Box Score
MONMOUTH, Ill.-- The Wartburg football team (0-1 overall) dropped its opener to Monmouth (1-0) 29-22 Saturday. The Knights set a new single-game school record as sophomore Matt Sacia (Eldridge) connected with junior Griffin Brennecke (Marion) for a 93-yard touchdown pass for the second score of the day. This broke the old mark of 91 yards set by Taylor Jacobsmeier and Brandon Steggal set at Luther in 2013.



Junior Connor Schrader (Lake Zurich, Ill.) scored his first TD as a Knight from two-yards out with 5:55 left in the first quarter.

Wartburg led 15-0 until Monmouth scored 29 straight points to make it 29-15 with 9:23 to play. Junior Riley Brockway (Postville) scored on a three-yard pass from Sacia to make it 29-22 with 0:22 left.

The Orange and Black attempted an onside kick, but the Scots recovered the kick to seal their win.

Complete scoring summary:

SCORING SUMMARY				WARFB -MC
1st	05:55	WARFB	Connor Schrader 2 yd run (Brayton Brandt kick failed)
			2 plays, 3 yards, TOP 0:36	6 - 0
	03:43	WARFB	Griffin Brennecke 93 yd pass from Matt Sacia (Brayton Brandt kick)
			2 plays, 91 yards, TOP 0:51	13 - 0
	03:43	WARFB	TEAM safety
				15 - 0
2nd	11:08	MC	Yansay Williams 38 yd pass from Tanner Matlick (Joey Biel kick)
			2 plays, 47 yards, TOP 0:41	15 - 7
	09:15	MC	Ben Moore 83 yd pass from Tanner Matlick (Alec Dutko rush)
			1 play, 83 yards, TOP 0:13	15 - 15
3rd	04:42	MC	Alec Dutko 19 yd pass from Tanner Matlick (Joey Biel kick)
			9 plays, 97 yards, TOP 2:57	15 - 22
4th	09:23	MC	Trent Rains 18 yd pass from Tanner Matlick (Joey Biel kick)
			13 plays, 85 yards, TOP 6:41	15 - 29
	00:22	WARFB	Riley Brockway 3 yd pass from Matt Sacia (Brayton Brandt kick)
			10 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:31	22 - 29

Schrader led the team's ground attack with his 35 yards on 11 carries. Sacia was 26-51-2 and threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns. Brennecke led the receivers with four receptions for 120 yards. Brockway nearly missed the century mark with his 99 yards on nine catches.

Senior Dalton Ciaverelli (Clarksville) led the defense with 12 total tackles, which included 10 assists. Junior Tony Anstoetter (Farley) had a team-best two tackles for a loss of four yards.

This marked the first season opener loss since the Knights fell 42-35 to St. Norbert in overtime to begin the 2009 season. The Orange and Black open the Iowa Conference portion of their season on the road next week at Nebraska Wesleyan.