All bark, no bite: Illinois College suffers against the Scots.
Ryan Phillips - Sports Editor
The winds were howling, and the voices were scowling as the Fighting Scots beat Illinois College 44-24 last Saturday during Monmouth College’s annual homecoming football game. The two rivals met near the south endzone before the game, gesturing and taunting each other before kickoff.
“I loved it, it was awesome,” Scots’ wide receiver Jackson Bergren said. “We came out, and we let our play do the talking instead.”
Monmouth scored first as McKade Brooks rushed for a one-yard touchdown, placing six points on the board for the Scots. Illinois College felt jealous, scoring a one-yard rushing touchdown when the Blue Boy’s quarterback Destin Chance took it to the house. Both teams went to the second quarter tied at seven.
The Scots owned the second quarter, Bergren starting it off with an 18-yard pass from quarterback Brayden Deem to take the lead. Monmouth took possession back with 6:15 left and Bergren received a 42-yard pass from Deem, adding insurance leaving the score at 21-7.
“I'd say some of the most important things are just trust and time, constant reps at practice, building that chemistry with each other and just having the faith that I need to do my job, and he'll get me the ball,” Bergren said after reflecting on his connection with Deem. “He'll do his job, and I'll catch the ball when it comes my way.”
In the third quarter, Bergren continued his onslaught with a five-yard pass from Deem, extending the score 34-10 after a field goal from Cody Szelc. Before the fourth quarter, Szelc would be needed from 17-yards out after the Scots couldn’t score in the red zone. Szelc went through the uprights for the Scots’ 37th point of the game. The defense allowed one more touchdown from a quarterback rush from Blueboy’s Chance with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Deem took one more shot down field in the fourth quarter when he saw Nate Thornton wide open for a 44-yard pass. Thornton went all the way, capping off the game at 44-24. Deem passed for 261 yards with four touchdowns.
“I believe that our team played all around the best we have all year,” Bergren said.
With the Scots beating Illinois College, they sit alone with Lake Forest at the top of the Midwest Conference leaderboard. Lake Forest defeated Illinois College by a single score on Sept. 14. Monmouth will face Lake Forest on November 9.
“Lake Forest has always been a tough team to play against,” Bergren said. “In order to prepare, we have to come to play and practice hard every week as if we're playing the best team in the conference.”
Monmouth travels to Grinnell College to continue their conference quest on Saturday for a 1 pm kickoff.