The Monmouth College football team scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to win at Grinnell 48-8 on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (3-1, 3-0) accounted for nearly 500 total yards and had six different players find the end zone. 

"That was exactly what we needed today," said head coach Chad Braun. "We were a little too high on the horse and needed to be knocked down a little bit. A lot of credit goes to the Grinnell coaching staff. They did a great job and had a heck of a call on that fake punt."

The Scots forced a punt on Grinnell's first drive and started on their own 15. Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois)  hit Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) for eight yards to start the drive. Deem picked up a first down with his legs before completing a pass to Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) for 16 yards. Another pass to Zeigler-Harris and a 10-yard pass to Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) got the Scots inside the 30. Deem handed off to Julian Samuels (Annawan, Illinois) on a reverse and the wide out took the ball down the sideline 27 yards for a touchdown. Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 lead. 

The Scots defense forced another punt and the offense got the ball back on the 36 after Zeigler-Harris accounted for 16 yards on the return, Deem and Hudson Ault (Fairbury, Illinois) combined to rush for 29 yards and Deem hit Williams and Samuels for first downs. Ault capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead. 

Grinnell hit a field goal on their first drive of the second quarter after a 12-play drive. Deem hit Samuels for 38 yards on the first play of the next drive and Ault ran for 13 yards on the next two plays. Facing 3rd and 9, Deem hit David Gerber (Chana, Illinois) for a 23-yard touchdown and a 21-3 lead. The Pioneers faked a punt on 4th and 9 on their own 26 and ran for 47 yards. They later picked up a first down on pass interference and another on defensive holding before scoring on a 2-yard run. 

Monmouth started the second half with a 21-8 lead and recovered a Pioneers onside kick to start the drive on the Grinnell 48. Deem hit Williams for five and Newman for eight but the drive eventually stalled and Monmouth turned it over on downs on the 35. The Pioneers drove the ball across midfield and converted a fourth down play before Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) recovered a fumble on the 20. Deem hit Newman for a first down and John Ahlden (Ashkum, Illinois) ran for 13 yards. He ran for another first down and Deem hit Mason Emin (Sterling, Illinois) for a 34-yard touchdown and a 28-9 lead. 

After another Grinnell punt, Monmouth fumbled on the Pioneers 37. Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) recorded a sack and Grinnell punted again to end the third quarter. Deem hit Gunnar Bryant (Curryville, Missouri) for 16 yards and Williams for 19. A pass for 15 yards to Newman put the Scots inside the five and three plays later, Ahlden scored on the ground for a 35-9 lead. 

"I really like how we came out of halftime and executed," said Braun, "We got some much needed turnovers and I was really proud of how we responded."

Grinnell fumbled on the second play of the next drive and Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) picked up the ball, returning it 25 yards for a touchdown and a 42-9 lead. Damien Brown (East Peoria, Illinois) ended the next Grinnell drive with an interception on the Pioneers 42. Deem moved the sticks with a 10-yard pass to Williams and a 13-yard pass to Bryant. Ahlden ran for 10 and Deem hit Gerber for a 2-yard touchdown pass and a 49-9 lead. 

The Pioneers punted and Monmouth took over on the Grinnell 45. Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) took over at quarterback and ran for eight yards. He converted a first down with a pass to Emin and ran for another first down. Jalon Lewis (Oviedo, Florida) ran for 11 to put the Scots inside the 10 but the Scots took a knee and let the clock run out. 

"We moved the ball really well all day long," said Braun. "We never punted and Sensabaugh was tremendous on kickoffs. I'm not sure I've ever seen that many touchbacks in one game."

Deem completed 26-of-34 passes for 278 yards with three scores. Ahlden ran 10 times for 58 yards and a touchdown while Ault ran seven times for 46 yards and a touchdown. Samuels led the Scots with 55 receiving yards and also added 28 yards on the ground with a touchdown. Williams caught six passes for 51 yards and Newman caught four for 46. Gerber caught two touchdown passes and Emin added one. 

James and Cikauskas both had nine tackles while Carpenter and Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) added eight each. James had two TFL and a fumble recovery while Cikauskas had a sack and 1.5 TFL. Brown added an interception and Sensabaugh was 7-for-7 on extra points.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Deem moved into the top 10 in career completions with 252…His 26 completions are a career high, three more than against Beloit last season…Ahlden ran for a career-best 58 yards…Gerber and Emin had their first career touchdowns…Cikauskas has 33 career sacks, moving past Anthony Goranson for third in Monmouth history…James has recovered a fumble in two straight games…Sensabaugh kicked off eight times and averaged 62.9 yards per kick with seven touchbacks and the other kickoff was fair caught…Coach Braun moved past Bill Reichow for second on the wins list with 79…He is 79-20 for his Monmouth career, 62-4 in regular season Midwest Conference play…The Scots have scored at least 49 points in three straight games…Monmouth is 49-0 under Braun when scoring at least 40 points…The Scots are 48-0 under Braun when allowing 10 points or less…Monmouth has won 11 straight against Grinnell dating back to 2012 and the Scots lead the all-time series 51-21-3…Monmouth has outscored the Pioneers 476-29 under Coach Braun…The Scots are back home next week with a 1 p.m. kickoff against Illinois College.