Deem Throws for Five TDs as Scots Rally Past Cornell

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill (10/19/2024) — The Monmouth College football team scored the final 17 points and overturned a 14-point deficit to win at Cornell 38-28 on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (5-1, 5-0) got five touchdown passes from quarterback Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) who has thrown for 11 scores in the last two games.

"I'm really proud of our guys today," said head coach Chad Braun. "We got down early and had to battle back. Our guys did a great job of staying together, There wasn't any finger pointing at all and we had to fight and claw our way back."

Monmouth forced Cornell to punt on their first possession and the offense started on their own 36. Deem ran for 10 yards before hitting Jackson Bergren (Monmouth, Illinois) on a pair of 9-yard completions. McKade Brooks (Astoria, Illinois) ran for 15 and into the red zone. Deem hit Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) for a 17-yard touchdown and Cody Szelc (Riverview, Florida) made it 7-0 with the extra point.

Cornell answered with a 10-play drive and Monmouth went 3-and-out. The Rams kept the ball for more than six minutes and scored again to lead 14-7 in the second quarter. Monmouth again punted and the Rams scored on a 60-yard rush to lead 21-7. Brooks ran three times for 15 yards to start the next Monmouth drive and Deem hit Bergren for a first down across midfield. A pass to Thornton moved the ball into the red zone and Deem found Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) for an 11-yard touchdown. Cornell fumbled the snap on a punt and Monmouth took over on the Rams 40 but an interception ended the half with Cornell leading 21-14.

Monmouth got the ball to start the second half but went 3-and-out. Cornell punted the ball back and the Scots started on the Rams 49. Two passes to Bergren moved the ball to the 33 and a pass interference gave Monmouth a first down at the 11. Deem hooked up with Thornton again for an 8-yard score and Szelc's extra point tied the game.

The Rams answered with a 3-play drive, keyed by a 57-yard pass down to the two. They took a 28-21 lead with 8:23 to play in the quarter. Monmouth fumbled on the next drive but forced the Rams to punt. Passes to Kessinger and Thornton moved the ball to midfield and Brooks ran twice for 11 yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Deem hit Kessinger for a 24-yard touchdown and a 28-28 tie.

Tevin Baker (Kewanee, Illinois) sacked the Rams quarterback to end the next drive and Monmouth took over on the 50. Brooks ran for a first down and Deem hit Bergren for nine yards. Brooks ran two more times inside the 10 The drive stalled after a sack and Szelc gave Monmouth a 31-28 yead with a 35-yard field goal.

Jeremiah Hardnett (O'Fallon, Illinois) intercepted a 2nd down pass on the Rams 32 to get the ball back for the Scots. Two plays later, Deem hit Thornton for another score, this one from 11 yards out for a 38-28 lead. The Rams put together a strong drive down to the Monmouth 35 before Nick Harris (Winter Haven, Florida) intercepted a pass with 3:00 to play. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) and Deem ran out the clock to end the game with a 38-28 win.

"We showed a lot of toughness and heart today," said Braun. "To come up with a big second half like that we had guys step up and make some big times plays under pressure.

Deem completed 19-of-26 passes for 291 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 19 yards. Brooks ran 23 times for 100 yards and Wrublik ran 13 times for 61 yards. Bergren caught nine passes for 87 yards, Thornton caught five passes for 59 yards and three touchdowns while Kessinger had two touchdowns on five catches for 55 yards.

Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) and Baker both had two sacks. Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) led the Scots with nine tackles and Rockyen Spinks (Galesburg, Illinois) added a tackle for loss.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Deem has 11 touchdown passes in the last two games, seven to Thornton ... Thornton has 38 career touchdowns, five behind Mike Blodgett's career record ... Bergren moved into nine on the career receiving yards list with 1787 ... With two sacks, Baker has 24.5 for his career, jumping over teammate Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) into a tie for sixth on the career list with Tim Hinson ... He also jumped Cikauskas with 42 TFL which is tied with Justin Ziegler for sixth all-time ... Szelc is the third kicker in Monmouth history to make at least 150 career extra points ... Strating had his first career sacks ... Brooks has six 100-yard rushing games ... Harris has eight career interceptions ...Monmouth leads the all-time series 40-39-1 and the Scots have won 10 in a row against the Rams ... The Scots are 34-2 under Braun in October ... The Scots play at home against Beloit next Saturday with a 1 p.m. kickoff.