Box Scores
The Bronze Turkey remains with Monmouth College for another year.
The Fighting Scots outscored the Prairie Fire 35-0 over the final 45 minutes of the 122nd Bronze Turkey Game to claim a 42-6 victory Saturday at the Knosher Bowl, their 12th straight win in the all-time series.
The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter. The Scots got on the board first when Trey Yocum scored on a 1-yard run with 6:25 to play that capped off a 9-play, 99-yard drive.
The Fire answered when senior Bill Meyer (Cary-Grove, Illinois) ran in a 5-yard touchdown at the 3:24 mark to get his team within one point. Sophomore Doug Lillibridge (Byron, Illinois) saw his extra point attempt blocked, resulting in a 7-6 Scots lead.
Monmouth added another touchdown in the second quarter when quarterback Brik Wedekind scored on a 24-yard run with 3:54 to play in the half. The extra point attempt by Matt Batton gave Monmouth a 14-6 lead, which they took into the half.
Unfortunately for the Prairie Fire, the Scots' offense took over in the second half. Stefan Flynn scored on a 5-yard run at the 12:15 mark of the third quarter, Michael Davis caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Wedekind with 6:35 to go in the third and Yocum scored his second TD of the game with 4:38 to play in the third stanza to extend the Monmouth lead to 35-6.
Knox had trouble running the football and was forced to go to the air. First-year quarterback Drew Diaz (Niles, Illinois) completed 20-of-42 passes for 188 yards. Unfortunately he was victimized by a couple of dropped passes and four interceptions.
Meyer led the receivers with six grabs for 61 yards. Junior Clarke Cuthbert (Oak Park, Illinois) caught five passes for a team-leading 76 yards. The Prairie Fire wound up with 207 yards passing.
Monmouth held Knox to 82 rushing yards on 32 attempts. Senior Dan Kizior (Manteno, Illinois) led the way with 15 carries for 59 yards.
Monmouth College picked up 319 yards using a power rushing attack. Yocum led the way with 13 carries for 125 yards and two TDs. Wedekind also had 13 carries and tallied 72 yards while Flynn added 15 carries for 65 yards.
Wedekind was efficient through the air, completing 13-of-19 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. The interceptions were made by the Prairie Fire juniors Adam Mize (Wood River, Illinois) and Elliot Madison (Holden, Massachusetts).
Matt Shepherd had six catches for 58 yards and Davis three grabs for 38 yards and a score to lead the Scot receivers.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Mike Hendrick (Smithton, Illinois) had a big game for the Fire, totaling 15 tackles, including one for a loss. Junior linebacker Tony Sickley (LaSalle, Illinois) added 10 stops, six unassisted, and two tackles for losses.
The Prairie Fire ends the season with a 1-9 overall record and a 1-8 mark in the Midwest Conference. The Scots finish 6-4 overall and 6-3 in league play.
The 11 seniors for the Prairie Fire were recognized prior to the game. A thank you for their hard work and dedication goes to: Bill Meyer (Cary-Grove, Illinois), Lucas Motta (Grinnell, Iowa), Danny Salvato (Glenview, Illinois), Dan Kizior (Manteno, Illinois), Kevin Beck (Chicago, Illinois), Bob Dempster (Chicago, Illinois), Blaine Murphy (Palestine, Illinois), Alex Davis (Elmwood, Illinois), DeAndre Henderson (Macomb, Illinois), John Fletcher (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Zack Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois).
