The Monmouth College football team used a dominating second half to knock off the Ripon Red Hawks 31-21 on Saturday. Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, the Scots scored 24 unanswered points, before giving up a late score, to move to 7-2 on the season, 7-1 in the Midwest Conference.
Both teams were stopped on third down on their first drive and Ripon punted on their second drive as well. The Red Hawks got an interception of Carter Boyer (Carthage, Illinois) and crossed midfield for the first time. The drive ended with a Ripon touchdown as they took a 7-0 lead.
After the teams traded punts, the Scots went on the move with a long pass into the red zone as the first quarter ended. Devin Lawrence (Hawthorne, Florida) plunged in for a touchdown early in the second quarter as the Scots tied the game 7-7. Ripon responded with two long passes, the second of which was a touchdown pass for a 14-7 lead.
After a Monmouth punt, Michael Lord (LaHarpe, Illinois) grabbed an interception but the Scots were again forced to punt. After Ripon got the ball back, Evan Otto (Canton, Illinois) picked off a pass to get the ball back but the drive again stalled for the Scots.
Ripon punted the ball back and the Scots quickly moved down the field. On the final play of the half, Cody Szelc (Riverview, Florida) drilled a 29-yard field goal to cut the Ripon lead to 14-10 to end the half.
The Scots got the ball to start the third quarter and moved right down the field. Devin Pinkard (Wildwood, Florida) capped the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run for a 17-14 Scots lead.
Ripon got another interception but missed a field goal that was tipped at the line. After the Scots punted to end the third quarter, Ripon took over at their own 20. Korbyn Personett (Pittsfield, Illinois) had two sacks on the drive and Ripon punted the ball back. Lawrence picked up 17 yards on the first play but two plays later fumbled the ball and the Red Hawks took over on their own 38 with 11:59 to play.
Monmouth forced a punt and took over with 10:27 to play. On the first play, Boyer launched a 45-yard pass to Nathan Thornton (Peoria, Illinois) as the Scots moved to the Ripon 10. Pinkard scored on the next play and the Scots took a 24-14 lead.
The Red Hawks fumbled the first play after the kickoff and Anthony Williams (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) recovered for the Scots on the Ripon 35. Boyer completed a pass to Nathan Graham (Monticello, Illinois) for 25 yards and two plays later, Lawrence scored for a 31-14 Scots lead.
Lord picked off his second pass of the game to end the next Ripon drive. Boyer completed a pass to Graham for 19 yards to cross the 50 but the drive eventually stalled and the Scots punted the ball back with 4:40 to play.
Ripon took the ball down the field and scored with 1:40 to play to cut the Scots lead to 31-21. The onside kick sailed out of bounds and the Scots ran the clock down to 34 seconds as Ripon used their timeouts. Addison Fletcher (Monmouth, Illinois) punted the ball to the 8-yard line and Ripon ran two more plays before the game ended.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: The Scots have won four in a row against Ripon and 12 of the last 14Monmouth has scored at least 31 points in all seven wins this season. The Scots had three interceptions, two by Lord. Monmouth also recovered a fumble for four turnovers. Boyer was 11-for-20 passing for 218 yards. Thornton had four catches for a career-high 107 yards. Lawrence ran 24 times for a season-high 92 yards and two touchdowns. Pinkard also scored twice while rushing six times for 32 yards. It is the first multi-TD game for Pinkard in college. Personett had three more sacks and leads the conference with 14, tying Monmouth’s single-season school record, set by Greg Bennett in 1989The Scots have 34 sacks as a team, fourth most in school history. The Scots finish the regular season at home next Saturday with a Noon kickoff against Knox in the Turkey Bowl.
***Report Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
