By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
Concordia (Wis.) coach Jeff "Gabe" Gabrielsen probably had one of his toughest coaching jobs in last weekend. Beating nationally ranked North Central on the road in double overtime on Sept. 9? No problem. The real challenge for Gabrielsen was to keep his team from not having a monumental letdown last Saturday against winless Wisconsin Lutheran after coming off a game that was called one of the Falcons' "all-time football classics."
Give an A-plus to Gabrielsen for last week's 39-0 road road win in Milwaukee as Concordia continues to be the toast -- and target -- of the Illini-Badger Conference. He said he hated to lean on the old coaching cliche, "one game at a time," but it was hard to think of anything else.
"We still have a long way to go and we haven't started conference yet," Gabrielsen said. "Now that we've beaten North Central, the target's going to be on our backs. We're going to have to show up every single week. That's our challenge."
If you know little about the Falcons, Gabrielsen puts it in a nutshell. "We can run the ball pretty well and we can stop the run on defense. If you can do those two things, you have a pretty good chance at being successful."
In Saturday's game, running back Aaron Gillespie scored on a 69-yard touchdown run on Concordia's first play to set the tone. Gillespie rushed for 206 yards on 21 carries as Concordia rushed for 388 yards as a team. That coupled with a defense that gave up 167 total offensive yards against Wisconsin Lutheran, it's easy to see why Gabrielsen is confident in his recipe for success.
There is one other ingredient he has thrown into his winning stew, a bunch of hungry seniors who want to gobble up wins in their last seasonal football meal. Gabrielsen said he has over 20 seniors who have been with the programs for four years. He said that leadership came in handy when Concordia lost its 17-point lead to North Central and had to fight to keep the win against the Cardinals. He said the seniors have provided the strength of leadership a coach just can't teach younger players.
"It's different talking to 22-23 year-olds than it is to 19-year-olds," Gabrielsen said. "The seniors tend to get the big picture."
But what does the win mean for the Illini-Badger Conference, which has yet register a win in the Division III playoffs since having an automatic bid? Even more, the win comes off the heels of another IBC favorite, Lakeland, losing to national power UW-Whitewater 75-14 the week before.
"I think it was very big," Gabrielsen said. "The top of our league has been very good at times but the bottom was weak. I think this will increase our exposure We're pretty confident. We're 32-8 over the past four years so we've won a lot of football games." With conference play opening up this week, the wins from now on count. And as Concordia continues to attract attention in the Top 25 poll, his senior-dominated team will try to remain the hunter, and not the hunted.
Haves . . . have-nots
Along with Concordia (3-0), there are eight undefeated teams remaining in the Midwest. Three remain in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. No. 21-ranked Wheaton (2-0) plays its last non-conference tilt on the road at Hope (0-2). Carthage (3-0) takes the week off before taking on Elmhurst (2-0) on Sept. 30 at home for its conference opener.
Mount St. Joseph (3-0) and Franklin (2-0) remain on top of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Mount St. Joseph's game will be at home this week against Anderson (1-2) while Franklin travels to Tri-State (0-2) of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. St. Norbert (3-0) tops the Midwest Conference while Case Western Reserve (3-0) remains unblemished in the University Athletic Association.
On the flip side, eight teams are looking for their first wins as September starts to wind down. In the Illini-Badger Conference, Eureka (0-2) faces an uphill battle trying to get its first win of the season at home against Concordia (Wis.) on Saturday. Lakeland (0-3), one of the conference favorites, finds itself without a win, but in all fairness, the teams the Muskies have lost to are a combined 7-1. Lakeland goes after its first win in its conference opener at home Saturday against Greenville (1-1). Someone has to win when Aurora (0-2) travels to play MacMurray (0-2) in the IBC opener for each team Saturday.
In the HCAC, Bluffton (0-2) looks to break into the win column Saturday at home against Kalamazoo (0-1). Hanover (0-3), which had its first losing season in recent memory last year, finds itself without a win going into its bye week on Saturday. The Panthers return to action on Sept. 30 at home against HCAC newcomer Rose-Hulman.
In the Midwest Conference, Lake Forest (0-3) hits the road to take on undefeated St. Norbert on Saturday. Grinnell (0-3), which has given up 112 points in three games, travels to Lawrence for a league game in search of its first win.
Players of the week
Mike Lovell continues to make a case for himself to repeat as the conference's offensive player of the year with another solid performance, rushing for 98 yards on 25 carries during Mount St. Joseph's 28-7 win over Illinois Wesleyan. Rose-Hulman defensive end scored a defensive touchdown off an interception and had three more tackles in the Engineers 56-0 win over Concordia (Ill.). Bluffton's Jeremy Anderson returned a kickoff against Adrian 95 yards for a touchdown in a 17-6 loss.
In the Midwest Conference, Monmouth's Dante Daniels continues to pile on the yardage, rushing for 229 yards on 29 carries in a 31-0 win over Beloit. It's the second time in the row Daniels has nabbed offensive player of the week honors and the third time he's rushed for more than 100 yards this season. St. Norbert linebacker Brendan O'Malley recorded a game-high 11 tackles in its 42-14 over Lawrence. Ripon punt returner Josh Kraemer returned one punt 56 yards to set up a touchdown in Ripon's 34-14 win over Knox. He also had a 40-yard interception return.
In the CCIW, Wheaton wide receiver Noah Dreyer caught nine passes for 98 yards and three touchdowns in its 48-7 win against Washington U. Elmhurst linebacker John Scardullo recorded 10 tackles, including seven solos, in a 23-10 win against Chicago. Sam Jordan, of Millikin, picked up a blocked punt and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown in Millikin's 38-31 loss to Wabash.
