By Bill Huber
For D3football.com

The Division III football playoffs started on Nov. 22. For the Wartburg Knights, their postseason began on Oct. 11.

The Knights lost an Iowa Conference matchup to Buena Vista 26-21 on Oct. 4, putting their postseason dreams in dire straits.

"No question, we had ourselves in a position where there was no margin for error in the second half of the season," coach Rick Willis said. "Our football team did a tremendous job on just focusing week to week and finding ways to win football games."

Needing to win out to have any chance at the postseason, Wartburg, the preseason conference favorite, won its final five games, including three victories by a touchdown or less. When Buena Vista stumbled in the next-to-last week of the regular season, the Knights were back in first place, then wrapped up the league title with a 20-13 overtime win over Dubuque in the finale.

Wartburg continued its winning ways by upsetting the WIAC champions, UW-Stevens Point, in the first round of the playoffs. The Knights (9-2) will try for their seventh consecutive victory on Saturday against a familiar foe, the Midwest Conference champions from Monmouth (11-0).

"I definitely think the goal that this team had set, and our seniors especially had set, definitely had some pressure on them," Willis said of the Knights' late-season charge. "They knew we had no margin for error. In order to have a chance to be a championship team in the Iowa Conference, we had to find a way to win each week. I definitely think there was some urgency to our situation."

Certainly, the Knights are among the most battle-tested teams remaining in the playoffs. After playing so many must-win games and playing in so many close contests, the Knights will bring a degree of mental toughness to Galesburg, Ill., for Saturday's second-round clash against the explosive Fighting Scots.

"Basically, as we continue here in the playoffs, it's in essence the same type of a situation that we were in the last five weeks of the season," Willis said. "Plus, we've been in a lot of close football games. Our team doesn't panic in those situations, and hopefully that will help us."

Saturday's playoff game offers an intriguing matchup between the Scots' pass-happy offense against a strong Wartburg pass defense.

Monmouth's sophomore quarterback, Alex Tanney, has thrown for 3,311 yards on 68.4 percent accuracy, with an eye-popping 47 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. Tanney, the conductor of an offensive orchestra that leads Division III with 48.5 points per game, plays no favorites. Mike Blodgett has team highs of 55 catches, 734 yards and 13 touchdowns, but four other players have at least 30 catches and a stunning 12 players have hauled in at least one of Tanney's touchdowns.

Wartburg, on the other hand, has intercepted 17 passes and allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete only 48.4 percent of their passes. While Tanney will be the best quarterback the Knights have faced, the same is also true. The Fighting Scots haven't faced a team of this caliber, either.

"They have a very high-powered offense, and trying to contain that offense is our challenge," Willis said. "They spread the ball around to different people. Their quarterback makes good decisions and is very efficient. So, trying to find a way to contain their offense is a tremendous challenge."

Not that Wartburg's quarterback and offense are chopped liver. Junior quarterback Nick Yordi has completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,555 yards, with 23 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Justin Vetter led the conference with 66 receptions, 1,055 yards and 11 touchdowns. Yordi, Vetter and the running back combo of Lamar Harvey and Alex Boom, who combined for almost 1,000 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, lead a Wartburg offense that scored a conference-high 26.2 points per game.

There is a bit of familiarity between the teams, since Monmouth faced Wartburg to kick off the 2006 and 2007 seasons and won by a combined 55-7. Willis said those games mean little, since both teams have played about 20 games since then. The 2007 opener was Tanney's collegiate debut, so the Knights certainly will be facing a more polished quarterback.

"Both quarterbacks have had tremendous years," Willis said. "Their quarterback at Monmouth has phenomenal statistics and has really developed since we played him last, which was the first game of his career. And our quarterback has progressed, as well. As a junior now, he's made tremendous strides this season and has had a great year, as well."

Willis said this game will be a "tremendous challenge for our team," but the Knights seem well-equipped to handle it. After playing a litany of close games and upsetting the ninth-ranked Pointers at Stevens Point last week, Wartburg doesn't figure to be intimidated. After all, the Knights have played six consecutive must-win games and come out on top each time.

"I think our guys keep battling," Willis said of his team's mind-set. "We haven't always been fancy or pretty in how we've got it done, but our teams have been able to find a way to keep fighting and to keep working and find a way to win. It's really just trying to stay composed and not panic and just keep believing in what you're doing."