By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
When Greg Etter arrived in the suburban Milwaukee town of Mequon to take over the Concordia (Wis.) two years ago, the Falcons already had a strong football reputation as one of the top teams in the Illini-Badger Football Conference.
Etter has now moved the Falcons in a position to win its first Northern Athletics Conference title after Aurora captured the inaugural title a season. The former Carthage defensive coordinator is doing it with a "big play" defense and opportunistic offense that likes to use its offense line as a battering ram.
Starting off 0-3 is never a team's goal, but Etter hopes those early loses will pay off for his young team, which is now 4-3 and undefeated on conference play. Concordia's losses came at the hands of current No. 14 Wheaton, Bethel (5-2 this season) and Division I-AA Valparaiso.
"You'd like to end up with victories, but in order to be the best, you have to play and beat the best," Etter said. "I think it shows our young football teams what we aspire to be and what we're in the weight room for and what we're on the practice field for. It's a lesson for us in just seeing the speed and physical aspect those teams bring. The experience we can get from that is invaluable."
Etter said he has 21 juniors and seniors on this team, which means he's playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores. He said while the team has gone through its growing pains, he has been pleased with the way the team has grown.
"Anything we're able to get out of this season, we're excited about," Etter said. "We've got some great kids. They've bought into what the coaching staff is trying to teach. It's the pride concept and taking personal responsibility and being the best man you can be on all of phases.
"We tell them to hold yourself accountable and put your teammates ahead of yourself. If we do that, we have a chance for success. This team's work ethic has been outstanding. I feel that they have and importance of the team concept is paying dividends because we have a bunch of unselfish players."
The offensive line has helped spur the Falcons' running game. The leader of the line is senior captain Thad Woltring. Freshman quarterback Brandon Corona has taken over recently after an injury at that position and Etter said he's growing the offensive package each game for him. He has already led Concordia offensively in a big win over Aurora 24-21 on Oct. 17.
"He's only going to get better with each snap he takes," Etter said. "We've had success running the ball this season and that's due to the offensive line."
Etter said the defense has been at its best at getting turnovers this season. Led by defensive lineman and senior captain Justin Tlachac, Concordia has been consistently good during conference play.
In last week's 13-0 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran for the Luther Cup, heavy rain made conditions difficult for fish, much less football players.
The defensive came up with two turnovers, including a returned interception for a touchdown, and special teams blocked a field goal attempt that set up the two other field goals in the Concordia victory. He also stressed the importance of moving on. Just like the early season losses, the victories are used as a way to get better and not to dwell on.
"We were able to keep our opponents out of the end zone, which was important," Etter said. "We work very hard telling our players no matter what happens -- win or lose -- that we close the book on that game when we watch the film session and go on to the next game.
"We try to avoid the peaks and valleys associated with a season. We want to have a steady rise rather than a huge win or huge loss. We want to study it, see how we can get better, and put it to bed. We keep focusing."
That brings us this Saturday's game at hand. Few would have thought at the beginning of the season that the Falcons' matchup with the Concordia (Ill.) Cougars would mean very much. But with the Cougars flying into the game with a 6-1 record and nipping at the Falcons heels with one loss in conference play, it's all of the sudden one of the conference's big games of the season.
Etter said that the "other Concordia" has their full attention.
"I don't think we have to relay how good Concordia is to our players," Etter said. "They see that in scouting report and the film we watch. We have nothing but respect for them. They have an explosive offense and solid defense. Their record and stats speak for itself. We don't have to explain that to our players. They already know."
Etter said his Concordia will be ready for Saturday, and better yet, this game will play a big role in getting the Falcons ready for the future.
Stretching the field
• Now that undefeated Mount St. Joseph (7-0 overall, 5-0 in HCAC) is back on top of the heap of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference after upsetting Franklin, the Lions must quickly remember how it feels to be the hunted. Mount St. Joseph will find that out at Manchester on Saturday. The Spartans are this year's surprise HCAC team with a 4-0 conference record after losing their first three games. One of those losses was a 16-14 defeat to defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association champs Trine on Sept. 3. Manchester is trying to record its first winning record since 1997 when the Spartans went 6-4. They were 5-5 last year and the their four conference win are the most in over a decade. A Manchester win could give the Spartans an edge in the playoff consideration, but they will have to face Franklin next week. The Lions, after going 5-5 last year, are looking for their first conference title since 2006. As far as the Top 25 rankings, the Lions must be feeling like the line on old Dr. Hook song, "We keep getting richer but we can't get our picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone." Mount St. Joseph went from six votes last week to 23 votes this week after being previous No. 22-ranked Franklin, but still quite a distance from cracking the poll. A Manchester win could convince a few more voters.
• North Central won't get much time to celebrate its 27-7 victory over No. 14 Wheaton or its new No. 9 ranking. The Cardinals must travel to Bloomington, Ill., this week to face 6-1 Illinois Wesleyan. North Central's John Thorne said he believes the Spartans have the best defense in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, giving up a stingy 11.2 points per contest. Illinois Wesleyan slipped to Millikin 19-13 on Oct. 10. Now, before you snicker at that loss, Millikin is 5-2 on the season and 2-2 in CCIW play. Illinois Wesleyan shared the CCIW title back in 2007 and was 6-4 a year ago. While North Central's 27 points was far off its average, the Cardinals did break out its version of the Wildcat offense with Nick Hicks in the absence of its All-conference tailback Dominic Sulo who missed the Wheaton game because of an injury. It will be interesting to see how much the Cardinals will use the Wildcat again or whether it will get stored away until the playoffs.
• Monmouth can clinch a playoff spot this week with a home victory over Illinois College. The No. 10-ranked Fightin' Scots (8-0 overall, 7-0 in regular season) will face a Blue Boys team that won't be pushovers. Illinois College is 5-3 on the season and 5-2 in Midwest Conference play. For the Blue Boys to have a chance, they must prevent Monmouth from jumping out to an early lead. Monmouth is outscoring its opponents 149-13 in the first quarter and 286-33 in the first half. The play of Scots quarterback Alex Tanney continues to be off the charts, with a 164.06 efficiency rating. Tanney, a junior, has completed 235 of 337 passes (69.7 percent) and has thrown 33 touchdowns against five interceptions. The Monmouth victory will only put them ahead St. Norbert by one game, but the Scots own the tiebreaker by beating the Green Knights during the regular season. Monmouth will play winless Knox to end the season. One of the biggest thing that may be in jeopardy could be a home game. If Monmouth finishes undefeated, it would be difficult to deny the Scots a home playoff game while a loss could very well put Monmouth on the road, possibly against a CCIW or Ohio Athletic Conference opponent.
