The No. 23/25 Monmouth College football team's return to the NCAA Playoffs ended with a 49-15 loss at No. 6/7 Saint John's in the snow on Saturday. Playing in the Second Round for just the third time ever, the Fighting Scots (9-2) pulled within 21-9 in the second quarter but the Johnnies scored the next 28 points to take control of the game. 

"I'm really proud of these young men and proud of our seniors for putting us back on the map," said head coach Chad Braun. "I didn't think we were at our best today. Some of that was us and some of that had to do with our opponent. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes in coverage but Saint John's made some terrific plays too."

Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) ran for 21 yards on the first play from scrimmage after a penalty on the kickoff pinned them back at their own 10. Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran for four yards and Deem hit Lucas Kessinger (Cambridge, Illinois) for four yards to set up 4th and 2. After a timeout, Monmouth punted and Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) pinned the Johnnies inside the 30. SJU hit two quick passes for 45 yards and scored on a 27-yard run for a 7-0 lead. 

Monmouth started the drive on their own 18, Deem hit Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) for four yards and Wrublik ran for five. The Scots picked up a first down and after two runs, Deem hit Kessinger for 17 yards to midfield. Two plays later, Deem hit Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) down the sideline for 39 yards to the SJU 10. Wrublik ran for two but two incomplete passes brought up fourth down. Sensabaugh made a 25-yard field goal to get the Scots on the board. 

The Johnnies picked up a first down just shy of midfield and converted a third and short to move the chains again. A 21-yard completion and a penalty moved the ball to the Monmouth 13 and SJU picked up six yards on a pass play. They made it 14-3 with a 7-yard passing score with 1:40 to play in the quarter. The Scots went backwards on the next drive with a sack ending the drive on the 13. Sensabaugh hit a 28-yard punt and SJU took over on the Scots 41 to end the first quarter. 

"We had some good rhythm going early and Chase made a great play early for us," said Deem. "It is hard to come back against a really good team and in these conditions."

The Johnnies threw incomplete on third down but picked up a 4th and 8 with a 16-yard catch and run. An offsides penalty moved the ball to the Monmouth 7 and the Johnnies made it 21-3 with a touchdown pass. Returning to the lineup, Julian Samuels (Annawan, Illinois) returned the kick to the Monmouth 40 and Deem ran for six yards on first down. The Scots threw incomplete on 3rd and short and got stuffed on fourth down, turning the ball over at midfield. A 16-yard pass play and another 3rd down conversion moved the ball inside the 25. Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) picked off a pass and returned it to the Monmouth 17. Wrublik ran for six and Deem hit Newman for 19 to convert a third down. Deem found Kessinger for 20 yards and hit Samuels for a highlight-reel 36-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked but the Scots forced a 3-and out and took over on the SJU 46 after a shanked punt. Deem hit Newman for 18 yards ahead of the two-minute warning and ran for 13 yards. The Scots used a timeout with 1:06 to play in the half but threw incomplete before having a 35-yard field goal blocked. Damien Brown (East Peoria, Illinois) picked off a SJU pass on the Monmouth 39 and the half ended with the Johnnies up 21-9. 

"Our guys fought after being down 21-3 and stopping them," said Braun. "Getting the touchdown was big and we had a chance to make it a one-score game right before half. The second quarter was more like Monmouth football and our guys didn't give up."

Saint John''s started the second half with the ball and converted a 3rd and 10 to move into Monmouth territory. Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) and Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) shared a tackle for loss but SJU picked up another first down as they entered the red zone. On 3rd and goal, the Johnnies converted for a 28-9 lead. Starting on their own 19, Deem hit Newman for 31 yards but a holding penalty down field pushed the ball back to the 40. After a sack, Deem hit Samuels for seven yards and the Scots punted. SJU started on their own 16 and quickly moved into Monmouth territory with two long passes and an unsportsmanlike penalty. The Johnnies converted another 3rd down and scored on a 9-yard pass for a 35-9 lead. 

"We had some chances to get them off the field on third down in the third quarter and jus couldn't execute," said Braun. "Give them credit and we just couldn't get that done."

Samuels ran for 18 on an end around and the Scots picked up another first down on a pass interference penalty. The Johnnies picked off a pass inside their own 10 and returned the ball to the Monmouth 24. With 39 seconds left in the third quarter, the Johnnies took a 42-9 lead with their fifth passing touchdown of the day. 

The final plays of the third quarter had Deem hit Gunner Bryant (Curryville, Missouri) for five yards and Wrublik ran for two. Deem hit Kessinger 21 yards but the Johnnies picked off a pass on their own seven with 13:50 to play. The Johnnies moved down the field and picked up a sixth passing touchdown by Troy Feeney for a 49-9 lead with 11:27 to play. 

Wrublik started the next drive with an 11-yard run and Deem hit Williams for 26 yards down to the SJU 21. Wrublik ran for four yards but the Scots turned the ball over on downs on the SJU 17. The Johnnies faced 3rd and 14 but converted with a 48-yard pass play and picked up another first down at the 18 with under six minutes to play. They moved back on a penalty and missed a field goal with 3:48 to play. 

Wrublik started the ensuing drive with a 13-yard run and a 9-yard run before Deem hit Williams for another first down. Deem found Williams for 14 yards and another first down to the SJU 34. Deem hit Williams again, this time for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:57 to play. Down 49-15, the Scots failed on a two-point conversion and then kicked the onside kick out of bounds. The Johnnies ran out the clock to end the game.

"They have some big guys on that line and it was hard to see over them," said Deem. "We were physical up front while in the passing game and we executed well in the pass game all day. The run game it felt like they had our number." 

Deem completed 17-of-32 passes for 306 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 31 yards. Wrublik ran 18 times for 78 yards and Newman caught four passes for 107 yards. Williams led the way with five receptions, totaling 93 yards and a touchdown and Kessinger had four catches for 62 yards. 

Strating led the Scots with 13 tackles and also added an interception. Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) and Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) both had 10 tackles. Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) had 1.5 TFL while Cikauskas had half a TFL and Brown added an interception. 

"This result doesn't take anything away from what these guys accomplished all season," said Braun. "I'm proud of what they've done. I'm proud to be their coach and lucky to be their coach. We want to measure ourselves against the best teams in the country and we did that today. We need to celebrate these seniors for what they accomplished and then get back to work reloading and we'll be back."

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Deem moved over 600 passing attempts and passed Mark Reed for seventh in MC history…Deem also surpassed 5000 career passing yards…With two passing touchdowns he finished with 28, tying Rob Purlee for 7th most in a season,,,Wrublik moved past Devin Lawrence for eighth on the career rushing list…With over 100 yards, Newman moved past his WR coach Nate Graham and into 22nd on the career receiving yards list…Before the first quarter scoring drive, Monmouth had not allowed a touchdown in 21 quarters dating back to Oct. 11…Monmouth allowed as many touchdowns on Saturday (7) as they allowed in the first 10 games of the season combined…Brown leads the Scots with five interceptions…The Scots have 16 interceptions on the season as a defense and +17 turnover ratio…The Scots are 2-8 in their playoff history…This is the third time the Scots have played in the second round with losses in 2008 and 2011…Monmouth and Saint John's also played in the 2005 playoffs, a 62-3 SJU win at Clemens Stadium…The Scots scored 513 points on the season and allowed 103…Chad Braun is 22-8 in November…Temperature at kickoff was 20 degrees with a feels like of 7 and the game was played in snow…The Monmouth seniors finished with a four-year record of 35-8 with three Lakefront Bowl game appearances and they returned the Scots to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2019…Monmouth has won nine games in three of the last four seasons.