Box Score GRINNELL, Iowa – Monmouth College may have been the preseason co-favorite to win the 2012 Midwest Conference football title.

But the Grinnell College Pioneers paid no attention to that fact as they dominated the Fighting Scots in all phases of the game en route to a 21-7 victory at Rosenbloom Field.

Grinnell outgained the visitors by 20 yards, held nearly a 15-minute advantage in time of possession and held Monmouth to nearly 50 yards under its average while improving to 2-2 in the Midwest Conference and 2-3 overall. Monmouth dipped to 3-1 in the league and 3-2 in all games.

The win is Grinnell's second over Monmouth in the past three seasons.

While Grinnell's defense was solid, Sam Poulos '16 was amazing at quarterback both passing and evading Fighting Scot defenders. He finished 28-of-35 through the air for 240 yards and three scores.

Cody Weber '13 was on the receiving end of 15 of Poulos' passes, gaining 165 yards and scoring twice. TJ Schaid '13 scored the other touchdown, also on a pass from Poulos.

David Ternes '15 had a game-high 15 tackles for the Pioneers, while Colton Feller '14 added 10 stops and Kevin Hwang '14 and Brian Taylor '13 had eight each.

Graham Fisher '16, the MWC Special Teams Performer of the Week two weeks ago, did his part again by placing three punts inside the 20-yard line and two of those within the 8.

After a scoreless first period, Monmouth got on the board at the 13:47 mark of the second period with a touchdown by Brik Wedekind. The extra point was good.

Grinnell answered with a 13-play, 76-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 16-yard TD pass from Poulos to Schaid. A key play in the drive was an 18-yard pass from Poulos to Weber. The extra point by Daniel Munger' 15 made it 7-7 with 6:25 left in the half.

Max Keller '14 shut down Monmouth's next drive when he intercepted a Wedekind aerial. Six plays and 42 yards later, Poulos hit Weber with a 12-yard scoring pass. Poulos also had completions of 22 and 12 yards to Weber during the series

The extra point by Munger made it 14-7 with 2:38 left in the half, a score that stood through the rest of the period.

Grinnell upped its lead late in the third period on a six-play, 60-yard drive that was finished off by a 30-yard scoring pass from Poulos to Weber. Munger's extra point made it 21-7 with 2:33 left.

The Pioneers' defense, which had already done a stellar job to that point, continued to step up after that. Grinnell forced punts on the next two series and then got the ball back on downs on Monmouth's next drive late in the game.

Grinnell then ran out the clock to send the Pioneers and their fans into celebration.

The Pioneers play a MWC contest at Ripon College next Saturday. Game time is 1 p.m.