This past Saturday, Monmouth College football punched their ticket to the Midwest Conference championship game against St. Norbert when they knocked off Midwest Conference South Division foe UChicago on the road 21-20 in an overtime thriller.
The first quarter ended scoreless, but the Scots scored on a sophomore, Devin Lawrence, TD to cap a 68-yard drive with 8:51 left in the half. Later in the second quarter with just 24 seconds remaining, UChicago marched 84 yards down the field to score, but would miss the PAT and the half would end 7-6 in favor of the Scots.
The Scots hit the ground running in the third quarter on another 68-yard drive that was capped off by another Devin Lawrence run for a 14-7 lead. The Maroons tied it all up midway through the fourth quarter with an 11-yard play, a 69-yard drive, and then converted a two-point conversion to tie it at 14-all.
Tied 14-14 at the end of regulation, the Maroons won the coin toss for the overtime period and chose to defend first. Lawrence got the call on the first play and broke through on his way to the end zone for his third TD of the day. Senior Joey Biel’s PAT made it 21-14 with UChicago’s possession upcoming. Chicago grinded out a first down and scored from the seven yard line to pull within one at 21-20. The Maroons elected to go for the two-point conversion and the win, running a play-action pass to a pass-eligible lineman. The play nearly worked, but was stopped when Connor Graeff undercut the receiver at the three and senior defensive back Nick Miyler forced the ball loose at the pylon to preserve the lead and give the Scots the win.
The game did not end without any drama as the call was a little sketchy and resulted in the benches clearing as the Scots celebrated early on the Maroons’ senior day.
CJ Bonifer - Photography Manager