Game Notes vs. St. Scholastica

RIPON, Wis. -,Nine and a half months have passed since Ripon College last played a football game. Saturday, the wait will be over, as Ripon will open the season against St. Scholastica for the second consecutive year.

Last year's contest ended in a 28-27 St. Scholastica victory, but was aided by Ripon missing one field goal and two extra points. This season, the Red Hawks are eager to have another shot at securing a victory over the Saints.

"If the last week and a half of practice is any indication, our players are ready to play," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "Everyone has worked extremely hard since last season ended and this is a game we've been pointing to for a long time."

St. Scholastica is no ordinary non-conference game. The Saints have won 19 consecutive regular season games and have appeared in the NCAA Division-III playoffs in each of the last four years. They scored at least four touchdowns in all 10 of their regular season games last season, while averaging 38.9 points per game. That led the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), as did their scoring defense which allowed 15.9 ppg.

"We want to challenge ourselves and play at the highest level," Ernst said. "The College of St. Scholastica is a quality opponent that has been very successful the last few years, so it will provide a great measuring stick and will help us see where we're at as a football team."

This year's matchup will be a little different than their last meeting, which was Kurt Ramler's first game as head coach at St. Scholastica.

"They knew what we were going to do last year, which was run the ball, but we didn't know what they were going to do because it was the first time we had ever played them and they had a brand new coaching staff," Coach Ernst said. "This year, we feel like it's more of a level playing field."

St. Scholastica lost a lot of talent from last year, as the UMAC Offensive Player of the Year, Lineman of the Year, and Special Teams Player of the Year all have moved on. Even with those losses, the Saints still return eight All-Conference players. That includes junior All-Region tight end Shane Finnegan, who led the team with seven touchdowns, and the UMAC's leading scorer in sophomore running back Preston Robinson, who led the team with 893 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns.

"They have a couple excellent running backs and some real good receivers, along with a very solid offensive line," Ernst said. "Defensively, they run to the ball very well and are fundamentally sound.,They play hard every play and are a very well-coached team."

Last year's loss to St. Scholastica was one of four games Ripon lost by eight points or less. After starting the season slowly, Ripon ended the year by winning two of its final three games, averaging 35 points per game in those contests. They also finished the season with the Midwest Conference's top rushing offense, averaging 244 yards per game.,

"I'm interested in seeing how much our experienced players have improved," Ernst said. "The effort that all our players put into the offseason lifting program and our Spring practice has been outstanding and I want to see how they've progressed."

Ripon will see just how much they've progressed when they kickoff their 2015 season Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ingalls Field, which can be seen live at,http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.