Game Notes at Lake Forest

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon and Lake Forest both enter Saturday's tilt with identical 1-2 Midwest Conference records, making this weekend's game that much more important. The winner will keep pace with the top half of the conference, while the loser will likely see their MWC title hopes and dreams all but vanish. This will be the 50th meeting on the gridiron between these two schools, with Ripon holding a 35-11-3 advantage. The two teams have split the last four meetings, but Ripon has won two of the last three, including last year's season finale by a score of 27-7.

All four of the combined losses between Ripon and Lake Forest this season have come to the three MWC teams that are yet to lose a conference contest. Both squads have lost to Monmouth, while Ripon is coming off a 16-8 loss to Macalester and Lake Forest lost last week's game at St. Norbert, 35-21.

Lake Forest enters Saturday's game averaging 31.6 points per game, which is fourth in the MWC. They are led by Senior running back Joey Valdvia, who currently leads the conference with 662 rushing yards and 132.4 rushing yards per game, which is an average of 32 yards per game more than the next-highest average. Valdvia also leads the MWC in rushing touchdowns with 11, while averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He has also caught nine passes for 125 yards (13.9 ypr) and another TD. He's not the only back that can hurt opponents however. Senior Charlie Quinn gained 137 yards on 29 carries two years ago in the Foresters' 26-23 victory over the Red Hawks.

"Lake Forest has a very good running game. They run hard and do a lot of things well such as changing direction, running in space, and looking for seams," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "It's going to be very difficult for only one defender to tackle them, so we'll have to get multiple hats on them because they're very strong and run with great vision. That's one of the things we're going to have to be very cognizant of."

Ripon's defense has come on strong the past two games, as they have allowed under 400 total yards each week. They have also allowed less than 131 rushing yards in both of those games. Most importantly though, is that Ripon's pass rush is back on track. After failing to record a quarterback sack during their first three games, the Red Hawks have posted five in the last three weeks. Four of those have come from junior Vince Stensrud, who had his first three-sack game last week against Macalester.

"We moved Vince to the secondary prior to the season because of his speed, but moved him back to defensive line a couple weeks ago because we needed help there," Ernst said. "It has definitely helped us tremendously, while he feels very comfortable there and with his speed and strength, he has been very effective.

Stensrud and fellow junior defensive lineman Brandon Bartel have combined for 19.5 career sacks, and both players are on the verge of breaking into Ripon's career record book, while also setting their sights on the school record of 17 career sacks.

Lake Forest also brings an imposing defense, ranking fourth in the league against the pass (213.0 ypg) and sixth against the run (188.6 ypg). They have forced five turnovers on the year, while cornerback R.J. Pompey was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Tuesday after blocking two field goals in Lake Forest's loss to St. Norbert. That gives Pompey four blocked kicks this season, and five in his career.

"Lake Forest has always been known as a tough defensive team and we expect nothing less from them this weekend," Ernst said. "I feel good about our game plan both offensively and defensively, but we'll have to just go out on the field and execute it."

Ripon's offense enters the weekend ranking fourth in rushing offense (213.0 ypg). They have five players that have rushed for at least 100 yards this season, and six players that have scored on the ground.

"The key to Saturday's game will be execution and consistency," Ernst said. "Offensively, we can't commit penalties or other mental mistakes and we have to keep our offense on the field."

Saturday's game will kickoff at 2 p.m. in Lake Forest, Ill. and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.