Boyer's Five Touchdowns Lead Scots Past Beloit 59-3

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/21/2023) — The Monmouth College football team scored 14 points in the first quarter and never looked back in a 59-3 win at Beloit College on Saturday. The Scots (5-2, 5-1) were led by quarterback Carter Boyer (Carthage, Illinois) who accounted for five touchdowns and nearly 400 total yards

Monmouth stopped Beloit for a 3-and-out on the first possession of the game. The Scots started their drive at their own 35 and scored in just three plays. Boyer scored on a 53-yard QB run after he also ran for nine yards and McKade Brooks (Astoria, Illinois) ran for three yards. Alec Hesson (Plattsburg, Missouri) kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead. Beloit punted after another 3-and-out and the Scots got the ball on the 50. Brooks ran for nine and Boyer hit Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) for a first down. Boyer then found Jackson Bergren (Monmouth, Illinois) for a 36-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Michael Lord (LaHarpe, Illinois) picked off his eighth career pass to stop Beloit's next drive. Monmouth started on their own 23 and Boyer hit Dylan Bone (Jacksonville, Illinois) for 29 yards across midfield. Boyer ran for another first down and freshman Da'Von Patterson (Ponte Vedra, Florida) ran for 17 yards. Boyer ran the ball to the Beloit one but a false start and a fumble derailed the drive as Beloit recovered on their own 13. The drive stalled out and Monmouth got the ball back. Boyer ran for another touchdown, this time from 9-yards out, for a 21-0 lead.

Monmouth defensive end Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) helped end the next Beloit drive with a sack on 3rd down. The following drive was nearly all on the ground as Monmouth covered 59 yards on nine rushes and one pass. Brooks capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run for a 28-0 lead. Beloit fumbled on the first play of the next drive and Rockyen Spinks (Galesburg, Illinois) recovered for the Scots. Boyer completed two passes to Brendon Bishop (Sherman, Illinois) but after a penalty, Monmouth turned the ball over on downs on the Beloit 10. After the Bucs punted, Boyer hit Thornton for 48 yards down the Beloit 3. On the next play, the duo hooked up again, this time for a touchdown and a 35-0 halftime lead.

The Scots had another 3-play touchdown drive to start the second half. After a short run and a 3-yard pass, Boyer hit Bishop for 76 yards and a touchdown for a 42-0 lead. On the next drive, Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran the ball six straight times for 34 yards and a 1-yard touchdown. Monmouth stopped Beloit on fourth down and took over on the Beloit 45. Boyer hit passes to Bergren and Bishop while Brooks ran for 17. Two plays later, Brooks scored on a 2-yard run for a 56-0 lead. The teams traded late field goals with Hesson making from 29-yards away for the 59-3 final score.

Boyer was 16-for-23 passing for 260 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 12 times for a career-best 135 yards and two more touchdowns. Wrublik ran 15 times for 91 yards and a touchdown while Brooks ran 20 times for 88 yards and two scores. Bishop caught four passes for 110 yards and a touchdown while Thornton caught six passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Cikauskas led the Scots with seven tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. He also had a sack, as did Sencere Brent (Peoria, Illinois).

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The all-time series is led by the Scots 39-21. Coach Chad Braun is 5-0 against Beloit as a head coach. Monmouth is 16-1 in the last 17 games with Beloit winning in 2010. Boyer has 16 multi-TD games. He is the fourth player in school history with at least 400 passing completions and the fifth to throw at least 50 touchdown passes. With two rushing touchdowns he also tied Craig Anderson for seven on the list of rushing touchdowns by a QB. Thornton passed Nathan Gaskill for ninth on the career receptions list. Baker moved into a tied for 11th on the career list with 1.5 TFL Saturday to move his career tally to 30.5. The Scots play at Ripon College next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff. The next home game is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 against Lake Forest.