Bertrand battles his way back onto field
That was the only question on Linfield defensive end Kelley Bertrand’s mind as Mark Colville looked at his MRI exam results.
A week earlier on the fifth play of the season opener against Western Oregon, a Wolves player fell on Bertrand’s knee completely tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and partially tearing his patella tendon. He knew his streak of 34 starts was over but he hoped his fifth and final season wasn’t.
Colville, the team doctor at Portland State, had seen plenty of ACL injuries. In fact, Bertrand’s father wanted Kelley to visit Colville because he had been a patient of Colville’s for his own knee problems when he was younger. In 20 years at Portland State, Colville had only had one player decide to play and postpone the surgery.
“I would never recommend a player to play with a torn ACL,” Colville said.
Bertrand didn’t need a recommendation. He knows the possible consequences of tearing other ligaments or the possibility of chronic knee problems down the road but he also knows the feeling of taking the field every Saturday with his teammates and the talent this team possesses to get past their close playoff losses of the last two years.
Four days after the injury he was jogging and rehabbing extensively under constant surveillance of the training staff at Linfield. He was fitted for a 16-ounce, carbon fiber brace that was machine-measured to accurately fit his knee. Regular checkups to test his strength and flexibility became his routine.
While the team was cruising through the regular season Bertrand was stuck on the sidelines.
“It was really, really tough to feel like an outsider,” Bertrand said. “Coming back had a lot to do with my friends on the team.”
He was cleared to play in Week 6 against Puget Sound. He tallied one tackle in 40 plays in the 35-16 victory.
“I felt alright,” Bertrand said, “But not like I felt at the beginning of the season.”
This week in a 69-13 defeat of Menlo, Bertrand played only 22 plays but had three tackles including two sacks for a loss of 14 yards.
As he returns to his old form, he is under the watchful eye of the coaching staff. Former Linfield All-American defensive end Ryan Carlson is a volunteer coach in charge of counting Bertrand’s plays and making sure all is well. He proclaims himself to be at about 85-90% but still has some bad days.
He plans to have surgery immediately after the season but has big plans before then.
“It would be nice to have a team picture from Salem (at the Stagg Bowl) to speed the recovery.” Bertrand said with a smile.
Up for grabs
The IIAC is one of the closest conference races in the region. Four teams are in the hunt with just two games to play. Buena Vista holds the lead at 5-1 with Wartburg, Simpson and Coe breathing down their necks at 4-2. The following is a breakdown of what it would take for each of the aforementioned teams to win the conference.
For Buena Vista to win the IIAC: Two wins will guarantee the outright conference title. If Coe beats Simpson, a Buena Vista win over Coe will give them the title due to the tie-breaker. If Simpson beats Coe, Buena Vista must win twice for the title.
For Coe to win the IIAC: Two wins will guarantee IIAC title. First win would eliminate Simpson from contention, and second win would create a three-way tie between Coe, Buena Vista and Wartburg at 6-2 in league play. For the playoffs, Wartburg would be eliminated as they went to the playoffs last year, and Coe would advance based on head-to-head result against Buena Vista. One loss eliminates Coe from contention.
For Simpson to win the IIAC: They need two wins and a Buena Vista loss. First win would eliminate Coe, second win puts them at 6-2 in IIAC. If Buena Vista loses once and also goes to 6-2, Simpson wins on head-to-head result.
For Wartburg to win the IIAC: They need two wins and two Buena Vista losses. If Buena Vista loses just once, Wartburg is left as they lost to Buena Vista. Any scenario involving just one Buena Vista loss does not favor Wartburg, since they will always be the victim of the Rose Bowl Rule, meaning the most recent playoff participant is eliminated.
This assumes that all four teams in the running win out unless otherwise noted.
How’d they do that?
St. Olaf took an unorthodox route on Saturday in defeating defending national champion St. John's 21-19. The Oles gave up 356 yards of total offense compared to their 139 yards. They converted on only one of 16 third downs compared to the Johnnies who were 9-21. They were tripled up in first downs as the Johnnies claimed 18 to the Oles’ six. The Oles punted 11 times compared to two punts for the Johnnies and they were called for two penalties compared to zero for St. John’s.
So you’re probably scratching your head right now and asking how did they win? The answer — the Johnnies committed eight turnovers in the game including four fumbles and four interceptions. It was the most turnovers they’ve had since Dec. 7, 1991 when they committed 10 turnovers in a 19-7 defeat to Dayton in the NCAA semifinals. The Oles committed only one and were able to overcome their less than glorious stats to defeat St. John’s for the first time since Sept, 15, 2001.
Note: The Johnnies have compiled a 45-0-1 record in their four undefeated national championship seasons (two NAIA, two NCAA). In the years directly following those four championship seasons the Johnnies have combined for a 21-11-1 record.
They will miss the playoffs this year for the first time since 1997 when they finished 6-4 with a season ending loss to St. Thomas. The Johnnies welcome archrival St. Thomas to Collegeville for this year’s season finale on Nov. 13.
Leave it to Beaver
As mentioned above, if the Buena Vista Beavers can win their final two games against Coe and Central they will clinch their first outright IIAC conference title since 1973. Last year, they defeated the Central Dutch 16-14 snapping a 24-game losing streak dating back to 1979. This year will be a test as Central has beaten the only two teams Buena Vista has lost to this season — Bethel and Simpson. The destiny of the Beavers is in the own hands.
Note: The Beavers have been riding the rushing roller coaster the past three weeks going from 362 yards against Waldorf in Week 7 to a school record low of minus-46 yards against Simpson. Last week they bounced back gaining 300 yards rushing against Dubuque.
Seconds please
There were high octane offensive performances in the NWC on Saturday as both Linfield and Whitworth put up 69 points in their respective victories over Menlo and Lewis and Clark. Both teams used second quarter explosions to cruise to victory.
Linfield scored five touchdowns in the second quarter highlighted by a 64-yard touchdown pass from Brett Elliott to Casey Allen and a 92-yard punt return by Brandon Hazenberg. The often-maligned Linfield defense held Menlo to just a field goal in the second quarter and 13 points in the game.
Whitworth also used a huge second quarter to down the Lewis & Clark Pioneers 69-12. The Pirates scored 34 points while shutting out Lewis & Clark in the quarter. The attack was led by Jared Thomas’s 57 and 74 yard touchdown receptions just 1:11 apart. He finished the game with 185 yards on six receptions and 12 yards on three rushes with another touchdown. The 69 points was the most scored by a Whitworth team since 1976 when they defeated Whitman 70-30. Whitman no longer offers football.
Note: Puget Sound used a 28-point second quarter to defeat Colorado College 52-10. It was their first time over the 50-point mark since 1986.
C0bbers with a zero
Concordia-Moorhead moved to 8-0 and clinched at least a share of their 18th MIAC title with a 31-6 win on Saturday against Augsburg. It marks the first MIAC championship for the Cobbers since the 1995 season when they shared the crown with St. John’s.
With the victory against the Auggies, Concordia earned the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs. The Cobbers will be making their first postseason appearance since 1997 when they lost to Augsburg in the first round. It will be the fourth time that Concordia will play in the NCAA playoffs and eighth overall playoff appearance. The Cobbers won the NAIA national championship in 1964, 1978 and 1981. The farthest they have ventured in the NCAA playoffs is the semifinal round where they lost to Augustana (Ill.) in 1986.
Concordia remains the only undefeated team in the MIAC and one of only 10 schools in Division III to still have a perfect record. The Cobbers’ 8-0 start marks the first time since the 1988 season that Concordia has started the year with eight straight victories. The win streak is tied for the third best start to the season in school history.
The school record for wins to start a season is 10. The 1964 NAIA championship team went 10-0 before tying Sam Houston State of Texas 7-7 in the championship game.
Cal Lu makes it two
Cal Lutheran used an Alex Espinoza 41-yard field goal as time expired to drop defending SCIAC champion Redlands 27-24 for their second consecutive home loss. It was Cal Lutheran’s first victory over Redlands since 1995 and first at Redlands since 1982. It’s the first time Redlands has had two losses in conference since 2001.
The kicking game blows
While wind affected many games throughout the Midwest on Saturday, maybe nowhere more so than in the Loras/Coe game. The two teams combined to miss five kicks including an overtime PAT for Loras in Coe’s 28-27 overtime victory. Coe missed three field goals from 26, 27 and 27 yards. Loras missed a field goal from 38 yards and the game-deciding extra point in overtime.
Knightfall
The Carleton Knights continue to falter in stopping the run as the opponent has had a player break league and team records in consecutive games. Last week, St. Thomas running back Peter Ridley set the MIAC single game rushing record against Carleton with 314 yards and three touchdowns. On Saturday, Bethel running back Phil Porta set his school’s single-game rushing record when he ran 37 times for 264 yards in a 21-6 victory. That’s two players in two weeks combining for 578 yards, six touchdowns and two victories.
Note: Porta’s season rushing total of 1,415 yards is only 48 yards shy of breaking Mike Johnson’s single-season Bethel record of 1,462 yards, set during the 2001 season.
Team effort
Luther knocked off Cornell 52-13 on Saturday with eight people accounting for the seven touchdowns and one field goal for the Norse. Nate Rolland opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown followed by Tyler Sherden with a 5-yard touchdown of his own. Kyle Wickwire then split the uprights from 27 yards out for 17 points before the half. Luther scored the only points of the third quarter with a Brett Scheetz 29-yard touchdown pass and a 1-yard score from Seth Wigle. The Norse ended the game with 21 points in the fourth quarter on touchdowns by Kyle Pearson (25-yard reception), Brandt Rost (29-yard run) and Mark Walker (4-yard run). It was the third straight win for Luther and moved them to 4-3 in the IIAC.
Note: Luther sophomore running back Tyler Sherden amassed 251 all-purpose yards in Luther’s victory. He had 27 carries for 161 yards including a five-yard touchdown run and had two receptions for 19 yards. To go along with 6.0 yard per carry and 9.5 yard per reception average, Sherden returned one kick for 71 yards. In six games since moving from defensive back to running back, he has rushed for 817 yards and 11 touchdowns on 171 carries.
A lot of points in the Paint Bucket
Macalester and Hamline met Saturday for the 105th time in their storied rivalry and they almost combined for 105 points to celebrate the oldest rivalry in the state as Hamline dropped the Scots 75-20. Hamline set school records in total yards (781 yards), rushing yards (563), offensive touchdowns (11) and points (75) en route to the lopsided finish. Macalester chipped in three scores and 436 yards of total offense as the teams combined for 52 first downs, 14 touchdowns and 1,217 yards of total offense.
Note: Macalester quarterback, yes quarterback, Adam Denny leads the Scots with four touchdown receptions on the season.
GET to the GAME!
Concordia at St. Olaf; Northfield, Minn.; 1 p.m.: The St. Olaf Oles have little time to celebrate knocking off defending national champion St. John’s as the Concordia Cobbers are coming to town for their MIAC finale. The Oles have a chance to play spoiler and ruin Concordia’s perfect conference season but even a loss wouldn’t prevent them from reaching the playoffs as they clinched their spot this week. St. Olaf is riding their best season in recent memory sitting alone in fourth at 4-2. The undefeated Cobbers sit alone at the top with St. Thomas one game back. Concordia will look to exploit the St. Olaf secondary with the Brian Schumacher-to-Andrew Passanante connection. The Cobbers allow just 13 points per game compared to 23 for the Oles. The Oles are third in the league in passing offense at 182 yards per game while Concordia puts up 232 yards on the ground.
Central at Buena Vista; Storm Lake, Iowa; 1 p.m.: Conference leading Buena Vista welcomes Central to Storm Lake in its quest for a conference title. The Beavers are coming off a 19-0 defeat of Dubuque while the Dutch lost a heart breaker to Wartburg in Pella last week. The Central are eliminated from contention for the conference title but can play spoiler with an upset of the Beavers. Buena Vista running back Chad Pearson set new career highs with 188 rushing yards on 36 carries on Saturday. He leads the conference with 99 yards rushing per game. Linebacker Michael Irvin continues to lead the conference with 115 total tackles.