MONMOUTH, Illinois — The Ripon football program ran into a hot Monmouth squad on Saturday afternoon as the Red Hawks fell 56-13 at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.
 
Ripon (2-6, 2-5 MWC) made its presence known early, forcing a three-and-out by Monmouth (7-1, 7-0 MWC) on the Scots' opening drive of the game. Ripon punted on its first drive, but the Scots muffed the punt and Deven Soerens recovered it to put Ripon in business at the opponent's 35 yard line.
 
The Red Hawks took advantage shortly after. Alex Mosqueda completed a 34-yard pass to Parker Campana on the first play of the drive, putting Ripon at the Monmouth one. Three plays later, Aidan Keyes rushed in from one yard out to give the Red Hawks the early lead, though Ripon missed the extra point.
 
Monmouth responded on the next drive, taking the lead on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Deem to Nate Thornton and converting the ensuing PAT. Ripon punted on its next drive, and Deem found Gabriel Zeigler-Harris for an 11-yard touchdown pass as the Scots extended their first quarter lead.
 
On the second play of the second quarter, Deem rushed into the end zone from 24 yards out, giving the hosts a 21-6 lead with 14:33 left until half. The Scots scored three more times before half, heading into the locker room up 42-6. Ripon punted three times and threw one interception in the second quarter of play.
 
The teams traded punts for the first three drives of the second half before Deem found Thornton again for another Monmouth score. However, Ripon scored on its next drive – the Red Hawks took nine plays to go 65 yards, and Keyes found Mosqueda for a three-yard touchdown pass with 14:48 left in the game.
 
Monmouth scored once more in the frame, and Ripon turned it over on downs inside the Monmouth red zone to finish out the afternoon.
 
Keyes was 7-of-11 for 74 yards and a touchdown through the air, while Mosqueda caught six passes for 77 yards and a score. Xavier Goetzinger was Ripon's top rusher, carrying the ball five times for 17 yards.
 
Defensively, Clay Ritschard had a game-high 11 tackles. Gavin Engh had two tackles-for-loss and a sack, while Amir Williams, Gage Taylor, Zane Vetter and Layne Marquez all recorded a pass breakup.
Monmouth had a 591-163 advantage in total yards, and converted 5-of-11 third downs compared to Ripon's 3-of-15 conversion rate. Ripon did have a 31:40 to 27:37 edge in time of possession.
 
NEXT UP: Ripon returns home for its final two games of the season, first hosting Beloit at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 9.
 
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