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Four named pre-season All-American
Release Date:
May 1, 2009
MONMOUTH, Ill. —
The success of the 2008 football team has resulted in four players
being named Division III pre-season All-Americans by Consensus Draft
Services.
Quarterback Alex Tanney (Lexington,
Ill./Lexington), offensive guard Josh Kotecki (Peru,
Ill./LaSalle-Peru), offensive tackle Dan Schwindenhammer
(Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and defensive end Anthony Goranson
(Bartlett, Ill./Belvidere) were named to the second team. Tanney,
Kotecki and Schwindenhammer were named to the D3football.com
All-West Region first team last December. Kotecki was eventually
named second team All-American last fall by D3football.com.
The Scots recorded an unbeaten regular season
and finished 2008 with an 11-1 record while winning their second
Midwest Conference title since 2005. The offense’s 46.75 points per
game led the nation and they ranked second in turnover margin. This
marks the second time during head coach Steve Bell’s 10 years
at Monmouth that multiple Scots have been named as pre-season
All-Americans.
“This is obviously a great tribute to the
accomplishments of last year’s team for our guys to be recognized
before the season begins,” said Bell. “All of them are well
deserving of this honor and would tell you that it is a team
recognition.”
Tanney, one of only two juniors-to-be on the
second team’s offensive unit, shattered nearly every MC season
passing record. He leads in five categories, including yardage
(3,624) and touchdowns (50). He was ranked eighth nationally with a
166.97 efficiency rating. In just two years, Tanney has already set
the new career marks for completions (560) and games over 300 yards
(14). He is just nine TDs shy of the career mark of 83 touchdown
passes set by Rob Purlee from 2000-03.
As members of the offensive line, Kotecki, a
6-foot-1, 245-pounder, and the 6-3, 260-pound Scwhindenhammer,
helped Monmouth quarterbacks have enough time to pass for a
school-record 3,790 yards while the ground game picked up more than
2,000 yards. The team also scored a school-record 50 touchdowns via
the pass and added another 25 rushing TDs. The Scots set or tied 71
team and individual records during the 2008 campaign. The team also
had top 10 national rankings in three other offensive categories:
fifth in pass efficiency (166.98), seventh in total offense (460.58
ypg) and eighth in passing offense (315.83 ypg).
Goranson, a 6-5, 240-pound defensive end, was
ranked 11th nationally with 12 sacks and his 21 tackles for loss
ranked 19th. Monmouth’s defensive unit yielded just over 100 rushing
yards per game and held opponents to a mere 31 percent on third down
conversions. The Scots were ranked second in the nation in turnover
margin, averaging nearly two interceptions per game to go with 15
fumble recoveries.
Kotecki, Schwindenhammer and Goranson will be
seniors this fall. Monmouth opens the season Sept. 5 at home against
Loras College.
Football
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