Saying he wants his team to avoid the extremes of last season's 5-5 campaign, Monmouth College football coach Steve Bell is hoping for a consistent level of play for 2013.

"When we were good last year, we were good, but when we were bad, we were bad," reported Bell who needs just one win to record his 100th career victory. "There was very little middle ground. We've got to be consistent play in and play out, series in and series out, game in and game out. From both the coaches' perspective and the players' perspective, our production last year was unacceptable."

If the Fighting Scots are to win their fifth Midwest Conference title since 2005, they'll need to reverse the outcome in close games. Three of the Scots' four league losses came by a touchdown or less.

"Our guys are a year older and a year wiser," claimed Bell. "They're much more in-tune with the process. We return a lot of experience, and that could make the difference."

Not only does Bell's team return experience, they've also bolstered their roster at nearly every position.
Senior Brik Wedekind (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) headlines a quarterbacking corps that finds sophomore Jake Nelson (Colgate, Wis./Milwaukee Lutheran) and freshman Tanner Matlick (Reynolds, Ill./Mercer County) making a challenge. Wedekind has plenty of experience after taking the reins in 2010 when NFL prospect Alex Tanney suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the season. Wedekind led the Scots outright last season when 10 different players hauled in passes.

"We expect a lot of Brik as a senior," said Bell. "He's been around the block and the game should be slowing down for him by now. He's beginning to process the game at a faster pace and that's what we expect."

Graduated receivers Spencer Brown and Garrett Youngren were 1-2 in yardage last season, but the Scots return the next three pass catchers. Senior Austin Peterson (Wyanet, Ill./Bureau Valley) and junior Michael Buehne (Highland, Ill./Highland) grabbed 25 throws each. Junior C.J. Shields (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) hauled in a dozen passes and converted three of them into scores. The trio combined for nearly 700 receiving yards.

"Spencer and Garrett were very productive, but we've got some key cogs coming back," said Bell of his top three returning receivers. "We've got an awful lot of talent there. The returners should be comfortable with the pace of the game. Our job will be to filter in some of our young talent and get them acclimated to the speed of our game. I feel that we have a good mixture of veterans and youth at that position."

The "youth" in the mix includes speedy sophomore Matt Trainor (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) and freshmen Cole Krynicki (Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) and Brock Thoms (Plainfield, Ill./North). Also expected to challenge for playing time are two more sophomores – Lawrence Nettles (Matteson, Ill./Rich Central) and basketball player turned wide receiver Raysean Parker (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley).

"Our young guys have some talent," said Bell. "You won't find a pair of receivers physically like Raysean and Lawrence in our league."

While opponents might be looking to the air, the Scots will once again have a solid ground game. Two-time all-conference back Trey Yocum (Bushnell, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City) enters his senior season needing just 660 yards to become the Scots' all-time leading rusher. With two 1,000-yard seasons already under his belt, he could join Hall of Famer Ron Baker as the only two Scots backs with three 1,000-yard seasons to their name. Add Buehne and his 7.3 yard per carry average and the Scots have a formidable 1-2 punch, but it doesn't stop there.

"We're as deep, or deeper, than we've ever been at running back," claimed Bell. "With Trey and Buehne, that's about as good as it gets in this league. But, we've got any one of five backs who could have a breakout game. We're really loaded."

Senior Stefan Flynn (Carthage, Ill./Illini West) could be Bell's first bullet in the chamber after Yocum and Buehne, followed closely by sophomores Jake Innis (Chillicothe, Ill./IVC) and Tanner Shafer (New Berlin, Ill./New Berlin) and freshmen Trent Rains (Lakeland, Fla./Jenkins) and Zac Lovett (Alton, Ill./Alton), who Bell describes as "really good."

"I feel very comfortable with our backs," claimed Bell. "We could go with all upperclassmen or all freshmen and not miss a beat."

Whoever is in the backfield will be running behind an experienced line that features a pair of 300-pounders at the tackles – all-conference senior A.J. Ulrich (Morris, Ill./Morris) and junior Kyle Vestal (Joliet, Ill./Central Catholic). Senior Matt Mautone (Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) returns to make the snaps and three players – junior Grant Gullstrand (Rio, Ill./ROWVA), sophomore Matt Geitner (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) and "fabulous" freshman Derrick Romano (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) – are slugging it out for the two guard positions.

"The offensive line should be our strength," predicted Bell. "A.J. and Kyle did a tremendous job in the off season. They really got their bodies prepared and are much better now than they were at the end of the season last year."

While the offensive line returns four of their five regulars from last year, there will be plenty of new faces in the defensive trenches. Junior Jack Porter (St. Charles, Ill./Wheaton St. Francis) is the leading tackler among the returning D-linemen.

"First and foremost, it all begins with Jack," said Bell of his lone returning starter on the line. "Like most of our other positions, we've got plenty of quality guys to pick from."

Senior Dominic Vaughn (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone) and sophomores Ben Ketchum (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart-Griffin) and Sam Capello (Cortland, Ill./Sycamore) all saw action last season and could be contenders for a starting spot this fall. Sophomore Brian Johnson (Silvis, Ill./Geneseo) and freshmen Dalton Smith (Clifton, Ill./Central) and Calvin Campbell (Chillicothe, Ill./IVC) will challenge the veterans.

"We're in the position where we can mix and match the defensive line," said Bell. "We can rotate in a lot of different combinations. It's a lot like a platoon system, depending on the situation."

Senior Ryan Hix (Manlius, Ill./Bureau Valley) is the leader among returning linebackers. His 54 total stops last season ranks second among all returning defenders.

"He'll be a cornerstone for us in that position," said Bell. "We've got some young guys coming back, and they'll need to mature quickly."

Sophomore Connor Frakes (Illinois City, Ill./Rockridge) saw action in nine of the Scots' 10 games last season. Philip Przybyla (Annawan, Ill./Annawan) – a starter at the beginning of the 2012 season – returns healthy for his junior year after getting "dinged up a bit" as a sophomore.

Brothers Bryan Mesik (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) and A.J. Mesik (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) are ready to step into the fray. A senior and junior, respectively, both were projected as starters last year before their seasons were cut short.

Also in the running for a linebacker spot are "talented" freshmen Logan Gigl (Clifton, Ill./Clifton), Jeff Larsen (Normal, Ill./U-High), Matt Barnes (Colfax, Ill./Ridgeview) and Chris Tworek (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington).

"We've got some good depth at linebacker," reported Bell. "Some of it is young depth, but it's a good, open competition."

It's a 50-50 proposition in the secondary, where senior Michael Lafferty (La Harpe, Ill./Illini West) and junior Jacob Wilson (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) provide stability for the four-man group. Junior Kenny Fogerty (Oneida, Ill./ROWVA) and sophomore Adam Parr (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) are locked in a battle for a corner position while sophomore Alex Sheppard (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) and junior Branson Cain (Port Byron, Ill./Riverdale) are also in the mix for the secondary.

"We've recruited some of these guys for a reason," said Bell. "Now it's time for them to step up and perform."

Bell also puts emphasis on special teams, where he returns two all-conference players: Wedekind and junior kicker Ace Henricks (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County). Wedekind averaged 38 yards per punt last season, booming three over 50 yards, including a 64-yarder. He also landed a dozen balls inside the 20.

Henricks – who is on the Fred Mitchell Watch List for kickers – was perfect in 2012 on six field goal attempts. He also made 39 of his 40 PAT tries.

"We think we've got two of the best in the conference," said Bell of Wedekind and Henricks. "It's the coaches' jobs to find the right combination of special teams players. We can't be average on special teams. We're used to being at or near the top of the conference, and we weren't there last year. We have the athletes, we're faster than a year ago, but like the other areas, we just need to be consistent."

Bell's one constant has been his overall philosophy.

"It's the same every year," said Bell. "We want to get the ball to our playmakers as often as possible. We played at a little slower pace last year than we would have liked. Now, we've got a veteran offensive unit that is accustomed to our preferred pace."

The team should also be accustomed to home cooking this season as six of their 10 games will be played at home. That's a stark contrast to last fall when the Scots played just four times at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.

"It's always nice to be at home, but we play three of the top four teams in the league last year on the road," reported Bell in regards to the matchups with Illinois College and MWC co-champions Lake Forest and St. Norbert. "Of course, Knox is a big game, too, but being just 15 miles away, it's more like a home game than a road game for both of us. It doesn't matter where we play, we've just got to play the games with consistency and see what happens."