The Lawrence University football team traveled down to Monmouth, Illinois on Saturday September 30th for a game against the Monmouth College Fighting Scots. This game marked the 1,000th game in Lawrence football history. The Vikings were looking to bounce back after their 47-27 loss to Lake Forest the week before. Monmouth looked to be a tough opponent for the Vikings, having beaten Macalester College 26-0 in their last game.
Monmouth (2-1) wasted little time to get on the scoreboard. On the first play from scrimmage, Monmouth running back Deandre Wright broke free for a 58-yard touchdown run putting the Fighting Scots up 7-0 just 23 seconds into the game. Lawrence would go three-and-out on their first possession and have to punt. Monmouth added to their lead on their next possession with a 27-yard field goal making the score 10-0. The rest of the first quarter would remain scoreless.
On the opening drive of the second quarter, Monmouth added another touchdown on a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hayden Nelson to wide receiver Wesley Anderson expanding their lead to 17-0. Monmouth’s second drive of the quarter also ended in the end zone to make the score 24-0 as quarterback Joshua McKenzie bolted 60 yards for the touchdown. Monmouth kept pouring it on, expanding their lead to 31-0 on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Nelson to wide receiver Nathan Graham. Sophomore Terrell Myers intercepted a Monmouth with 1:57 left in the second quarter to prevent the Fighting Scots from adding even more to their lead before the end of the half.
In the second half, the Vikings did not fare much better on offense, but the defense only allowed one more Monmouth score. At the 11:25 mark in the third quarter, Monmouth’s 33-yard field goal was good, making the score 34-0. The Vikings were unable to score any points in the game and lost.
On that day, Lawrence was held to 49 yards of total offense. Freshman D’Andre Weaver was the Vikings leading rusher with five carries for 20 yards. Sophomore Philip Santiago went 2-8 passing for a total of 13 yards. The Lawrence offense was only able to reach Monmouth territory once during the game.
On the defensive side, things were not much better as the Vikings gave up 511 yards of total offense to Monmouth; however, Myers played a good game leading the team with seven tackles, an interception, and two pass breakups. Lawrence punter, senior Dan Rothbauer was busy punting 13 times with an average punt of 40 yards and a longest punt of 50-yards. He won Midwest Conference Special Teams Player of the week for his effort in the game. Rothbauer was able to pin Monmouth within their own 20-yard line four times in the game while only recording one touchback.
With the loss, Lawrence dropped to 1-3 on the season. The Vikings will look to bounce back from the tough game next week when they travel to University of Chicago on Saturday October 7th for a 1pm game. This game will be the first game in North Division Midwest Conference play for the Vikings.