The Monmouth College football team rewrote the record book on Saturday with an emphatic 48-15 home win over Illinois College. The Fighting Scots (4-1, 4-0) had a school-record 453 passing yards from Brayden Deem (Andalusia, Illinois), 301 receiving yards from Chase Newman (Morrison, Illinois) and the two combined for the longest play from scrimmage in school history.
With 453 passing yards on 22 completions, Deem broke the single-game record set by current Indianapolis Colts coach Alex Tanney. Tanney threw for 451 yards against Knox in 2009 and threw for at least 400 yards six times. Newman caught 13 passes for 301 yards, breaking Jacolby Maxwell's school record of 251 receiving yards from the 2016 playoff game against Coe. Deem hit Newman for a 98-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, the longest play from scrimmage in school history by one yard and the longest pass play by three yards. Newman also tie the single-game record for receiving touchdowns with his second 4-touchdown game of the season.
"I'm really proud of the way the guys handled fall break and a change to the routine," said head coach Chad Braun. "We had a good week of practice and it showed today. The offense was tremendous. What an incredible game by Chase. Give the offensive line credit they did a great job protecting and Deem was great delivering the ball.
Monmouth started the game with the ball but ended up turning the ball over on downs on the IC 39. The Blueboys moved down to the Monmouth 21 and kicked a field goal for a 3-0 lead. A muffed fair catch on the ensuing kickoff put the Scots on their own 3 but Deem hit Newman down the near sideline for 37 yards on the first play. Another 15 yard pass to Newman put the Scots across the 50 and after a penalty, Deem hit Newman for 41 yards down to the eight. Angel Duarte (Mt. Sterling, Illinois) scored on a 3-yard run and Aiden Sensabaugh (East Moline, Illinois) hit the extra point for a 7-3 lead.
The Monmouth defense wrecked the next IC drive after the visitors crossed midfield. Anthony Cikuaskas (Oswego, Illinois) and Jeremiah Hardnett (O'Fallon, Illinois) had sacks on consecutive plays to account for 21 lost yards, forcing a punt. The Scots were pinned on their own 2-yard line after the punt was downed, but Deem went airborne for Newman down the near sideline and 98 yards later, the Scots were in the records books with a 14-3 lead.
"I knew when coach called it, that was our go-to play and it worked," said Newman. "We have a good connection and Brayden knows if he throws it up there I'm going to go get it."
The Blueboys made another field goal on their first drive of the second quarter and the SCots had to punt after a false start in IC territory, Monmouth got the ball back on their own 28 and Deem hit Mason Emin (Sterling, Illinois) for 37 yards. A 24-yard pass to Jeremiah Williams (Oviedo, Florida) put the Scots on the IC goalline with eight seconds left in the half and Deem threw a jump ball to Newman for another touchdown. The point after failed for a 20-6 lead.
The Blueboys got the ball to start the second half and kicked another field goal for a 20-9 game. The Scots went 3-and-out and IC blocked a punt, returning it to the Monmouth 3. They scored two plays later but missed the 2-point conversion for a 20-15 score.
The Scots responded with a 10-play 75-yard drive. Deem completed passes to Newman, Williams and Duarte while the Scots picked up a first down on pass interference. Duarte ran the ball to the two and Deem hit Newman for another touchdown and a 27-15 lead.
"The defense did a good job tightening up in the red zone," said Braun. "I was a little disappointed with the punt block, with a protection miss but happy with the way we responded after they pulled within 20-15."
The defense forced the Blueboys backwards and into a 3-and-out as Nate Grull (Greenville, Illinois) recorded a sack. Deem threw to Williams for 13 yards, John Ahlden (Ashkum, Illinois) ran for seven and the third quarter ended with a first down conversion to Newman. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Deem hit Emin for a 20-yard touchdown and a 34-15 lead.
With just over six minutes left, Deem found Newman for a fourth time in the end zone, this one for 57 yards down the near sideline. Newman went up high over the IC defenders helmet to catch the ball before strolling 25 yards into the end zone. The extra point put the Scots up 41-15.
The defense put an exclamation point on the victory Gavin Carpenter (Coal City, Illinois) delivered a big hit, forcing a fumble and Carson Strating (Morrison, Illinois) picked up the ball at the 20 and ran it back for a touchdown with 5:27 to play. Mylee Hansen (Pekin, Illinois) made the extra point for a 48-15 lead. Neither team scored the rest of the way as Monmouth took the starters out on both sides of the ball for the final two drives.
"I used to say it was never a bad idea to throw it up to 12 (Nate Thornton) and today Nate texted me and said he had two words for me: Chase Newman," said Braun. "So now I think it is safe to say it's never a bad idea to throw it up to number six.
Deem completed 22-of-39 passes for 453 yards with five scores.Newman caught 13 passes for 301 yards with 97 yards after the catch and four touchdowns. Williams had four catches for 71 yards while Emin caught three passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. Duarte ran 12 times for 37 yards and a touchdown while Deem added 20 yards on the ground.
.
Ethan James (Carthage, Illinois) led the Scots with 13 tackles while Carpenter had 10 and Derek Chandler (Monmouth, Illinois) had eight. The Scots posed 13 tackles for loss, led by Cikauskas with three. Hardnett had two of Monmouth's six sacks.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Deem threw for 453 yards, the eighth 400+ passing game in MC history and the first not by a Tanney (Alex 6, Mitch 1)...His five TD passes is tied for 6th most in a game in school history…Newman has two of the five 4-TD games by a receiver in MC history, the only player with more than one…The single game receiving record was 251 by Maxwell in 2016…There have been nine games with at least 200 receiving yards in MC history, most recently by Nate Thornton when he had 212 against Wartburg in 2023…The 301 yards is 4th most in a game in MWC history (335, 320, 313 are the top 3)...The previous longest pass play was a 95-yard touchdown from Mitch Tanney to Evan Haffner in 2004 against Lawrence…The longest rushing touchdown is 97 yards by Dennis Plummer against Beloit in 1971…The defense had 13 tackles for loss and six sacks…Cikauskas moved into a tie for seconds with Greg Bennett with 34 career sacks…He needs one more sack to break Thomas Lesniewski's school record…With three TFL he now has 64.5 career, second most and 12 behind Anthony Goranson's school record…The Scots have scored at least 48 points in four straight games…The Scots lead the all-time series 48-14-2 with a 9-1 record under coach Braun, an IC alum..The Scots are 35-6 against IC since the Blueboys joined the MWC in 1982…Next week is Homecoming as the Scots host Cornell at 2 p.m.