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Scots host Aurora in First Round Release Date:
Nov. 16, 2008
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
The waiting and
wondering is over for the undefeated Monmouth College football team
– they’ll host 9-1 Aurora University in the first round of the NCAA
Division III playoffs Saturday at noon.
Projected
scenarios had the Fighting Scots’ opening against either St. John’s,
Wartburg or UW-Whitewater. All that changed when the pairings were
announced Sunday afternoon and the Scots – Midwest Conference
champions – drew a home matchup against Aurora, champions of the
Northern Athletic Conference.
“After Wabash
lost, that opened up some other doors,” said Scots’ boss Steve Bell.
“I don’t know if that’s true, but in my opinion, that changed some
of the scenarios we had been going through. The pairing makes sense
based on the geographical location. I didn’t anticipate we’d play
Aurora, but then again, it’s not a total surprise, either.”
The Scots are
making only their second playoff appearance – both under Bell’s
direction. The first appearance – in 2005 – put the Scots on the
road to Minnesota where they fell to St. John’s 62-3. The Spartans
are making their fourth playoff appearance having qualified in 1992,
2000 and 2004.
Much like the
2005 season, the Scots will face a first round opponent they have
never seen. The game preparation timetable stays the same, but the
Scots will have to start from scratch in preparing for the unknown.
“We’ll treat it
like any game prep,” said Bell. “We’ll try to keep this as close to
a normal game as we can. The difference is we don’t have any
previous games against Aurora to pull from our data base. The
players are relieved to finally find out who we’re playing. It
didn’t matter who, they were just anxious to find out. They’re ready
to play and get going this week.”
While the home
date makes for increased work for game management personnel, the
coaching staff gets a bit of a break from preparing for a
last-minute road trip.
“It’s nice to
be at home,” said Bell. “We don’t have to set up travel plans –
hotels, meals and finding practice fields. Now we can focus on the
job at hand.”
Fans are
reminded that the Scots’ offer of free admission to the regular
season home games expired after the final regular season game. A
nominal admission charge will be in effect for the Fighting Scots’
playoff games. Plans are also being made to offer free webcast
coverage of the game at April Zorn Memorial Stadium. Kickoff
Saturday is set for noon.
Football
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