Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon won its third consecutive game of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating Beloit College 40-14. The Red Hawks scored 20 points in the second quarter alone and built a 33-0 lead after three quarters. On a day where strong winds put a damper on both team's passing games, the Red Hawks did what they do best and pounded the ball for 401 rushing yards and 27 first downs.

After failing to score on their opening possession, the Red Hawks (5-2, 4-2 MWC) proceeded to score the next four times they got the ball. Quarterback Stephen Covalt scored the first points of the game on a 12 yard run with three and a half minutes left in the first quarter, capping an 11-play, 72-yard drive. Ripon doubled their lead early in the second quarter on another touchdown by Covalt, this time from three yards out. Connor Greenwald scored the team's third touchdown of the day later in the period on an eight yard run. Ripon took a 26-0 lead just before halftime when Covalt found Nathan Kuehl for a 27-yard touchdown pas, capping Ripon's third scoring drive of at least 72 yards.

The only touchdown of the third quarter came with just under six minutes when Covalt tossed his second TD pass, a 21-yard strike to Nathan Silloway. Beloit finally got on the board early in the fourth quarter on a 16-yard pass from Kameron Sallee to Michael Nolden. Ripon would get those points back on the ensuing possession when senior Tony Klock scored his first career touchdown on a five yard run. Beloit would score once more, but the damage was already done.

Covalt registered his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game, as he finished with a game-high 160 yards on 23 carries (7.0 ypc). He also completed 2-of-4 passes for 48 yards with both of his completions going for scores. Eric Langman added 69 yards on five carries (13.8 ypc), while Greenwald rushed for 57 yards.

"I felt like we were able to do some good things on both sides of the ball," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "We were able to run the ball with some success both inside and outside and Stephen had another good day reading the defense and taking what they gave us."

Defensively, Ripon limited Beloit to just 80 yards passing, while sacking the Buccaneers two times. One and a half of those sacks came from Andy Krueger, who also led the team with 11 tackles (seven solo). Nick Weiss added 10 tackles, to go along with one forced fumble.

"Our defense did a pretty good job shutting down thier offense," Ernst said. "They had a couple long plays late in the game, but for the most part, it was a very solid effort."

Beloit was led by Mason Dixon, who rushed 20 times for 148 yards (7.4 ypc), with 74 of those yards coming on a fourth quarter touchdown run. Kameron Sallee added 86 yards on nine carries (9.6 ypc).

The Red Hawks will try to keep their winning ways going next week against Lake Forest College. That game is scheduled to kickoff Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ripon's Ingalls Field and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#.

"We are playing with a lot of confidence right now, but we're still working to get better every week and we're going to have a tough game next week against Lake Forest," said Ernst.