The Monmouth College football team went on the road Saturday and beat defending Midwest Conference champion Lake Forest 49-6. Sophomore wideout Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) tied the Fighting Scots (2-1, 2-0) single-game record with four receiving touchdowns in the win.
“I’m really proud of the guys on our first overnight trip the way they handled the trip,” said head coach Chad Braun. “Obviously we came out strong and ready to go and we were dominant on both sides of the ball. Having Newman back and out there makes a huge difference and shows how good we can be with him on the field.”
Lake Forest started the game with the ball and the Monmouth defense went to work. On the second play, the Foresters running back fumbled and Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) recovered to bring the offense on the field in plus territory. Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) hit Carson Newman (Morrison, Illinois) for eight years but the Scots had to punt.
Lake Forest went 3-and-out and punted with the Scots taking over on their own 32. Deem found Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) for six and Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran for four but left the game. Deem hit David Gerber (Chana, Illinois) for nine before Hudson Ault (Fairbury, Illinois) ran for 21 down to the LFC 27. Two runs by John Ahlden (Ashkum, Illinois) put the Scots inside the 10 and Deem hit Newman for a 9-yard score. Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois).tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead
“Ault and Ahlden really stepped up after Nate got hurt,” said Braun. “Ault is a young kid but he stopped up in a big position and Ahlden has worked his butt off for years to get read and they both took advantage of their opportunity today.”
Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) stopped the next LFC drive with a sack and the Scots took over on their own 46. Deem found Newman for 31 before Ault ran for nine and 11. Ault finished off the drive with a 2-yard score and Sensabaugh made it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) had a tackle for loss on third down that forced another Lake Forest punt. The Scots had to punt it back and LFC kicked a field goal to get on the board. Two drives later Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) had a 15-yard punt return to start a drive on the Monmouth 30. Ault ran twice for a first down before Deem hit Newman out to midfield. He found Newman on the sideline for 20 before the sophomore wide receiver made a fantastic catch in the end zone for a 30-yard score. Sensabaugh put the Scots up 21-3 and the Foresters added a field goal on the final play of the half.
Monmouth got the ball to start the 2nd half and Ault ran for eight before Deem hit Gerber for a first down. Two passes to Newman got the Scots on the doorstep of the red zone but a controversial interception call ended the drive. The Foresters went nowhere and Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois blocked a punt. A penalty of the Lake Forest head coach added 15 yards and Deem threw another touchdown pass to Newman for a 28-6 lead.
The Scots defense stopped Lake Forest on downs at the 49 as Jeremiah Hardnett (O’Fallon, Illinois) picked up a sack. Deem scrambled for two first downs before passing to Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) for another. From 16 yards out, Ahlden scored his first career touchdown for a 35-6 lead.
James had a tackle for loss and Chandler blocked another punt on the next Lake Forest drive. Deem cashed in with a fourth TD pass to Newman, tying the single-game receiving record. Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) got the ball back for the Scots with an interception and Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) took over at quarterback. He ran for a first down, then hit Gerber for 13 yards. Ahlden picked up a first down on the ground and Braun threw for 26 yards to Mason Emin (Sterling, Illinois) for a first and goal situation, Ahlden scored from two yards out for a 49-6 win.
“Special teams were huge for us again today, especially those two blocks by Chandler,” said Braun. “We played physical to get good field position. This is such a fun group to coach, They come and work hard every day and compete and now we have to stay focused through the bye week and be ready to go in two weeks.”
Deem completed 19-of-31 passing for 221 yards with four scores.Ault ran 17 times for 73 yards and a touchdown while Ahlden added 15 rushes for 45 yards and two scores. Newman caught a career-high 12 passes for 163 yards and four touchdowns.
Carpenter and James both had nine tackles while Strating had eight. Carpenter had an interception and two tackles for loss while James recovered a fumble and had one TFL. Strating added a sack and 2.5 TFL while Hardnett also had a sack.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Newman’s four touchdown catches ties Nate Thornton (2024 v. Grinnell), Yansay Williams (2016 v. Knox) and Jacolby Maxwell (2018 v. Lawrence) for the school record … His 12 catches are tied for ninth most in a game and his 163 yards are also a career high … Deem moved into a tie withHayden Nelson for sixth on the career passing TD list with 44 … Coach Braun moved into a tie with Bill Reichow for second on the wins list with 78 … He is 78-20 for his Monmouth career … Reichow was 78-31-2 from 1966-1978 … Steve Bell holds the wins record going 112-44 from 2000-14 … The 49 points are the most by either team in the series since the Scots won at Lake Forest 52-6 in 2016 … Monmouth is 7-3 in the last 10 against Lake Forest and 33-22-2 all-time … The Scots are off next week for the MWC bye week … The next game is at 1 p.m on October 4 at Grinnell.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
