The Monmouth College football team led 28-21 with two minutes to play but ultimately lost 35-28 in a de facto Midwest Conference championship game at Lake Forest on Saturday. The Foresters clinched the MWC title and NCAA automatic qualifier with the win and the Fighting Scots (7-2, 7-1) will have to win the Turkey Bowl next Saturday and hope for an at-large bid or Cousins Subs Lakefront Bowl invite.
Monmouth forced Lake Forest to punt on their first possession and the Scots took over on their own 15. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) rushed for seven and Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) got the offense going with a 37-yard pass to Nate Thornton (Peoria, Illinois). Deem hit Wrublik for 12 yards and a first down before a quarterback run picked up 16 yards Passes to Wrublik and Thornton got the ball inside the five and Wrublik scored on a 4-yard run. The extra point by Cody Szelc (Riverview, Florida) gave Monmouth a 7-0 lead.
The Foresters moved the ball methodically down the field and scored on a 19-yard run to tie the game with 2:23 to play in the first quarter. The Scots started on their own 29 but went 3-and-out and punted the ball back to LFC. Sixth-year AJ Jackson scored again on the next drive for LFC as the hosts took a 14-7 lead. Monmouth’s next drive ended in an interception that was returned all the way to the Scots 12. Lake Forest took a 21-7 lead and forced a Monmouth punt.
The Scots got the ball back after a LFC 3-and-out. Starting on their own 22, Wrublik ran for 22 yards on three plays and picked up a first down on 3rd and 2. Deem hit Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) for 15 yards across midfield and Wrublik ran for five. Deem found Newman in the endzone for a 34-yard touchdown, trimming LFC’s lead to 21-14 with 2:22 to play in the half. Lake Forest moved down to the Monmouth 37 but on 4th and 4, Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) intercepted a pass and returned it to the LFC 37. Deem ran for nine and Wrublik ran for 26 down to the two. On 3rd and goal, Deem found Thornton in the corner of the endzone for his 43rd career touchdown catch and a 21-21 halftime score.
The Scots started the second half with the ball but fumbled on their own 40 on a 3rd down play. Lake Forest couldn’t convert a 4th and 9 and Monmouth took over on their own 30. Deem hit Thornton for 10 and then connected with Newman on a free play for 37 down to the LFC 25. Wrublik picked up a first down before a penalty moved the ball back to the 29. Deem hit Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) for 23 yards and Wrublik scored on a 5-yard run for a 28-21 Monmouth lead.
Lake Forest converted one fourth down on the next drive but on 4th and 18, Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) picked off a pass near the goal line and returned it to the MC 30. Wrublik ran for seven but the Scots had to punt and LFC started the drive on their own 21. Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) deflected a pass and the Foresters punted the ball back with 1:36 to play in the quarter. Deem hit Kessinger across midfield and Wrublik ran for a first down as the quarter came to a close.
After an incomplete pass to the end zone, Deem hit Newman to set up 4th and 2 on the LFC 31. The hosts jumped offside to move the chains and Wrublik ran the ball into the red zone. The drive stalled at the 20 and a missed field goal gave the ball to LFC with 12:45 to play. The Foresters converted a third down and moved the ball across midfield while converting a 4th and 1 play. The hosts moved down to the Monmouth 19 but a 4th and 4 pass fell incomplete with 3:50 to play.
Wrublik ran for nine yards on the first play and picked up a first down across the Monmouth 30. A run to the 34 led to a Lake Forest timeout with 2:20 to play. After another run and timeout, Monmouth threw incomplete on third down and had to punt. Lake Forest returned the punt 60 yards to the MC 20 with 1:54 to play. The Foresters scored quickly and tied the game at 28. Monmouth got the ball back and completed a nine yard pass on 3rd and 10 to Thornton. With 44 seconds left, the Scots came up short on 4th and 1, giving the ball back to LFC at the 45 yard line. The Foresters threw the ball down to the 12 and scored on the next play to lead 35-28 with 14 seconds left. Deem scrambled for seven yards but was sacked while trying to throw a Hail Mary, ending the game.
Deem completed 16-of-30 passes for 1216 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and 31 rushing yards. Wrublik ran 28 times for 132 yards and two scores. Thornton caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown while Newman caught five balls for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Nick Harris (Winter Haven, Florida) led the defense with a career-best 17 tackles while Brant Baltes (Lisbon, Iowa) had 10. Chandler and James both had interceptions while Cikauskas had a tackle for loss.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Thornton has 43 career touchdowns in 41 games, tying M Club Hall of Famer Michael Blodgett’s career touchdown record…Thornton has a career-high 16 touchdown receptions this season, second on the single-season list and two behind Blodgett’s record from 2011…Thornton ranks ninth on the single-season yardage list with 866 and it is the 17th time a Monmouth WR has caught 50 passes in a season…Deem has 31 TD passes on the season, fifth on the single-season list behind only Alex and Mitch Tanney…His 2278 passing yards are 11th on the single-season list…Tevin Baker (Kewanee, Illinois) moved into fourth on the career pass break ups list with 24 and Harris is now fifth with 23,,,Monmouth leads the all-time series 33-22-2 but LFC has won the last two in Lake Forest…Monmouth plays at Knox in the Turkey Bowl next Saturday with a Noon kickoff.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
