Strating Dominates on Defense as Scots Beat Chicago

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, ill. (10/25/2026) — The Monmouth College football team built a 20-0 halftime lead and held on for a 23-16 win over the University of Chicago on Saturday. The first place Fighting Scots (5-2, 5-0) have won 15 straight conference games and running back Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) became the first 1000 yard rusher in nine seasons. Junior linebacker Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) had a statement game with three turnovers, 16 tackles, and 1.5 tackles for loss as he secured the win with his second interception of the day.

"It isn't always pretty but we had a real nice first half," said head coach Chad Braun. "The group stayed together today and we made a couple big plays when we needed them for a great team win."

The Scots picked up a first down through Wrublik on their first drive but two incompletions led to a punt. Strating recovered a fumble on Chicago's first play from scrimmage after Tristan Brown (Arlington, Texas) hit the scrambling quarterback. Wrublik ran for 10 yards on consecutive plays and Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) picked up 10 and five on a pair of runs. With the ball on the Chicago 21, a pass was tipped at the line and intercepted.

Strating came through again as he picked off the Chicago quarterback with a great leaping catch at the UC 30. Two plays later, Braun hit Gunner Bryant (Curryville, Missouri) for eight yards and Wrublik ran for six. On third down, Braun found Da'Von Patterson (Ponte Vedre, Florida) over the middle, in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

The Scots forced a Chicago punt and took over on their own 36. Wrublik ran for six and Braun hit Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) for a 32 yard catch-and-run down to the UC 26. Wrublik ran for 10 on the last play of the first quarter. He ran for six down to the 10 and Sensabaugh drilled a 27-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.

Armani Santos (West Palm Beach, Florida) and Jeremiah Hardnett (O'Fallon, Illinois) had sacks on the next Chicago drive and they punted with 11:24 to play in the half. Wrublik ran four times for 16 yards and Braun hit Zeigler-Harris down the right sideline for a 43-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead.

Chicago moved the ball for the first time all game as they used a 14-play drive to flip the field but ultimately turned the ball over on downs on the Monmouth 33. After a Monmouth punt, Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) stepped in front of a Chicago pass for an interception near midfield and he returned the ball to the UC 39. With 18 seconds left in the half, Monmouth picked up 20 yards on two passes to Jerry Reed (Danville, Illinois) and Braun ran to set up a field goal. Sensabaugh made it 20-0 with a 28-yard field goal on the final play of the half.

Chicago used an 11-play drive to kick a field goal on their first possession of the second half. Hudson Ault (Fairview, Illinois) ran for 11 as did Braun but the Scots turned the ball over on downs on the UC 38. Chicago cut the lead to 20-10 with an 11-play, 62-yard touchdown drive. Wrublik ran for 13 to midfield to start the next drive but Monmouth punted to end the third quarter.

Chicago scored another touchdown on a 9-play drive but this time they missed the extra point. With a 20-16 lead the Scots punted and then forced a punt to get the ball back with 7:58 to play. Wrublik ran for seven and five on the first two plays. On 4th-and-3 from the UC 32, Braun scrambled left and flipped the ball at the last moment to Bryant for a 22-yard gain down to the UC 10. After three run plays, Sensabaugh kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 23-16 lead.

"A big play by Silas when we really needed it," said Braun. "Our guys fought and found a way today and that is what matters."

Chicago started the next drive at their own 31 with 3:14 to play. They went backwards on a holding penalty and their fourth down pass was intercepted by Strating at midfield and returned to the UC 38. Wrublik ran for six as Chicago used their last timeout. With under a minute to play, Wrublik ran for 19 yards on 3rd-and-4 and Braun took a knee to end the game.

"What an unbelievable game by Carson today and if that doesn't make him first team All-Conference I don't know what will," said Braun. "He was all over the field today and he's a great leader for us who continues to get better and better."

Wrublik ran 31 times for 147 yards and also caught two passes for eight yards. Braun completed 12-of-27 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 38 yards. Zeigler-Harris, Bryant, Reed and Patterson all had two catches. Zeigler-Harris led the Scots with 75 receiving yards.

Strating had 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and three pass break ups to go with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Adrian Raabe (Poplar Grove, Illinois) had nine tackles while Brown had seven, a PBU and a forced fumble. Santos and Hardnett had sacks.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Wrublik is Monmouth's first 1000 yard rusher since DeAndre Wright ran for 1286 yards in 2017 ... Wrublik has rushed for at least 147 yards in all five conference games and is averaging 146 yards per game this season ... Wrublik moved past Kevin Matarelli for fourth on the career rushing list with 3220 yards ... He also went past Todd Sabean for fourth on the rushing attempts list with 582 ... Zeigler-Harris moved into the top 10 in total combined career kick and punt returns ... Monmouth is 7-0 against Chicago as Midwest Conference opponents ,,, The Scots have won 22 straight home games against MWC teams ... The Scots play at Illinois College next Saturday ... The next home game is Senior Day against Grinnell at 1 p.m. on Nov. 7.