The Monmouth College football team clinched the Midwest Conference Championship and a return to the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a 58-3 home win over Ripon on Saturday. The Fighting Scots (8-1, 8-0) scored the first 42 points of the game and accounted for over 600 yards of total offense in the win.  

"It has been since 2019 since we won the conference outright and had a chance to go to the playoffs and this feels really good." said head coach Chad Braun. "We had some heartbreak over the last few years and couldn;'t quite get over the hump so it feels great to finally get it done this year."

Monmouth took the ball to start the game and gained 47 yards on nine plays but ultimately turned the ball over on downs deep in Ripon territory. The defense forced a punt and the Scots started on their own 25. Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois) hit tight end Gunner Bryant (Curryville, Missouri) for 24 yards. Hudson Ault (Fairbury, Illinois) picked up a first down with a 12-yard run and Deem hit Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) for a 37-yard touchdown pass. 

After a 3-and-out, Monmouth got the ball on their own 35. Deem ran for 14 yards and a penalty moved the ball into Ripon territory. Ault ran for 10 yards and Nate Wrublik (Lemont, Illinois) ran for 12. Deem hit Da'Von Patterson (Ponte Vedra, Florida) for a 28-yard touchdown and Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) hit the extra point for a 14-0 lead. 

Another 3-and-out gave Monmouth the ball on their own 40. Deem hit Bryant for 27 yards and Ault ran for 16 to end the first quarter. Deem completed a pass to Mason Emin (Sterling, Illinois) but the Scots turned the ball over on downs on the Ripon 5. The Red Hawks punted the ball back three plays later and the Scots started at midfield. Deem hit Bryant for 15 yards and two plays later Wrublik ran into the end zone for a 21-0 lead. 

"The pass game has struggled the last few weeks and this shows you what a complete team we are," said Braun, "To get them going today was great and we can beat teams in multiple ways."

The next Ripon drive ended after two plays as Damian Brown (East Peoria, Illinois) picked off a pass and returned it to the Red Hawks 47. After a short run and a penalty, Deem hit Emin for 45 yards and a touchdown for a 28-0 lead. Later in the second quarter, Deem hit Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) for 29 yards and Wrublik ran for two first downs. On third down, Deem hit Williams again, this time for a 28-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead. The Scots got the ball back and Deem hooked up with Williams for a 25-yard touchdown and a 42-0 lead. Ripon kicked a field goal on the final play of the half to get on the board after two Unportsmanlike Conduct penalties on Monmouth. 

Jeremiah Hardnett (O"Fallon, Illinois) had a sack on Ripon's first drive of the second half and the visitors punted from their own end zone. Monmouth started their next drive on the Ripon 29 and Wrublik ran for nine. After a penalty, Deem converted a fourth down play with a pass to Williams before hitting Gabriel Zeigler-Harris (East Peoria, Illinois) for his sixth touchdown pass of the game. 
The Scots forced another turnover as Nate Grull (Greenville, Illinois) had a strip sack and Anthony Cikauskas (Oswego, Illinois) recovered the ball on the Ripon 32. Ripon got the ball back on an interception before Dane Olson (Havana, Illinois) blocked a punt on the Ripon 39. The Scots missed a 42-yard field goal and Ripon punted the ball back on the first play of the fourth quarter. 

Ault and John Ahlden (Ashkum, Illinois) ran the ball on 10 straight plays and Sensabaugh hit a 20-yard field goal for a 51-3 lead. Brylan McHood-Jones (Decatur, Illinois) had a tackle for loss on fourth down and the Scots got the ball back on the Ripon 13 with 5:20 to play. Silas Braun (Monmouth, Illinois) ran for four yards before Ahlden ran for five. Ault took the ball down to the run and then punched it in on the next play for a 58-3 lead. Ripon turned the ball over on downs to end the game. 

"The defense was pretty dominant again, minus a couple dumb penalties that led to their three points," said Braun. "We are playing some really good ball right now and have to keep it going next week and into the playoffs. 

Deem completed 19-of-26 passes for 339 yards and six touchdowns, tying his career high. Wrublik ran 16 times for 133 yards and a touchdown while Ault ran 15 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. Williams caught six passes for 104 yards and two scores while Bryant had six catches for 88 yards.

Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) led the Scots with eight tackles. Grull had two sacks and Hardnett had one. Grull had two TFL while Cikauskas, Hardnett, McHood-Jones and Luke Reavis (Buena Vista, Colorado) each had one. Brown had an interception. Grull forced a fumble and Olson blocked a punt. 

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Monmouth went to the NCAA Playoffs in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2017 and 2019…Wrublik is the 11th running back in school history with at least 2000 rushing yards…He moved into 10th on the career list with 2051 yards…Wrublik also moved into sole possession of third on the career rushing touchdowns list with 34…Wrublik has nine 100-yard games in his career, three in the last four weeks…Ault had his first career 100 yard rushing game with a career high…Deem moved past both Mark Reed and Robb Long into seventh on the career passing yards list…He also moved past Mitch Tanney into fifth on the career passing touchdowns list…Deem had six touchdown passes against Grinnell last season…Williams had his second 100 yard receiving game of the season and set a new career-high with 104 yards…Bryant had a career-best six receptions and a career-high 88 yards…Newman is the 23rd player in Monmouth history with at least 1000 career receiving yards…He also moved into a tie for 16th on the career touchdown list…Cikauskas has 73 career tackles for loss, 3.5 away from Anthony Goranson's record…Brown leads the Scots with four interceptions and he has one in two straight games…The Scots had seven tackles for loss…Monmouth has blocked a punt in two straight games…Monmouth has allowed six points in the last 17 quarters combined…Monmouth last allowed a touchdown on Oct. 11…The Scots are 16-2 in the last 18 matchups with eight straight wins but Ripon leads the all-time series 25-31-3….The Scots host Knox next Saturday…The Turkey Bowl kicks off at Noon with a pregame Senior Day ceremony.