The Monmouth College football team exploded for 28 points in the second quarter and went on to a 56-28 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday in the Banta Bowl.
The Scots (4-3, 4-2 MWC) got a big day on the ground from running back Trey Yocum, who ran 29 times for 176 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Brik Wedekind was 12 of 14 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns.
Wide receiver Tyler Mazur had a huge day for Lawrence (1-6, 1-5) with nine catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Luke Barthelmess was 16 of 32 passing for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Barthelmess moved past Eric Aspenson (4,941) for second place on Lawrence’s career passing list and now has 5,145 passing yards.
The game was tied 7-7 after Mazur caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Barthelmess with 3:36 left in the first quarter.
Wedekind then hit C.J. Shields with a 37-yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. The Scots quickly made it 21-7 on Wedekind’s six-yard scoring pass to Garrett Youngren with 8:50 left in the second quarter. Yocum then tacked on another score with a two-yard touchdown run with 4:14 left in the half.
An interception gave Monmouth another chance before the end of the first half, and Yocum capped a 36-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run for a 35-7 lead at the break.
The teams then traded scores in the second half. After Monmouth opened the half with a touchdown drive, Ben Hartman returned the kickoff 46 yards to the Monmouth 44-yard line. The Vikings scored six plays later on Barthelmess’ four-yard run to cut the lead to 42-14.
After another short Yocum touchdown run, Mazur caught a pair of 62-yard scoring passes. He grabbed one near the end of the third quarter and completed Lawrence’s scoring with another one with 4:20 left in the game.
Linebacker Jon Hope paced the Lawrence defense with 14 tackles, and Sam Ausloos added 11.