Millikin and 150-99 on Saturday.
The top individual highlight came Friday, as freshman Kevin Raske
(Algonquin, Ill./Dundee-Crown) set school records while winning the
1000-yard freestyle (10:03.88) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:53.11).
Senior Kurt Neimeier (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) was also a multiple
winner, posting an honor roll time of 1:51.00 in the 200-yard freestyle
and touching first in the 100-yard freestyle in 49.33.
Other winners on the wins side were sophomores Harrison Heilman
(Downers Grove, Ill./North) in the 200-yard IM (2:13.05), Josh Van Swol
(Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.19)
and Jonathan Peterson (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington) in the 100-yard
breaststroke (1:03.83). Sophomore John Kaiser (Hanover Park,
Ill./Glenbard North) added a PR in the 50-yard freestyle, placing second
in 23.45.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Raske, freshman Kevin Satler
(Marseilles, Ill./Hinsdale South), Kaiser and Niemeier won with an honor
roll time of 1:43.05.
For the women, sophomore Anne Lane (St. Louis, Mo./Kirkwood) won
three events, all in times good enough to put her on MC’s honor roll.
Her victories came in the 200-yard freestyle (2:04.99) the 200-yard IM
(2:22.06) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.09).
Senior Heather Plum (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) also posted an honor
roll mark while winning the 1000-yard freestyle in 11:57.17.
Monmouth did not win any events against WIU, but Niemeier came close
in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle (23:07 and 50.10). His latter time was
just 37 hundredths off the pace of WIU’s top time. Peterson also had a
strong effort in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.23)
The WIU meet featured diving, and the performance turned in by
sophomore Jack Clifford (Rantoul, Ill./St. Thomas More) was the first
for an MC male diver since 1982. Freshman Nina Hart (Des Plaines,
Ill./Maine West) also competed, making her just the second MC woman to
dive in the history of the program.
Up next for the Scots is a home meet this Saturday against Lake
Forest.
FOLLOW THE SCOTS ONLINE
Can’t make the Bronze Turkey game this year? Monmouth alumni, parents
and friends are reminded that a broadcast of the game can be purchased
at
www.pennatlantic.com.
The first opportunity to follow coach Mark Vershaw’s men’s basketball
team is also available online. The men will be playing an exhibition
game at Eastern Illinois University on Thursday, and live stats will be
posted on the EIU website.
MORAN EARNS WATER POLO HONOR
Sophomore Joe Moran (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was honored by
the Collegiate Water Polo Association as its Heartland Division Player
of the Week for Oct. 1-7. His stats included 15 goals, four assists,
four blocks and 16 steals as Monmouth’s Crab People posted a 2-2 record.
SAYONARA
I’ve had to type one other farewell piece in my writing career, and
it was certainly a bittersweet occasion, as I left my desk at a daily
newspaper to go into a completely different line of work.
This farewell comes a little easier, as I’ll still be writing and
working at Monmouth College. But today marks my final one in the sports
information office, and that means that Scots Scoop will now be coming
your way through someone else’s e-mail account.
I have truly enjoyed putting the Scoop together each week, and I’ve
enjoyed even more the positive feedback that so many of you have been so
kind to share.
It’s been my goal for Scots Scoop to connect you all to Fighting Scot
athletics in a way not otherwise possible. The connections I’ve received
in return have been an unexpected, but very rewarding, part of the deal.
Go Scots! |
