Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College football team defeated Lake Forest 27-14 Saturday afternoon to earn their fourth consecutive victory. That marks the team's longest winning streak since winning the first five games of the 2010 season. Saturday's game also marks the second straight game in which the defense gave up just 14 points after failing to hold opponents under 20 in each of their first six games.

It took about a quarter and a half for the Red Hawks (6-2, 5-2 MWC) to gain traction, as Lake Forest (7-2, 6-2 MWC) jumped out to a 14-point lead with about 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Foresters scored the first points of the game on a first quarter punt return, which Joey Kropp took 41 yards to the house for a 7-0 lead. They doubled that lead five minutes into the second period when Mike Peters laid out for a 36-yard touchdown reception from Mike Lewis.

"Our players and coaches showed tremendous character today," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "We've been in situations before where we've been down by two or three scores, but it's a long game and we have faith in our players to come back and win the game."

Ripon finally got on the board with just over four minutes left before halftime when Stephen Covalt scored on a one-yard plunge, cutting their deficit to 14-7 at intermission. Ripon's defense was dominant for much of the game, including an interception and a goal line stand at the one-yard line on two of Lake Forest's first three drives. The Red Hawk defenders added two more interceptions in the fourth quarter, as they helped give the offense an opportunity to win the game.

"I was really proud of our defense in this game," Ernst said. "Lake Forest is a good team with some playmakers, so we had to do everything that we could to put our offense in good field position and force turnovers. We talked all week about playing tighter coverage and being more aggressive and our players really responded well."

The Red Hawks' game tying touchdown came on the first possession of the second half, which was set up by a 47-yard return by Eric Langman. Nine plays and 44 yards later, Covalt found the end zone from three yards out for his second touchdown of the game. Five and a half minutes later, Covalt found Nathan Silloway for a 17 yard touchdown pass, giving Ripon its first lead of the day. Covalt added a third touchdown late in the fourth quarter to ice the game, scoring from 12 yards away and giving him 13 touchdowns on the year, which is tied for eighth in school history for a single season.

Covalt led the Red Hawks with 66 yards on the gorund, while also completing 6-of-13 passes for 92 yards. Eric Hussin added 42 yards on six carries (7.0 ypc), while catching one pass for 12 yards that went for a big first down late in the game. The Ripon defense was led by Dylan Mroczenski and Gage Ferkey, who each finished with seven tackles. Logan Will, Dakotah Kirchenwitz and Patrick Barany each recorded an interception, giving the Red Hawks their most interceptions in a game since picking off three passes in the final game of the 2011 season. The Red Hawks also sacked Lake Forest's quarterback three times, as Saige Anderson, Keith Craker and Tim Schalz each did the honors.

"We're 6-2 with four wins in a row and two very tough opponents left," Ernst said. "We talk about peaking as a team at the end of the year and we're getting to that point right now. We still made some mistakes today, but we'll try to correct those and play even better next week."

Ripon will try for their fifth win in a row next weekend when they'll travel to Monmouth College. That game is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Monmouth, Ill. and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#. A Ripon win would also serve as Coach Ernst's 150th career victory, which would make him just the second coach in Midwest Conference history to accomplish that feat.