Bragging rights will be on the line for the 124th time when Monmouth College hosts Knox College for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Monmouth’s April Zorn Memorial Stadium.
      Monmouth (4-5, 4-4) has a 63-50-10 advantage over Knox (2-7, 2-6) in the series, which began in 1888. Knox won the first four meetings in the rivalry, but Monmouth has won the last 13 games – the longest win streak in the battle for the Bronze Turkey.
      After dropping its first five games, Knox has been on a roll in the last month, winning two of their last four outings, including last week’s 63-42 win over Lawrence. Junior running back Derek Mortensen scored a school-record six TDs in the game and recorded his sixth game with more than 100 yards rushing, accounting for 203 of the Fire’s nearly 600 yards of offense.
      Monmouth took a 40-21 lead at Ripon last week before the Red Hawks rallied to hang a 50-47 loss on the Scots. Trey Yocum set the all-time scoring record and went over the 1,000-yard mark for the second straight year, but Monmouth couldn’t hang on, surrendering 21 fourth-quarter points. The Scots had a chance to win in the final seconds, but fell short when a TD was called back to give Ripon only its second win over the Scots in the last 10 years.
      “We’ve got to put last week behind us and move forward,” said Monmouth coach Steve Bell. “We’ve got a very tough game ahead of us. There’s a lot of tradition and pride at stake this weekend.”
      Like Ripon, Knox would like to end the Scots’ win streak in the series, which is among the oldest in the NCAA.
      While Knox has been outgained this season by an average of nearly 170 yards, the Fire has closed the gap in the last two weeks. Mortensen has scored 15 times this season while gaining more than 130 yards per game. His 230 carries is nearly four times as many as any other Fire back.   
      “Knox has proved they can put points on the board,” said Bell of the Fire’s more than 30 points per game average. “If not the best, they’ve got one of the best backs in the league in Mortensen. He’s a physical runner.”
      Monmouth hasn’t lacked for an offensive threat, either. Yocum reeled off his seventh game of the season of 100 or more yards and posted his 13th touchdown of the year last week. He’s averaged well over 100 yards per game to add balance to the Scots’ offense. When the Scots go to the air, Brik Wedekind has connected on more than 60 percent of his passes, finding 10 different receivers. To add even more balance to the mix, Wedekind’s four favorite receivers are separated by less than 30 yards and seven receptions.
      When it comes to the Knox defense, opponents haven’t been able to avoid All-American linebacker Mike Hendrick. The senior leads Knox with 116 tackles, and his four sacks are second on the team to lineman Lloyd Scott’s 5.5 sacks.
      Monmouth’s defensive unit has been a study in balance. The Scots’ top three defenders – Patrick Sheets, Jordan Kalk and Ryan Flannigan – have between 67 and 69 tackles each, and linemen Sam Hoster and Jack Porter have recorded 11 and 11.5 tackles-for-loss, respectively.
      Monmouth will have the home field for this year’s meeting but is sitting on a two-game losing streak – the Scots’ first two-game regular season losing streak since 2007. That streak, coupled with the Prairie Fire’s momentum after last week’s offensive firestorm, could make for an intense Saturday.
      “They’ll be pumped up as they should be,” predicted Bell of the Prairie Fire. “Partly because of the rivalry, partly because we’ve been struggling and partly because they’re playing well. I know Knox will come ready to play, but I know our kids will, too. It should be one heck of a game, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”