Cikauskas Breaks Career Sack Record as Defense Dominates
by Nathan Baliva
MONMOUTH, ILL. (11/01/2025) The Monmouth College football team took control of the Midwest Conference race with an emphatic 29-0 win at Chicago on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (7-1, 7-0) held the Maroons to five yards rushing and they can clinch the MWC title next weekend at home against Ripon.
“I was really proud of our preparation this week and leading up to the game,” said head coach Chad Braun. “”You could tell this team was on a mission this week and we got some huge plays in the game, starting with Ethan on the punt block and returning it for a touchdown.”
Chicago started the game with the ball and picked up two first downs before Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) broke the school career sack record with his 35th sack. The Maroons lined up to punt but Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) blocked the kick, recovered the ball and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown, his third defensive score of the season. Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
James and Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) wrecked the next Chicago drive with a tackle for a loss and the Maroons punted again. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran for a first down but the Scots punted from their own 36. Cikauskas had another TFL on the next drive to force a Chicago punt and Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) ran for 13 yards and a first down Wrublik picked up another first down and Deem hit Mason Emin (Sterling, Illinois) for 13 down to the UC 38. Monmouth picked up another first down through Wrublik to start the second quarter but Chicago stopped the Scots on fourth and goal from the 2 to end the drive
The Maroons went 3-and-out and punted the ball back with Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) returning the ball to the UC 40. Deem ran for a touchdown on the next play, taking it 40 yards for the score and a 13-0 lead.
Cikauskas had another sack and he batted down a pass to derail the next Chicago drive. The Scots started on their own 19 after a penalty and Deem hit Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) for seven yards. The drive stalled and Sensabaugh punted. Chicago again went 3-and-out and Monmouth took over on their own 23 with 3:48 to play in the half.
Deem threw to Emin for a first down and then picked up a pair of first downs with his legs. After an incomplete pass, Deem went to the sidelines with an injury and Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) completed a pass to Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) for six yards. The Scots punted from the UC 40 and the Maroons took a knee to end the half.
“We have talked all year about how the more physical team usually wins and we did a tremendous job of stopping the run and running the ball today,” said Braun.
Da’Von Patterson (Ponte Vedra, Florida) returned the opening kickoff of the second half for 62 yards and the Scots started on the UC 23. Wrublik ran for 11 and eight before scoring on a 2-yard run for a 20-0 lead. Chicago again did nothing with the ball as Jeremiah Hardnett (O’Fallon, Illinois) had a TFL before Landon Erxleben (Pekin, Illinois) and Nate Grull (Greenville, Illinois) shared a sack.
“The kick return by Patterson was a huge play coming out of the half and giving us a short field,” said Braun.
Monmouth started on their own 41 and Wrublik ran for 22 yards into UC territory. Deem hit Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) for a first down and Wrublik ran for another first down, into the red zome. Deem hooked up with Newman for 12 yards and a pass interference penalty put the ball on the UC 2. Wrublik scored again for a 27-0 lead with 5:46 to play in the third.
The teams traded punts before Damian Brown (East Peoria, Illinois) intercepted a pass and returned it to the UC 43. Williams ran for 15 and Wrublik took the ball into the red zone to start the fourth quarter. Deem hit Emin on a completion but the Scots settled for a 27-yard field goal by Sensabaugh for a 29-0 lead.
Carter Russell (Monmouth, Illinois) and Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) both had tackles for loss as Chicago punted for an eighth time. The Scots punted the ball back with 6:30 to play and a 29-0 lead. Chicago ran the ball five times in a row and got stopped on the 37 before missing a 55-yard field goal. The Scots got the ball back with 2:54 to play and ran out the clock with Wrublik and John Ahlden (Ashkum, Illinois) picking up first downs before Deem took a knee.
“Deem did a great job of converting in the passing game and using his legs,” said Braun. “Wrublik is a tank and he ran super hard today and the whole line did a great job. Our defensive performance was excellent by the whole unit.”
Deem completed 8-of-21 passes for 59 yards while rushing for a career-high 75 yards and a touchdown. Wrublik ran for 139 yards and two scores while Braun completed two passes for 11 yards. Williams caught three passes for 13 yards and Emin caught three balls for 26 yards.
James led the way with 10 tackles while Cikauskas had seven. Cikauskas had 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a pass break up as well.
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