RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College football team is somewhere they haven't been in four years. The Red Hawks improved to 3-1 on the season Saturday for the first time since 2011 with a wild 37-36 overtime victory against Illinois College, highlighting Ripon's 2015 Homecoming Weekend.

"This was a well played game and both teams played very hard," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "We were fortunate to make a few more plays than they did when we needed to."

Ripon (3-1) never trailed in the game, getting out to a 10-0 first quarter lead. Jordan Remsza kicked a 22-yard field goal to cap of the opening drive, while Brett Garst broke an 80-yard run for a touchdown, which is tied for the eighth longest run from scrimmage in school history.

Illinois College finally got on the board at the beginning of the second quarter when Logan Uyetake's 29-yard field goal capped a 17-play drive. Ripon answered that field goal with a touchdown drive, which was capped by a one-yard scoring plunge by quarterback Stephen Covalt. The Blueboys would then cut Ripon's lead to 16-10 mid-way through the quarter on a 16-yard pass from Brady Huber to Kyle Obertino, but Ripon added another touchdown, a five-yard run by Nathan Kuehl, and a two-point conversion with just seconds remaining in the half to take a 14-point lead into the locker room.

Illinois College cut that lead in half on the opening drive of the third quarter, which was capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass from Huber to Brendan Finley. Ripon would score on the ensuing possession when Garst ran for his second touchdown of the day, this time from 22 yards out.

"Brett is going to be a really special player for us during the next four years," Ernst said. "He works extremely hard in practice and has great vision for the running back position."

IC just wouldn't go away however, as Huber threw another touchdown, this time to Zachary Bryson, with minutes remaining in the third quarter. Huber then hooked up with Obertino for the second time on the day for a 38-yard touchdown that tied the score at 30. At that point, both defenses stepped up, not allowing another point in regulation.

In the overtime period, Ripon received the ball first and needed just four plays to find the end zone, doing so on a six-yard run by Connor Greenwald. Illinois College would match that score with a touchdown of their own on Huber's fifth TD pass of the day, with Finley catching his second of the game. Needing an extra point to tie, the IC coaching staff elected to go for the win, but their two-point conversion attempt was picked off by Brandon Latzig to end the game and send the Red Hawks faithful home happy.

The two teams combined for 946 yards of total offense. Ripon finished with 354 rushing yards, while Illinois College passed for 345.

The Red Hawks were led by Garst, who ran for 140 yards and two TDs on just nine carries (15.6 ypc). Kuehl added 64 rushing yards, while Covalt and Greenwald ran for 62 and 60, respectively. Covalt also threw for 98 yards, with 69 of those going to Nathan Silloway, who finished with four catches. Defensively, Latzig led the way with 16 tackles (13 solo). Austin Schleisner added nine tackles, while Bradley Knoblock recorded a game-high three pass breakups, and Decker Thompson had the game's only sack.

Huber completed 28-of-42 passes for 345 yards and five touchdowns for the Blueboys. Bo Davis led IC in rushing with 70 yards, while Obertino caught six passes for 112 yards. IC's defensive effort was led by Zach Dunker's nine tackles and the team's only pass breakup.

"Illinois College has a good offense that throws the ball very well. This was a great team win and I'm very proud of them," Ernst said. "We have now won two games in a row against two of the better teams in the MWC South and we're playing with a lot of confidence, so we just have to keep working hard to improve each week."

Ripon will now get ready for their conference season against the MWC North portion of the schedule. They will travel to St. Paul, Minn. next weekend to face Macalester College. That game will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. and can be seen live at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/macalester/.