The Monmouth College football team won the most lopsided Turkey Bowl in history with a 69-0 triumph over Knox College on Saturday to finish a perfect Midwest Conference season. The Fighting Scots (9-1, 9-0) scored 35 points in the first quarter en route to the most points ever scored by one team in the history of the Turkey Bowl. 

"Really proud of the way we came out of the gate today," said head coach Chad Braun. "Our guys were ready to play and executed at a really high level."

The Scots won the coin flip, took the ball and went straight to work. Da'Von Patterson (Ponte Vedra, Florida) returned the opening kick 33 yards into Knox territory. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran for four yards and Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) hit Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) for a 43-yard touchdown. Knox fumbled on their second play from scrimmage as Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) both forced and recovered the fumble on the Knox 24. On the third play of the next drive, Wrublik scored from 13-yards out and Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) hit the extra point for a 14-0 lead. 

Monmouth's third drive started on their own 43 and Deem hit Wiliams for 11 yards. A pass to Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) went for 14 yards and after a penalty, Wrublik scored on a 9-yard run. Jaliek White (Jacksonville, Illinois) forced a fumble on a sack and Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) recovered on the Knox 23. After a touchdown pass was called back, Deem hit Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) on a 14-yard touchdown pass for a 28-0 lead. 

Cikauskas stopped the next Knox drive with a tackle for loss and a sack, setting the Monmouth record for career TFL. Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) blocked a punt and the Scots started on the Knox 31. Wrublik converted a pair of first downs before running for a 12-yard score and a 35-0 lead.

Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) recovered another Knox fumble to start the second quarter but Monmouth was stopped on downs on the Knox 26. An interception by Chandler gave the Scots the ball on the Knox 28 but again the offense was stopped on fourth down. On the next possession, Deem hit Kessinger for 35 yards down to the 15 and Wrublik ran twice to set up first and goal. Deem called his own number and scored from seven yards out for a 42-0 halftime lead. 

"We stalled a bit in the second quartet but then did a great job after halftime," said Braun.  "Defensively it was another really solid performance. The guys did a great job playing assignment football and created some turnovers."

Knox started the second half with the ball but Monmouth scored on the possession. James ripped the ball away from the Prairie Fire running back on the 37 and ran the ball in for a touchdown and a 49-0 lead. 

Later in the quarter, Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) hit Gus Olson (Greenville, Illinois) for eight yards and a first down. Braun also found Tristan Brown (Arlington, Texas) for 34 yards down to the one and Jalon Lewis (Oviedo, Florida) made it 56-0 with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Monmouth ended the third quarter with three straight runs by Angel Duarte (Mt. Sterling, Illinois) accounting for 39 yards.  Senior center James Connor (Kewanee, Illinois) ran the final yard of the drive for a touchdown on his first career carry for a 62-0 lead. 

Monmouth got the ball back after a four-and out and Duarte ran for 33 yards. Duarte ran for 18 and then finished off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown. Mylee Hansen (Pekin, Illinois) who was honored as the MWC Elite 20 Award winner on Saturday, kicked the extra point for a 69-0 lead. 

Deem completed 8-of-14 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns while Braun was 3-for-7 for 37 yards. Deem, Wrublik, Duarte, Connor and Lewis all ran for touchdowns. Duarte ran for 108 yards while Wrublik had 76. Eight players caught passes, led by Williams, Kessinger and Zeigler-Harris with two each. Williams had 54 yards while Kessinger had 49 and both scored. 

White had a career-high 15 tackles while James added 11. Cikauskas had a career-best 4.5 TFLto two with a sack while White added 2.5 TFL and a sack. James recovered two fumbles while Chandler had an interception and a blocked punt. 

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Deem is now third on the career passing TD list with 61, passing Carter Boyer and Tanner Matlick…Cikauskas has 77.5 career tackles for loss, breaking the career record of 76.5 set by Anthony Goranson…Cikauskas also holds the Monmouth career record with 10 forced fumbles…James has scored four touchdowns this season…The Scots had 16 tackles for loss…Monmouth has blocked a punt in three straight games…Monmouth has allowed six points in the last 21 quarters combined…Monmouth last allowed a touchdown on Oct. 11…The Scots are 26-0 against Knox since 1999 and lead the all-time series 76-50-10…Monmouth last went 9-0 in MWC play in 2011 though they were 8-0 in 2015 and also had unbeaten MWC regular seasons in 2017, 2018 and 2019…Monmouth also went 9-0 in 2005, 2008 and 2009…The previous most lopsided Turkey Bowl was a 58-0 Monmouth win in 1986 while the 2022 team won 56-0…The most points scored by either team before Saturday was 61 by the Fighting Scots in a 41-point win in 1977…The Scots will learn their NCAA Playoff matchup at 4 p.m. Sunday with the Selection Show on NCAA.com.