If there is a mercy rule in college football, the Monmouth College Scots may have triggered it Saturday, dominating Lawrence University 78-7 at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.
The lopsided win led both teams to agree on an abbreviated eight-minute fourth quarter.
Monmouth jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a near-60-yard touchdown run by Julian Samuels. From there, the Scots never looked back.
Lawrence struggled to contain Monmouth’s relentless ground game and had no answer for junior Gabriel Zeigler-Harris, who cemented his name in school history. Zeigler-Harris became one of only six players in Monmouth program history to record over 100 return yards in a single game.
Gabriel Zeigler-Harris returns a punt. Photo by Gary Bonifer.
“I see where the open field usually is, whether they’re kicking from the left or right hash and where there’s the most open field,” Zeigler-Harris said. “When I catch it, I just look for any opportunity to get positive yards because a lot of the time you don’t get a chance to set up a good return on punt.”
His first return went for 24 yards and set up a 50-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Deem to sophomore Chase Newman.
At halftime, the Scots led 52-0. Freshman Hudson Ault added to the blowout with an 83-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, pushing the score to 78-0 after Mylee Hansen’s extra point.
“It’s awesome to see a lot of people get game reps because everybody puts so much time and effort in to get on that field,” Zeigler-Harris said. “To see a lot of people get in gets me excited.”
Monmouth kneeled out the clock to secure its first win of the season, improving to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in Midwest Conference play.
The Scots now shift their focus to Saturday’s match-up against Lake Forest (0-2). Monmouth is looking for revenge after last year’s heartbreaking 35-28 loss in the deciding conference championship, a game they led 28-21 with two minutes to play.
“The message for this week has been the same as every other week,” Zeigler-Harris said. “Preparation is the biggest thing, because how you prepare every day at practice shows on Saturdays.”
So proud of you son!