Fighting Scots' Thornton looks to cap outstanding gridiron career with third straight bowl win

Limestone grad, who holds Monmouth records for receiving TDs, was a hero in last year's Lakefront Bowl

by Barry McNamara

Monmouth, IL (11/21/2024) — At the time of his induction into the M Club Hall of Fame last year, Michael Blodgett '11 held the Monmouth College career receiving records for catches, yards and touchdowns.

The first two of Blodgett's records remain safe, but there's a new leader in the TD category thanks to the remarkable career of Nate Thornton. The senior from Peoria, Illinois, who has 46 career receiving TDs, will play his final game for the Fighting Scots on Saturday, when Monmouth meets St. Norbert at the Cousins Subs Lakefront Bowl for the second year in a row. Kickoff in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, is at 11 a.m.

The Green Knights will be well aware of the Scots' No. 12. Last year, Thornton made the game-winning 17-yard TD catch with 34 seconds to play as Monmouth came from behind to top St. Norbert 21-14.

"I knew I was one-on-one with their DB," recalled the 6-foot-4 Thornton of the play. "I had a good release, and I stacked him. Carter (Boyer) threw a good ball. I high-pointed it and secured the victory."

Boyer's version of events, expressed a year ago, doled out praise for his star receiver.

"I saw the safety rolling his way, so it was going to be double coverage instead of single, but Nate's a dawg. Nate's a stud," said Boyer. "He Moss'd a kid in the end zone."

Thornton's head coach, Chad Braun, offered praise, as well.

"Probably everyone in the world knew we were throwing it to him there," he said. "It was a really tough catch in double coverage. He's had a lot of great ones through the years."

Thornton's career stats also include 202 catches for 3,520 yards, which rank third and second, respectively, on Monmouth's all-time list. While the Scots often outmatch their opponents, Braun was quick to point out that two of Thornton's best games have come the past two years against Wartburg, one of the nation's best teams.

Earlier this year, Thornton brought down six catches for 114 yards and a score against the Knights and, said Braun, "He was even better his junior year," when he had 10 catches for 212 yards and a TD.

An immediate impact (kind of)

During part of his time at Limestone High School, Thornton donned the No. 88 jersey, a nod to one of his favorite receivers of all-time, former Dallas star Dez Bryant. A Cowboys fan, Thornton also listed Randy Moss, Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson as old favorites, as well as current stars CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson.

Thornton said Monmouth's winning culture helped win him over as a recruit, and so did a home visit from Braun and the Scots' offensive coordinator, Joe Freitag.

"They told me I was one of their top recruits," said Thornton, a standout basketball player at Limestone who originally considered pursuing that sport in college. "They even came to my house and had a meal with me and my family. The winning culture played a role, too, in my decision to come to Monmouth, and I'm glad I did."

"He's been better than we expected," said Braun. "We knew he had good length and athleticism. He's a tough matchup."

"Coming in my freshman year in 2020, it was the year we lost to COVID," said Thornton, "but it was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I was able to practice and develop for a year before I actually got to play. I learned a lot about technique and developed my game a lot more than I expected coming into college."

"What really helped him is that he developed during the year we lost to COVID," agreed Braun. "He lifted weights, and he learned a lot about being a receiver from (former Scot) Jake (Uryasz). He made an immediate impact from Day One."

Day One was actually Day 366, but nevertheless, Thornton turned in a solid rookie season, with 29 catches for 532 yards and the first three of his record-setting TDs. He followed that up with campaigns of 1,042 and 974 yards in 2022 and 2023 and seems a safe bet to reach the 1,000-yard milestone again, needing just 28 yards in the bowl game. For the past two seasons, he's formed a formidable 1-2 receiving punch with Jackson Bergren.

'He's a winner'

In last week's Turkey Bowl victory over Knox, Thornton not only broke Blodgett's career TD record of 43, but he improved his season total to 19, breaking, by one, the Hall of Famer's old mark.

Asked to name another of his Monmouth "high-points" besides the Moss-like catch against St. Norbert, Thornton said the TD records meant a lot to him, although falling shy of a conference title was disappointing.

"I was reading an article a few weeks ago after we played Grinnell or Cornell that I was within five touchdowns of his record, or something like that," said Thornton. "I thought, 'Holy cow, I have a chance to break that.' So when I did that against Knox, it was a great feeling."

Thornton caught three TDs from Brayden Deem against the Prairie Fire, finishing with 99 yards on seven grabs.

"He's a good one. He's a winner," said Braun.

With one game remaining, Thornton's four Monmouth teams have posted 34 victories. That's been a different experience for the former Limestone standout, whose Rockets won a total of six games in his prep career while competing in the rugged Mid-Illini Conference.

"My first year at Monmouth, we won eight games," said Thornton, an exercise science major who plans to pursue a two-year radiology tech degree at Illinois Central College. "I thought, 'So this is what that feels like.' I'd never had that experience. I thought, 'I want to do that again.'"

On Saturday, Monmouth's record-setting receiver will have one more chance to experience that feeling.

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