By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
With the NCAA playoffs merely a few weeks away, two Midwest teams are already savoring successful seasons and their first-ever trips to football’s big dance.
The Monmouth Fighting Scots, of the Midwest Conference, and Lakeland, of the Illini Badger Conference, were able to shed their “best man” roles to command center stage. Monmouth (9-0, 8-0 in MWC) will try to complete a perfect season with a victory Saturday against Knox in Galesburg, Ill.
The Lakeland Muskies (7-2, 6-0 in IBC) shook off two early losses to Carthage and No. 2-ranked UW-Whitewater to capture the conference’s automatic bid, capped by a 58-0 victory over Aurora last Saturday. The Muskies could win their first outright conference title since 1997 with a win at Greenville on Saturday.
“First and foremost, I feel great for our players, former and present, to believe in something and then have it happen,” Monmouth coach Steve Bell said. “A lot of former players worked hard to put this team in the situation that it is in, so it’s great for the program and the school as a whole.”
Monmouth has been trying to make a case for itself as one of top programs in Division III with its record over the past three years (26-3). The Fighting Scots had to get the 800-pound gorilla off its back, namely perennial MWC kingpin St. Norbert. That happened in dramatic fashion this season with a 28-20 come-from-behind win over the road.
But that game was Sept. 17 and the real trick for Bell was to keep his team focused — and winning — so the victory over St. Norbert wouldn’t go for naught. Bell said, though, the victory made them more confident.
“I feel once we beat St. Norbert, it opened the door for our players to believe that they finally had a chance to win the conference and let them play relaxed the rest of the season,” Bell said. “When we play relaxed and loose, we play better as a team.”
Bell said he doesn’t get caught up in the rankings and hasn’t thought about the only thing his team has not been able to do this year — crack the Top 25.
“I don’t worry about it and if we deserve it, it will come,” Bell said. “It’s never been a focus of anything we have done here at Monmouth. If I or our team is concerned about that, then we are not concentrating on what will make us better.”
Lakeland shared the IBC title last year with Aurora and Concordia (Wis.), only to see Aurora represent the conference in the playoffs. The Muskies proved the pollsters right when they were picked as the preseason favorites.
“There are not that many chances in life to ever be in a position to do something that has never been done before,” said Lakeland coach Jim Zebrowski. “I am really happy for our guys. It shows to them that all the hard work they have put in both during the season and the offseason has paid off. It means a lot to our school because anytime something like this happens, it boosts school morale and gives the whole school a feeling of accomplishment.”
The big challenge for Lakeland was finally beating Concordia. Lakeland had not bested the Falcons in five seasons. The Muskies did it coming from behind as well, spotting Concordia two touchdowns before turning it around for a 17-14 victory.
“No one on our roster had been part of a team that had (won the Cheese Bowl against Concordia),” Zebrowski said. “It is always difficult to get over those types of hurdles because it starts to get in the minds of your players. Once we accomplished that, it felt like a weight was lifted off our shoulders.”
Zebrowski played parts of movies Remember the Titans and Friday Night Lights when he felt his team needed to come together in the middle of the season. He said the lessons in those movies seemed to stay with his players.
“Those movies just reinforced in our kids the ideas that you have to come together and be a family and truly care about your teammates before you can really accomplish anything on the field,” Zebrowski said. “Our players really care about each other and think of themselves as one big family and when your team gets that feeling it is much easier to overcome the adversity that occurs during games.
“Our guys have shown a great ability to not get flustered and rattled and start pointing fingers when things do not go smooth.”
Now, Monmouth and Lakeland prepare not only for their season finales but the great unknown of the playoffs. Bell and Zebrowski said who they play isn’t much a concern not because they don’t care, but they know that their opponents deserves to be there. In that, both coaches said they will have to do what they do best to advance.
“For Monmouth, we will need to improve the speed (tempo) at which we play,” Bell said. “The one thing I have noticed by watching past playoff teams is the speed of the game. Every team in the playoffs is very good and got there for a reason and most of the time it is because they have exceptional athletes.”
Zebrowski said Lakeland will be concentrating on the details to play an even bigger role.
“We just have to continue what we do,” Zebrowski said. “We want to continue to play physical and play hard for 60 minutes. Specifically, I want to continue to improve on our kicking game. We need to be great on special teams in order to compete with the types of teams we will see in the playoffs. Offensively and defensively, we just have to continue to be assignment sound.”
Monmouth and Lakeland will be trying to put their best foot forward this week and in the second season.
Picture clearing up in CCIW, HCAC
North Central (8-0, 5-0 CCIW) and Augustana (7-1, 5-0) will get a shot to settle the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this weekend. North Central, ranked No. 11 in the country, brings one of the nation’s most potent passing attacks to the contest. In contrast, Augustana, ranked No. 17, runs one of the country’s top ground games. Both teams were not ranked at the start of the season, but both were able to displace Carthage and Wheaton, the CCIW’s playoff representatives last season. The battle makes for one of the most intriguing contests in the country Saturday.
Mount St. Joseph (7-1, 4-1 HCAC), meanwhile, will try to wrap up a share of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference title in its game at Anderson on Saturday. The Lions won the conference outright last year but were ambushed at home against Hanover 41-25 in overtime on Oct. 1. Anderson, which features one of the top rushers in the country in Denny Kimmell (163.5 yards per game) won’t be a pushover.
Defiance (5-3, 3-1 HCAC) is waiting in the wings with an outside shot at the playoffs. The Yellow Jackets loss to Mount St. Joseph 40-19 on Oct. 22. They will need Anderson to pull off the upset and win their last two games against Manchester and rival Bluffton to seek into top spot by all alone.
Chicago takes aim at UAA title
Chicago (3-4, 2-0 in UAA) can win the University Athletic Association title outright with a victory over Case Western Reserve at home Saturday. The Maroons, 42-3 winners over Bethany last weekend, will try to win its fourth game in a row after.
UMAC’s South Division takes a licking
Dome Day wasn’t a good day for the South Division of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference as four of the five teams were soundly beaten by the North Division teams last Friday in the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Westminster (Mo.), the South Division champions at 5-4, were beaten 27-7 by Northwestern (Minn.). Rockford (7-2), which had tied a school record for wins with one game remaining, didn’t fare much better, losing 26-0 against Martin Luther in the second-seed game. In the fourth-seed game, Crown beat South Division member Blackburn 28-12 and Minnesota-Morris beat Maranatha Bible 48-18 in the third seed game. The South Division’s only win when Principia captured its first win of the year, 43-7 against non-Division III team Trinity Bible in the fifth-seed game.
