ROCKFORD, Ill. - For the second week in a row, the Ripon College football team was involved in a one-point game. Unfortunately, they came out on the short end of things, losing to Rockford University 14-13 in a defensive battle Saturday afternoon. Both teams turned the ball over twice, while each squad finished with less than 271 total offensive yards.

After a scoreless first half, Rockford (2-0) got on the board first with a 12-yard touchdown pass with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Red Hawks (1-1) would tie things up in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter thanks to a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Stephen Covalt to cap a 13-play, 65-yard drive. With under three minutes remaining, Covalt scored his second TD of the game, giving the Red Hawks their first lead of the day, punching it in from two yards out to end an 11-play, 71-yard drive.

After a failed extra point left Ripon with a six-point lead, Rockford got the ball back and on the third play of the ensuing drive, threw a 65-yard touchdown with just over two minutes left, taking a one-point lead on the proceeding extra point.,Ripon had one final chance to steal the victory, but they couldn't connect on a 39-yard field goal with two seconds remaining.

The Red Hawks were led by Covalt's 55 yards rushing and 96 yards passing. Connor Greenwald added 42 yards on the ground, while Nathan Silloway led Ripon's receivers with five catches for 57 yards.

Defensively, Ripon was led by Jordan Remsza's seven tackles (six solo). Patrick Barany recorded the team's only interception, while Decker Thompson forced a fumble that Dakotah Kirchenwitz recovered.

Ripon will head into their bye week with a 1-1 record before hitting the field again on September 26 at Cornell College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa and can be seen live at,http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.