Deem, Thornton Lead Scots Past Grinnell on Saturday

Thornton ties single-game TD record, surpasses 3000 career yards

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/12/2024) — The Monmouth College football team beat Grinnell College for a 10th straight time on Saturday, prevailing 49-7 in Iowa as Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) tied the school record with four receiving touchdowns. The Fighting Scots (4-1, 4-0) built a 35-7 first half lead and quarterback Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) finished with six touchdown passes, tied for second-most in a game in school history.

"I thought we came out of the gates really strong today," said head coach Chad Braun. "We were a little complacent offensively coming out of halftime and didn't run the ball very effectively with a lot of free runners The defense played really well for the most part and that was a big pick-six by Derek (Chandler) to end the first half."

Grinnell got the ball to start the game and they fumbled on the second play with Monmouth's Zane Beebe (Davenport, Iowa) recovering on the GC 29. The Scots scored on their first play from scrimmage for the game as Deem hit Thornton for a 29-yard score. Cody Szelc (Riverview, Florida) hit the extra point for a 7-0 lead. The Pioneers immediately went 3-and-out and the Scots took over on their own 35. McKade Brooks (Astoria, Illinois) ran for 16 yards on the first play. Two plays later, Deem hit Thornton for a 49-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Monmouth lead, putting the senior wideout over 3000 career receiving yards.

"Nate is an incredible player and he had another incredible game today," said Braun "I'm really happy for him and proud of him for what he has accomplished in a great career so far."

Leading by 14, Monmouth started their fourth drive of the game on their own 29. Deem ran for six yards and Blake Regenold (Downs, Illinois) ran for three. Deem hit Thornton for 20 yards and then ran for seven on first down. Deem completed passes to Thornton and Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) to get the Scots inside the red zone. HIs third touchdown pass of the game came to Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) from 13-yards out for a 21-0 lead Grinnell scored on a long drive and stopped the Scots on fourth down on the Grinnell 18. The big play on that Monmouth drive was a 33-yard connection on first down from Deem to Jackson Bergren (Monmouth, Illinois).

The Deem to Thornton connection paid off again as they hooked up for a 41-yard touchdown with 1:22 to play in the half. Down 28-7, Grinnell took to the air but Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) picked off the 2nd down pass and took it to the house for a 38-yard pick-six with 35 seconds left in the half.

Monmouth started the second half with the ball but went 3-and-out. Tevin Baker (Kewanee, Illinois) recorded a sack and the Pioneers punted the ball. Later in the quarter, Monmouth took over on their own 39 and Deem hit Kessinger for 11 yards to midfield. Elijah Cherelus (Kissimmee, Florida) ran three times for 17 yards and a 28-yard pass to Kissinger got the ball inside the five. On 3rd and goal, Deem hit Bergren for the touchdown, his fifth passing score of the game, and a 42-7 lead.

On their first possession of the fourth quarter, Monmouth picked up 30 yards on two Grinnell penalties, a late hit and pass interference. A pass to Kessinger put the ball on the Pioneers 30 and Brooks ran for 10 yards and another first down. Bergren moved the ball inside the 10 with a 10-yard reception and Brooks ran to the five. Two players later, Deem hit Thornton for another touchdown and a 49-7 lead as the senior wideout tied the school record for receiving scores in a game.

With the second team on the field for the next drive, freshman Angel Duarte (Mt. Sterling, Illinois) ran four times for 62 yards. He had a 30-yard run to get the ball inside the red zone and Cherelus got another carry as well but the drive stalled at the 10. Monmouth got the ball back in the final minutes and Regenold picked up a couple yards before the 2-minute warning. The Scots turned the ball over on downs and Grinnell ran one play before the game ended.

Deem completed 17-of-30 passes for 289 yards and six touchdowns. Thornton caught seven passes for 156 yards and four touchdowns while Bergren and Kessinger also had touchdown receptions. Duarte ran four times for 62 yards while Brooks ran 12 times for 43 yards. Joey Fiore (Decatur, Illinois) led the team with seven tackles. Baker had a sack and Chandler had an interception.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Thornton tied the single-game touchdown record set by Yansay Williams on Nov. 12, 2016 against Knox and matched by Jacolby Maxwell on Sep. 29, 2018 against Lawrence ... Thornton went over 3000 yards, joining M Club Hall of Famer Michael Blodgett (4087) as the only players in school history with 3000 receiving yards ... He also is second on the career list with 35 touchdowns, eight behind Blodgett's record ... Thornton has eight career touchdowns in four games against Grinnell ... Thornton also went over 200 career points and into the top 10 on that list ... Bergren moved into 11th on the career receptions list and 14th on the career receiving yards list ... Szelc was 7-for-7 on extra points as he passed Mark Reed for sixth on the career scoring list ... Only Hayden Nelson (7), Alex Tanney (6) and Mitch Tanney (6) have six or more passing touchdowns in a game in Monmouth history... ... Alex Tanney threw for six touchdowns in three different games ... Nelson set the record with seven again Lawrence on Sep. 29, 2018 ... Chad Braun passed Kelly Kane for third most coaching wins in school history with his 72nd win ... Monmouth is 50-21-3 all time against Grinnell and 8-0 under coach BraunMonmouth is 43-0 under Braun when scoring at least 40 points ... The Scots are 33-2 under Braun in October ... The Scots play at Cornell next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoffThe next home game is Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. against Beloit.