Defense Dominates as Scots Beat Ripon 45-3

Monmouth holds Red Hawks to 55 total yards

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (10/28/2023) — The Monmouth College football team held Ripon College to less than 60 total yards and cruised to a 45-3 road win on Saturday. The Scots (5-2, 5-1) scored the final 38 points of the game and held the Red Hawks to three yards rushing for the contest.

Ripon got the ball to start the game and on the second play, fumbled the ball with Monmouth's Jeremiah Hardnett (Fairview Heights, Illinois) getting the recovery. The Scots started on the Ripon 31 and scored six plays later as McKade Brooks (Astoria, Illinois) scored on a 6-yard run. Alex Hesson (Plattsburg, Missouri) hit the extra point for a 7-0 lead. After Ripon made a field goal. Monmouth turned the ball over on downs on the Ripon 17. The Red Hawks punted and Monmouth moved down the field. A 22-yard pass play from Carter Boyer (Carthage, Illinois) to Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) ended the first quarter with the ball on the Ripon 29.

Boyer threw for 13 yards to Jackson Bergren (Monmouth, Illinois) and four plays later, Boyer scored on a 1-yard run on 4th and goal. Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) and Jermaih Glenn-Louis Charles (Bloomington, Illinois) had a sack to derail the next Ripon drive and the hosts punted. Monmouth muffed the punt and Ripon recovered but Michael Lord (Laharpe, Illinois) picked off a pass to give the ball back to the Scots. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) and Boyer ran on the next three plays before Boyer hit Bergren for 22 yards down to the Ripon 20. A pass to Brendon Bishop (Sherman, Illinois) put the ball inside the 10 and Wrublik scored on a 2-yard run for a 21-3 lead.

On the next Red Hawks drive. Cikauskas had another sack and Ripon punted again. Brooks ran for 24 yards to the Ripon 42 and Boyer completed two straight passes to Bishop to get first and goal. Two players later, Boyer hit Thornton for a 10-yard touchdown and a 28-3 lead at the end of the half.

Monmouth started the second half with the ball on their own 24. They executed an 11-play, 76-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. Boyer completed three passes on the drive, two to Thornton and one to Wrublik. Brooks and Wrublik ran the ball down the field with Wrublik scoring from 5-yards out. The next Ripon drive went backwards nine yards and after a punt the Scots took over on their own 29. Boyer hit Bergren for 17 twice on the drive and Ripon penalties helped move the ball. Boyer capped the 13-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Thornton for a 42-3 lead.

The Scots defense kept harassing Ripon into negative plays and punts. Monmouth got the bal back early in the fourth quarter and used another methodical 13-play drive to cover 63 yards over more than seven minutes. After being stopped on third and goal. Hesson kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 45-3 Monmouth lead. Hardnett had a sack on the next Ripon drive as the Red Hawks went backwards again before turning the ball over on downs. Braydon Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) took over at quarterback and the Scots ran out the clock with seven straight rushing plays.

Boyer completed 22-of-29 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 38 yards and a touchdown. Brooks ran for 85 yards and a score while Wrublik ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Bergren caught eight passes for 1-5 yards while Thornton caught eix passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

Cikauskas led the defense with six total tackles, 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss. Hardnett and Nick Serrano (Miami, Florida) also had sacks and Glenn-Louis Charles had half a sack. Tanner Tomaschke (Greenville, Illinois) had five tackles and Lord had an interception.

Monmouth held Ripon to 55 total yards on 38 plays. The Red Hawks averaged 0.125 yards per rush as they carried the ball 24 times for three yards. They completed 7-of-14 passes for 52 yards and punted five times.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The all-time series is led by Ripon 35-29-1 but Monmouth is 10-1 in the last 11. The Scots are 40-0 under Braun when allowing less than 10 points. They are 39-0 when scoring at least 40Boyer has 17 multi-TD games. He moved into a tie for seventh with Jon Baikie on the games played by a quarterback list. Nate Thornton passed Austin Peterson for 8th on the career receptions list with 129. Thornton also moved past Jacolby Maxwell and Yansay Williams for 4th on the touchdown reception list with 25. Lord has nine career interceptions. Monmouth picked up 474 yards for the game and didn't punt. The Scots picked up 29 first downs to just five for Ripon. The Scots return home to play Lake Forest at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4.