By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
Concordia (Wis.) coach Jeff Gabrielsen readily admits he was a little worried after his Falcons dropped their first two regular season games against Simpson and North Central.
Yes, Concordia went the 2006 regular season undefeated, won the Illini-Badger Conference title and entered the playoffs, but the Falcons had to replace 14 starters on offense and defense. That number didn’t include senior backups that played such a crucial role for the Falcons offense last year.
Concordia (4-2, 3-0 in IBC) has seemed to right the ship with four games remaining in the regular season with impressive defensive performances and an offense that is slowly discovering just how could it can be.
“(The two losses) caused a lot of concern,” Gabrielsen said. “I thought we had the players who could perform but haven’t done it before. The old saying goes that the jury was still out and it was still out after the first two games. I think right now we’re still nowhere near playing our best football yet. I feel like that’s a positive. We’re playing pretty well but not up to our capabilities yet.”
That truly may be a good sign after scoring an important 24-0 victory over Aurora last week and with another big IBC contest against Lakeland looming in two weeks. The Falcons haven’t been just good in IBC play, they have been downright dominant. Concordia has beaten Eureka 70-0, MacMurray 50-0 before the win against Aurora.
The defense has not given up a score in 12 consecutive quarters and has not given up a rushing touchdown since the second game of the season against North Central. Even Gabrielsen had to admit his team is moving in the right direction.
“We’re definitely a work in progress,” Gabrielsen said. “It’s taken us a little while to hit our groove. We’re getting better every week. That’s what we’re counting on.”
But even with Concordia’s biggest win of the season so far against Aurora, Gabrielsen said he is still concerned about the offensive side of the ball, but believes that the unit is making progress.
“From the defensive perspective level of play, we were consistent for the whole 60 minutes (in the Aurora game),” Gabrielsen said. “For the offense, we’re still experiencing too many penalties and leaving too many points and plays on the field because of mental errors. We have a lot of possibilities on offense, but we haven’t come close to playing that perfect game yet.”
He said lead by nose guard Wilbur Allen shutting down the opponent’s run game, the defense has kept Concordia in all of its games. Junior linebackers Nick Napoli is the Falcons leading tackler while sophomore backer Max McDonald tops Concordia in the sacks department. Senior defensive back Dontrell Hall leads the Falcons in forced fumbles and pass breakups.
“As much as we struggled in the first two games, we were still in those games because we played consistent defense,” Gabrielsen said. “We had a million chances to win the Simpson game. In the North Central game, we left two touchdowns on the field. There were opportunities, but now we are playing more consistent. Guys are making plays. The teams that makes the most plays wins the games.”
Gabrielsen said he was so concerned that he didn’t have the horses to produce the running game that he switched offenses to more of a pass-first scheme. He said the offensive flopped in the opener against Simpson.
“We ran a shotgun, red zone read offense and it just wasn’t happening,” Gabrielsen said. “We made the change and have been pleasantly surprised with the production on that side of the ball. We lost all four of our running backs from last year, but after our performance after the first week, we decided to go back to our old offense.
“Jason McClelland, Chris Clarke, David White and Ricardo Levy, all players didn’t play hardly at all last year have stepped up and are filling the shoes of some all-time great players at Concordia.”
Along with junior Jerome Walker, Concordia’s running game by committee is starting to find traction against opponents again.
Even though Concordia may be in the driver’s seat to repeating in the IBC, it’s hardly over, Gabrielsen said, and his team can’t take anyone lightly. He said his defense’s scoreless streak has been nice, but not as important as a win.
“We need to show continued improvement,” Gabrielsen said. “If you keep improving, you’re going to have a great chance to win. We really haven’t even talked about (the scoreless streak). It’s just a result of the effort. Our No. 1 goal each week is to score one more point than our opponent. Some of this other stuff has kind of been icing on the cake. It’s not a primary focus for us, just a result of the hard work.”
Showdown in HCAC
Three-time defending HCAC champions Mount St. Joseph (5-0, 3-0 HCAC) and last year’s runner-up Franklin (4-1, 2-0) managed to keep its date for the conference title showdown Saturday. Mount St. Joseph comes into the game undefeated while Franklin’s only loss came on the road outside of conference play against No.14-ranked Wabash 35-33 in the second week of the season.
With both teams lurking just outside of the Top 25 rankings, a win here might be enough to convince pollsters to give their team stronger consideration.
It looks like a game of contrast, similar to last year’s contest, where Mount St. Joseph escaped with a 14-7 win. Franklin comes into the game with the HCAC’s top offense, averaging 41.6 points and 477.2 yards a game. The Lions, meanwhile, has the leading defense in the conference, limiting opponents to 15 points and 274.4 yards.
The Grizzlies come into the game with the conference’s top rusher, R.J. Hartsfield, who is averaging 104 yards per game, and the HCAC’s top passer in Chad Rupp, who is passing for 271.2 yards per contest.
The Lions have one of the conference’s interception leaders in defensive back Rick Stautberg with five picks and one of the conference top sack leaders in defensive lineman Alex Harbin with 5.5 sacks this season.
Something’s gotta give.
Mount St. Joseph isn’t exactly poor on offense itself, with All-HCAC tailback Mike Lovell averaging 74.4 yards per game this season and this match could come down to the Lions’ offensive against Franklin’s defense.
Not so fast, St. Norbert
Think St. Norbert (6-0, 5-0 in Midwest Conference) has all but wrapped up yet another conference title after beating Monmouth 42-28 last week. Not so, says Dan Deutschendorf, a budding journalist at Carroll (4-2, 4-1), the Green Knights’ next opponent. Deutschendorf made a strong case in an e-mail for us to pay attention to the Pioneers as they take on St. Norbert on Saturday.
“St. Norbert, has been a powerhouse in the MWC, winning or sharing seven of the last eight conference titles. However, Carroll has been an uprising team in the Midwest Conference in the past couple of years, and the talent is showing in a group of 26 seniors. The last time Carroll and Norbert met in scenic Waukesha, Norbert was en route to winning another championship, and limped out of town with a 35-36 victory in 2004,” Deutschendorf said in his e-mail.
Carroll’s only conference loss this season was a tight 6-3 contest against Monmouth, so few, even St. Norbert coach Jim Purtill, will argue that Carroll has the talent to make this interesting. Purtill said last week, Monmouth was just one of three straight games the Green Knights would have to win, naming Carroll as one of the best teams in the MWC.
In the interest of full disclosure, Deutschendorf is also a wide receiver for Carroll as well. Also in the interest of full disclosure, Carroll has not beaten St. Norbert in the era of the current playoff system, so a Pioneers victory would be huge with a capital “H.”
