BELOIT, Wis. – Beloit College fell 63-7 to Monmouth (IL) this afternoon at Historic Strong Stadium. The Buccaneers still produced a signature touchdown drive and several standout individual performances. A crowd of 274 watched Beloit (2-6, 1-6 MWC) battle a Monmouth team that improved to 5-2 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
Trailing 21-0 in the second quarter, Beloit showed what it can do when the offense gets rolling. On the first play of a drive from its own 29-yard line, quarterback Noah Carrasco (Cypress, TX) found Dominic Guzman (Aurora, IL) over the middle for a 57-yard gain, the longest play of the day for either offense in the passing game outside Monmouth's 72-yard connection.
Guzman did most of the work after the catch, picking up 35 yards after contact. A Monmouth penalty moved the ball to the 5-yard line, and Carrasco finished the drive himself with a 5-yard touchdown run with 3:48 left in the half. Guillermo Oyuela Bonilla (Orlando, FL) extra point made it 21-7. The 4-play, 71-yard drive took just 1:17.
Beloit's defense forced mistakes and made stands throughout the afternoon. On Monmouth's first drive, linebacker Jaiden Ospina (Stuart, FL) intercepted a pass and returned it 7 yards, giving the Bucs the ball near midfield. With Monmouth driving inside the Beloit 10, Aden Champagne (Hollywood, FL) forced a fumble at the goal line and David Howard III (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) recovered it at the 4-yard line, preserving a scoreless stretch. Beloit stopped Monmouth on fourth down three times, once in the first half deep in Beloit territory and again in the fourth quarter at the Beloit 24, holding the Scots to 1-for-4 on fourth-down conversions. The Bucs' secondary broke up a deep ball, and Alex Klun (Sun Prairie, WI) pass breakup in the second quarter helped keep the Scots from adding points before the half.
Brayden Gonzalez (Mesa, AZ) led all players on both sides with 10 tackles (2 solo, 8 assists), a team-high performance in a defense that was on the field for more than 33 minutes.
Zeke Hennessy (Neenah, WI) and Mason Roets (Gold Canyon, AZ) each finished with 6 tackles, and Roets added three more in the fourth quarter to help close out the game with energy.
Ospina had 6 tackles and the Bucs' only interception, making him one of the defense's most disruptive players.
The Bucs are back in action in two weeks at home on October 31st for a 12pm kick-off against Lake Forest College.
