RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College football team ended their 2016 season on a positive note, defeating Lawrence University 34-6. That marks Ripon's 17th consecutive win against the Vikings, meaning the Doehling-Heselton trophy, given to the winner of this game and named after former legendary coaches Carl Doehling and Bernie Heselton, will reside in Ripon for at least another year.

"It feels great to get the win today," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "A rivalry game is always big because it has a little more emotion attached to it and our players really played well today for four quarters."

Ripon (2-8, 2-6 MWC) finished the game with 382 rushing yards, while holding Lawrence (3-7, 2-6 MWC) to 197 yards of total offense, including 102 on the ground. Ripon also more than doubled Lawrence in first downs (25-10), while possessing the ball for 36 minutes.

"I'm very proud of our players," Ernst said. "With some of our struggles this year, it was really great to see them come together and send our seniors out on a positive note."

Ripon scored the game's first points on a 17-yard touchdown run by Austin Bunders mid-way through the first quarter. The Red Hawks doubled their lead in the opening minute of the second quarter when Brent Anderson scored on a 13-yard run. After Lawrence's Phillip Santiago scored from one yard out, Ripon answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive capped by a four-yard touchdown by Cody Chase. Just before halftime, Ripon grabbed all the momentum in the game when Lane Barnes stepped in front of a Lawrence pass and scampered 69 yards the other way for a touchdown and a 27-6 halftime lead for the Red Hawks.

In the second half, Ripon's defense took over, holding Lawrence scoreless during the final two quarters of play. Quarterback Cameron Gruenwald capped the scoring for the Red Hawks with a five-yard touchdown run with just three minutes remaining for the only points of the half.

"Our offense did a great job spreading the ball around and defensively we had terrific pressure on the quarterback," Ernst said. "It really was a team effort. We did a lot of rotating on offense, so a lot of different guys had the opportunity to get their hands on the ball."

Gruenwald led Ripon with 123 yards on 26 carries. Chase added 113 yards on 16 totes (7.1 ypc), while Bunders finished with 61 yards on nine carries (6.8 ypc). Defensively, Barnes had two pass breakups to go along with his interception for a touchdown and five tackles (0.5 for a loss). Brandon Bartel recorded the game's only sack, giving the junior 13 for his career, which is tied for fourth in school history and is just four shy of the school record.

Lawrence was led by Wasonu Allen's 39 yards on six carries, while Santiago gained 29 yards on the ground, while completing 13 of his 27 passes for 95 yards.