Game Notes vs. Concordia-Chicago

RIPON, Wis. - The smell of football is in the air, and the Red Hawks will give fans a chance to scratch their football itch on Saturday when they'll open their 2017 season at home against Concordia-Chicago. The game is a rematch of last year's season opener, which was won 40-30 by Concordia in Chicago. This weekend's game marks just the third meeting between the two teams, with the all-time series knotted up at one apiece.

"Going into last year's game, we didn't have much film on them, so we didn't entirely know what to expect," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "This year, we have a pretty good idea about what they'll try to do because of our game against them last year."

In preparation for Saturday's season opener, the Red Hawks held a joint practice last week with UW-Oshkosh, which lost in the NCAA Division-III National Championship game last season.

"We're very excited to get this season started," Ernst said. "We had a good practice with UW-Oshkosh, which was a really good test for us, and we were able to do some good things. That will help us prepare for the season. We're excited to kickoff Saturday's game and we've been anxiously waiting to do so since last year ended."

Concordia-Chicago finished last season with a 4-6 record, but their games never lacked offense, as the Cougars finished third in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) in both scoring offense (28.0 ppg) and total offense (402.6 ypg). In their game against Ripon, the two teams combined to score 63 second half points after Concordia led 7-0 at halftime.

Senior quarterback Shane Virnala had a career game against the Red Hawks in 2016, throwing for 357 yards and five touchdowns. In four games last season, Virnala completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,193 yards (298.2 ypg) and 14 touchdowns, while throwing just two interceptions, before his season was cut short due to injury for the second consecutive year.

"Virnala is a very good quarterback because he's accurate and gets rid of the ball quickly, while also being a good athlete," Ernst said. "We're concerned about him, along with his stable of athletic receivers. Concordia also offers a solid running game, so we'll have to be prepared for everything."

Ripon's offense finished second in the Midwest Conference (MWC) in rushing last season, gaining 249.4 yards per game. Senior fullback Cody Chase leads the way after recording 543 yards and five touchdowns last season. Sam Shroyer will start the season at quarterback, trying to build off the 398 yards and team-high six touchdowns he posted as a freshman in 2016.

"Offensively, we're very excited about our returning players," Ernst said. "All five starters on the offensive line are new this season, but they've been pretty solid in practices so far, and that will go a long way towards how successful we are in 2017."

The Red Hawks' offense will face a Concordia squad that finished last in the NACC in total defense (255.1 ypg) last season. The Cougars also allowed an average of 37.1 points per game. Even with those numbers, Ripon knows not to take any opponent lightly.

"They have very good athletes on the defensive side of the ball, so we'll have to be ready for them from outset," Ernst said. "We want to challenge ourselves in these non-conference games, which won't define us, but will give us a good idea about where we're at as a football team."

Ripon's defense will be chomping at the bit to hit someone with a different colored jersey, after practicing against themselves for the majority of the last three weeks. That defense is led up front by a defensive line that boasts two of the top sack producers in school history. Two-time First Team All-Conference selection Brandon Bartel is tied for third with 13.5 career sacks, while fellow senior Vince Stensrud is just two sacks shy of breaking into Ripon's top 10.

"We have a lot of returning players at defensive line and all three starters are back at linebacker, so those positions will be very solid again," Ernst said. "We've moved some people around in the secondary, which we believe will make it a much stronger unit."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. at Ingalls Field in Ripon, with a webcast and LiveStats available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.