Tanner Matlick is getting it done with his arm and his legs for Monmouth's offense.  Photo by Kent Kriegshauer

Chad Braun was up front with his team at halftime with his Monmouth Fighting Scots trailing 9-0 to Carroll back in September.

Monmouth was coming off a 23-17 overtime home loss to Central College and the Scots failed to score against Midwest Conference foe Carroll in a non-division game over the first 30 minutes.

"I told them at halftime that this would be a season-defining game for us, one way or another," Monmouth's first-year head coach recalled the moment during the third game of the season back in September. "We had not scored in the first half against Central and we didn't score again in the first half against Carroll."

Things would get worse before they got better, when Carroll turned an early third-quarter Monmouth fumble into a touchdown, giving the Pioneers a 16-0 lead.

But that's when the Fighting Scots started turning things around. Monmouth scored 22 unanswered points, including a 40-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Matlick to Adam Parr with 1:03 left in the game for a 22-16 victory.

"If you would ask me what I believed the turning point in our season was, that game would be it," Braun said. "We were in a big hole in the third quarter. They showed a lot of grit and character and fought back to win that one."

Before the game winning touchdown, Monmouth's defense stuffed a Carroll running attempt on a fourth-and-one at the Monmouth 49 with less than two minutes left in the game, setting up the Fighting Scots winning drive.

"It was very dramatic," Braun said, pointing to the team victory. "Carroll could have sealed the game and ran out the clock if they would have gotten that first down. We have a great group of young men who come to work every day."

Things have been a bit easier for Monmouth since that heart-stopping win, with the offense averaging 40.8 points per game, while the defense has given up 10.5 points per contest since. The dramatic offensive numbers have all come without the services of the Fighting Scots' top rusher from last year, Trent Rains, who Monmouth lost to injury in the Carroll game.

While Rains is expected to return this week in Monmouth's game against Grinnell, Braun said the maturity of quarterback Tanner Matlick has been a big key in the Fighting Scots offense taking flight.

"He's playing outstanding football for us right now and taking care of the football," Braun said of Matlick's improved play. "He's thrown for 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. Last year he had a lot of turnovers (six interceptions in seven games)."

Matlick has completed 131 of 214 passes (61.2 percent) this year for 1,510 yards so far, averaging 215 yards per game. But he is also Monmouth's leading rusher, with 430 yards on 77 carries, followed by DeAndre Wright, who is averaging 5.3 yards per carry (65-361).

"(Matlick) has truly become a dual threat and he's hurting people with his feet now," Braun said. "He's just doing a tremendous job for us. DeAndre is also doing a great job running ball and the offensive line has stepped up and is going a great job."

Braun said his biggest surprise on defense has been the emergence of freshman lineman Thomas Lesniewski, who has recorded nine sacks over Monmouth's first seven games.

"When we recruited Thomas, we knew we were getting a great player, but he's really exceeded expectations," Braun said. "Our defensive front has been very disruptive and getting great pressure on the quarterback. (Lesniewski) is leading the conference in sacks and he's a special player. We're very fortunate to have him.

"Ben Ketchem is a senior defensive tackle who did not play for us last year because of a shoulder injury so he's coming back off that and is third in sacks."

Braun said with Tyler Parksey, who was an all-conference defensive lineman pick last year, in the mix along with Michael Smith, Logal Gigl and Zack Hoekstra, the Fighting Scots defense has caused havoc against opposing offenses.

Monmouth, now 6-1 and 3-0 in MWC South Division play, is two games away from the division title, where it could end up playing a very familiar "big game" conference foe in St. Norbert. Braun, who was defensive coordinator at Monmouth for 15 years under coach Steve Bell, knows well how a contest with St. Norbert is always a big game, but added that the team's biggest game is the one Saturday against Grinnell.

"We're in the driver's seat but we haven't clinched anything yet," Braun said. "If we reach that point (MWC championship game) then we'll worry about it but we have our last home game where we want to send our seniors out the right way. Saturday is the most important game for us."

Along with Monmouth players adjusting to Braun in his new role as coach, Braun said he had to make some adjustments as well.

"There's been a big transition for me," Braun said. "I'm the guy calling the shots at the end of the day. I learned a lot under coach Bell. He's a great man and a great football coach. Right now I'm trying to manage my time differently. I have to meet with the media, sports information director, do different management-type things that I didn't have to do before."

Braun said the adjustments have all been worth it as Monmouth appears moving toward a MWC South Division title and a conference championship game date.

Franklin king of the hill again

The Franklin Grizzlies proved to be the better team in the fourth quarter again against Rose-Hulman as they escaped with a 42-35 road victory to go 6-2 overall and 6-0 in HCAC play. The win was huge for Franklin, which now only has to win one of its two games against Defiance (2-5, 2-3 in HCAC) and Hanover (1-6, 1-4) to capture the conference's automatic playoff bid. In short, nothing is clinched, but the Grizzlies are in really good shape.

That appeared to be in doubt on Saturday when Rose-Hulman jumped out to a 21-0 lead and was on top of Franklin 35-28 going into the fourth quarter, but the Grizzlies scored two touchdowns to snatch the victory away. It was the second year in a row Franklin overcame a fourth quarter deficit to beat Rose-Hulman. In all, Franklin has outscored the Fightin' Engineers 34-0 in the final quarter of their last two games against each other.

Franklin quarterback Chase Burton was 23-of-44 passing for 317 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for two more scores while Ty'Ronte Files rushed for 190 yards. That was enough to overcome a standout performance by Rose-Human quarterback Austin Swenson, who was 28-of-42 for 329 yards and three touchdowns.

Games of the week

No. 19 North Central (4-3, 3-1) at No. 15 Illinois Wesleyan (7-0, 4-0), 2 p.m. – North Central will play its fourth Top 25 team this season when it travels to Bloomington to take on Illinois Wesleyan. The trouble for the Cardinals is that they lost all three of those previous games – No. 16 UW-Platteville, No. 4 Wesley and just last week against No. 8 Wheaton in the annual Little Brass Bell game. The Titans will be trying to beat North Central for the first time since 2009 when they edged the Cardinals 28-22. North Central, which won or shared eight conference titles from 2006-13, will be trying to avoid its first four-loss season since 2002.

Lakeland (5-2, 3-0) at Concordia, Wis. (3-4, 3-1), 2 p.m. – For the Lakeland Muskies, Concordia (Wis.) is the last major hurdle to keeping a date with Benedictine (5-2, 3-0) for a conference championship on Nov. 14. Benedictine squeaked out a 39-35 win against the Falcons Oct. 17 after leading by three touchdowns in the third quarter for their only NACC loss. Concordia knows they let one get away then, but they hope a win against Lakeland may still give them a shot at the conference title with a little bit of help.