Game Notes vs. Lawrence University

RIPON, Wis. - This weekend marks the 120th anniversary of the first meeting on the gridiron between Ripon and Lawrence in what is the oldest college football rivalry in the state of Wisconsin. In 112 all-time meetings, Ripon leads the series 59-46-7, with the Red Hawks (6-3, 5-3 MWC) winning their last 13 games against the Vikings (1-8, 1-7 MWC) and 17 of the last 18 meetings.

"This has always been a very big rivalry," Ripon head coach Ron Ernst said. "You can throw out all the records and stats when these two teams play because we've had a lot of upsets in this series over the years. We better bring our 'A' game because they're going to be at their best."

Since 1988, the winner of this annual contest has been awarded the Doeling-Heselton trophy, which is named for former legendary Ripon and Lawrence coaches, Carl Doehling and Bernie Heselton, respectively. That trophy has kept the historical aspect of this rivalry alive and has given players on both teams added motivation to win.

"As coaches, we talk about tradition and rivalries and what it means to both schools and to the alumni of each school," Ernst said. "We've had success against Lawrence for the last several years, so our players don't want to be the team that loses and ends that winning streak. It is something that is important to us and we want the players to understand the nature of this game because these types of games do have a little more meaning to them."

Almost as important as defeating Lawrence is ending the season with a victory. The Red Hawks can accomplish that feat with a win in Saturday's season finale, which would give them five wins in their final six games and would register a seven-win season for the first time since 2010.

"It's always important to win the last game of the season because the team will have a better feeling heading into the offseason and the seniors will end their careers on a positive note," Ernst said. "Finishing with a 7-3 record would be very good for us, so we're treating this like a championship game."

There will be 22 players taking the field for the final time in a Ripon uniform on Saturday, which is a bittersweet feeling for coaches and players alike.

"This is one of the largest senior classes we've had in a very long time and it's a credit to those players for believing in our program and sticking with us," Ernst said. "Saturday will be a fun day, but it will also be sad because we'll be saying goodbye to not only good players, but also good people."

As much as the coaches want to send the players out on a positive note, the players want to do the same for Coach Ernst, who needs a win on Saturday to become just the second coach in Midwest Conference history to win 150 career games. Already Ripon's all-time winningest coach, with 55 more wins than the next-highest total, Ernst has the most wins of any active coach in the MWC and is just 10 victories shy of the conference record (159).

"It would obviously be a nice achievement, but it's not something that I set out to do at the start of my career," Ernst said. "No head coach ever gets to this point without having some very good players and assistants that have helped win every one of those games."

In order to reach that milestone, Ernst's team must first defeat Lawrence on Saturday, who enters the game fresh off their first victory of the season. Despite their eight losses, Lawrence has been a handful for a number of teams, losing two games by three points or less.

The Vikings are led by senior quarterback Luke Barthelmess, who is arguably the top dual-threat quarterback in the MWC, leading the league in total offense with 291.9 yards per game. He ranks third in the MWC in passing yards (205.3 ypg), and eighth in rushing yards (86.6 ypg). Barthelmess is also tied for fourth in the league with 11 touchdown passes, in addition to his two TDs on the ground. He has recorded the second-most 300-yard passing performances in the MWC this season with two.

"Lawrence has players that are athletic enough to make this game very interesting, beginning with Barthelmess, who may be the best quarterback in the league in terms of beating teams with both his legs and his arm," Ernst said. "They also have good receivers and a solid running game, so we're going to have to play our best in order to come out on top."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. at Ingalls Field in Ripon and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#.