Monmouth, Ill. - The success of the 2008 football team at Monmouth College 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 (left), 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 senior members of the offensive line, Kotecki (right), a 6-foot-1, 245-pounder, and the 6-3, 260-pound Scwhindenhammer (left), 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 (right), a 6-5, 240-pound senior 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.

Beloit, Wis. - Tony Baratti, a sophomore linebacker at Beloit College from Arlington Heights, Illinois, has been named to the Consensus Draft Services 2009 Division III Football Pre-season All-American Football team, the website announced recently.

This is the sixth season Consensus Draft Services (cdsdraft.com) has named All-American teams for all levels of NCAA football as well as the NAIA.

Baratti (right), a D3football.com Third Team All-West Region selection, was a First-Team All-Midwest Conference pick and the Buccaneer team MVP. He led the team in tackles for the second straight season with 120 in 2008, a mark that ranks as the fifth-most in a season in school history. 56 of his stops were solo. His 120 total tackles and 56 solo stops were both third in the Midwest Conference. He also had four interceptions, with return yardage of 120, four fumble recoveries, which ties for the second-most ever in a season, four forced fumbles, 3.5 sacks for 25 yards in loss and two pass defenses. He was an All-MWC Honorable Mention pick as a first-year player in 2007.

Jacksonville, Ill. - Illinois College’s Michael Jennings (right) is one of 27 student-athletes from across the nation named by Consensus Draft Services to its 2009 NCAA Division III All-American Football Team.

Jennings, who will be a senior this fall, was joined on the First Team by 12 other student-athletes on offense and a group of 14 on defense. Twenty-seven additional student-athletes were named by Consensus Draft Services to the second team.

Jennings (left) set Illinois College single season records in 2008 for receptions (110), receiving yards (1,416) and touchdown catches (16), and he established single game Illinois College records for receptions (19), receiving yards (280) and touchdown receptions (four). Jennings also broke four Midwest Conference pass receiving records and became only the third player in Illinois College football history to earn Associated Press Little All-America football honors.

Lake Forest, Ill. - Lake Forest College Athletic Director Jackie Slaats announced Tuesday (April 21) that Head Football Coach Brent Becker has resigned to pursue other career interests and that defensive coordinator Jim Catanzaro (right) has been selected as his replacement.

Becker was the Foresters' head coach for four seasons after serving two years as the team's defensive coordinator. Lake Forest posted an overall record of 32-28 and Midwest Conference mark of 29-25 during his time at the College. Catanzaro was Lake Forest's defensive coordinator for three-plus seasons and has been an assistant coach at three different institutions for a total of nine years.

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Waukesha, Wis. - Kevin Trigonis (right) has joined the coaching staff at Carroll University, athletic director Kris Jacobsen announced.

Trigonis will be an assistant coach for the Carroll football (offensive line) and track and field (throwers) programs.

The Halfmoon, N.Y. native joins the Pioneers staff from Amherst College where he was also a football and track and field assistant coach.

Trigonis began his coaching career as a student-assistant football coach at St. Lawrence University, his alma mater. He then became the offensive line coach at Salve Regina University in 2006 before moving on to Amherst a year later.