Todd Sabean dives for the end zone during Monmouth's 41-21 Homecoming victory over Illinois College last Saturday. Sabean's 11-yard touchdown run gave the Fighting Scots a 19-0 lead early in the second quarter.

MONMOUTH, Ill. — The Carroll College Pioneers are not supposed to be a good football team this season. Coming off a 1-9 record in 2002, the Pioneers lived up to those low expectations with a 63-0 loss in their season opener against Concordia (Wis.) College. Three league losses followed against Knox, Illinois College and a Lawrence team that was supposed to be the only Midwest Conference team worse off than Carroll.

But a funny thing happened to the Pioneers on their way to what looked like an 0-10 campaign. Trailing 9-0 at halftime against perennial power Ripon, Carroll rallied for a 13-9 victory. The Pioneers then gave Beloit all it could handle, scored 27 points against the nation’s 17^th ranked team, St. Norbert, and then, last week, stunned defending league champion Lake Forest 13-7.

“They knocked off Ripon, they knocked off Lake Forest,” said Monmouth College football coach Steve Bell. “They’re the giant-killers, in our mind. They’ve played very well against the top teams in the league.”

The Fighting Scots can certainly include themselves in that class after last week’s convincing 41-21 victory over Illinois College, which improved MC to 6-1 in the league and 6-2 overall. The matchup pitted Monmouth’s second-ranked offense against a Blueboy defense that was rated No. 2 in the MWC, but the Scots dominated with 555 yards, including a 356-yard passing day by quarterback Rob Purlee that included a school-record 26 completions.

“We threw more in the first half than I wanted to because Rob was on,” said Bell. “He played a smart game and made good decisions.”

Purlee, who upped his league-leading efficiency rating to 159.4, has now thrown for 1,987 yards and 19 touchdowns this season as he threatens to put Monmouth’s career records in those categories out of sight. His 7,443 passing yards are more than 3,000 yards higher than runner-up Robb Long, while his 77 career TD passes are almost double Mark Reed’s 39.

Receivers Tyler Snyder and Nathan Gaskill both topped 100 yards against IC, with Snyder catching two TDs and with Gaskill moving just 23 yards away from becoming the first Fighting Scot ever with 2,000 receiving yards.

Oscar Scott and Todd Sabean continued Monmouth’s solid attack on the ground. Scott’s 115-yard day improved his season total to 731 as he bids to become the Fighting Scots’ first 1,000-yard back since Kevin Matarelli in 1993. Sabean, a junior, gained 77 yards and now has 551 for the season and 1,714 for his career.

Paving the way for Scott and Sabean is an offensive line that includes senior Jon Newcomb, juniors Marshall Price, Dan Wingler and Ryan Ferry and sophomore Luke Wickman.

“They’re getting better and better each week,” said Bell. “Three of them are in their first season starting, and as they’ve gotten experience, we’ve been better and better offensively.”

Defensively, the Scots also dominated against Illinois College, limiting the Blueboys to just 49 rushing yards and 48 total plays. Monmouth forced four three-and-outs, which led to an overwhelming edge in time of possession (39:53 to 20:07).

“Defensively, I thought we played really well,” said Bell. “We did have a couple breakdowns there at the end, though, and that’s something we have to shore up because Carroll throws the ball a lot.”

The Pioneers’ offense is led by Marcus Koronkiewicz, who attempts more passes per game than any league quarterback. He’s thrown for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. His leading receivers are Cassidy Tribble (466 yards on 36 catches) and Adam Fletcher (456 yards on 45 catches).

Meanwhile, the Carroll ground game is not nearly as strong. Tony Salvage has led the way with 526 yards on 140 carries as the Pioneers are ranked next-to-last in rushing offense.

Nevertheless, said Bell, “Our No. 1 priority is to stop the run. It always is. If we know they have to pass, that changes things.”

In defeating the Foresters last week, Carroll put the ball up 47 times. It was their special teams and defense that won the game, though. Fletcher returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown, and the defense recorded five sacks and forced three turnovers while holding Lake Forest to just 32 rushing yards.

Lake Forest’s loss was not Monmouth’s gain, as the Fighting Scots had hoped that the Foresters could work their way into a three-way tie atop the league standings with St. Norbert and Monmouth. Now, however, MC’s chances of reaching the postseason are very slim, as the Scots need to count on two St. Norbert losses in the final two games. Although the Green Knights might stumble Nov. 8 at Lake Forest, they should have no trouble taking care of business in their final home game this Saturday against last-place Grinnell.