Red Hawks migrate back to Wisconsin with loss
Ryan Phillips - Sports Editor
On November 2nd, Scots football celebrated Senior Day, while defeating the Ripon College Red Hawks 56-13 at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.
Like the week before, the Scots gave up six points on the first drive when Ripon’s Aidan Keyes ran for a single yard into the north end zone. Their kicker, Shane French, missed the extra point.
“The last couple weeks we kind of been lackadaisical a little bit, and we didn't punch right away,” Devin Lawrence, the student manager for the team, said.
Monmouth locked in after the opposition scored when Nate Thornton received his 40th touchdown pass of his career by quarterback Brayden Deem for 34-yards. Cody Szelc nailed the extra point for a 7-6 lead.
Gabriel Zeigler-Harris was the next target in the first quarter as Deem looked to his right from 11-yards away for a wide-open reception. Scots went into the second quarter leading 14-6.
The second quarter started off strong. Deem turned on his hyper speed and scrambled into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown run. Szelc’s extra point added insurance to their lead, starting the quarter off with a 21-6 score.
Red Hawk killer Thornton came back to the nest, receiving a 24-yard pass in open field and extended Monmouth's score to 28-6.
“He's been in the program a long time now,” Lawrence said on Deem’s career. “He has been successful, got a lot of records with Nate Thornton so he knows how to play the game.”
The Scots continued to ravage Ripon as Nate Wrublik took a handoff from Deem for a touchdown. Shortly after, with 49 seconds left before halftime, Chase Newman caught a pass and ran for 36-yards into the end zone. Scots would go into halftime leading with 42-6.
Monmouth scored once in the third quarter as Thornton went into the open field as he jumped for a 20-yard pass. In the fourth quarter, Ashtin Summers entered the game for Deem and threw to Jeremiah Williams for a nine-yard pass, beating Ripon 56-13.
Thornton achieved 800 receiving yards in the 2024 season. Deem threw 337 yards and Summers for 66 yards with a for the Scots combine for 403 passing yards as Deem threw 337 and Summers for 66.
Regionally ranked at six, Monmouth College will take on the undefeated number three ranked Lake Forest Foresters. They’ll need to beat Lake Forest to win the conference.
“We got to be ready to punch right away,” Lawrence said.