Game Notes vs. Beloit College

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's football team saw their three-game winning streak come to an end after last weekend's 30-17 loss at St. Norbert. The Red Hawks will hope to start a new win streak on Saturday when they'll host Beloit College at 1 p.m. on Ingalls Field.

This will be the 104th meeting between these two schools in a series that dates back to the 1893 season, and is the second-most games Ripon has played against an opponent in program history. Ripon leads the all-time series 70-29-4 and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings, with Beloit's only win during that span coming in 2016, which was the last year these two teams played in Ripon.

"This is an important game because we're still in the hunt for a championship with four conference games left and a lot can still happen," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "We have one loss in the division, so there's very little room for error, but we just have to take each game one at a time and focus on the game in front of us. I feel good about the week we've had in practice, so I think we're going to be alright."

Despite last week's loss, Ripon (3-2, 0-1 MWC) is still among the nation's leaders in several offensive categories, including scoring, as they rank 32nd in Division-III with a conference-best 39.2 points per game. The Red Hawks are seventh in the country with 299.8 rushing yards per game, which would rank sixth in program history, while also ranking sixth in D-III for yards per completion (18.0) and second in the Midwest Conference in third-down conversions (39.7 percent).

"Our quarterback position is much stronger than last year with Julian Patton having one full year of experience under his belt, and the addition of Cormac Madigan. They've both made a lot of very good decisions," Ernst said. "Our offensive line has done a great job this year and our backs are running hard. The longer our players are in this offensive system, the more they understand what the coaches are trying to get them to do."

Even with all that success, there are still a few things the Red Hawks need to clean up, as they turned the ball over five times in last week's loss, including three lost fumbles.

"We need to hang onto the ball because whenever we haven't played well, that has been the theme," Ernst said. "We have the capability of moving the ball up and down the field, but we must avoid turnovers."

Ripon's defense has been just as successful as their offense this season, leading all of Division-III in turnovers forced (19), while ranking ninth in the country in interceptions (10) and sixth in fumble recoveries (9). The Red Hawks are allowing 14.2 points per game, which ranks 28th in D-III, while their third-down defense of 26.2 percent ranks 21st. Ripon's defense has allowed seven points or less in three of their last four games.

"We have to get off blocks better and recognize what Beloit (1-4, 0-1 MWC) is trying to do this weekend by communicating better," Ernst said. "Those are things we can fix and we've been working hard to improve those things during practice this week."

The Red Hawks' defense will have its work cut out for them this weekend when they'll be facing a Beloit rushing attack that ranks fourth in the MWC. Joey Werner is a key cog in Beloit's offense, as the Senior from Milwaukee is the second-leading rusher in the MWC, averaging 81.8 yards per game and 4.3 yards per carry. He has rushed for more than 100 yards three times this season, which is tied for most in the conference.

"Werner is a very good runner, but if a team has a running back with some good yardage, that tells me that they also have a good offensive line," Ernst said. He's runs extremely hard and has had a lot of success, but they've done a good job blocking for him and creating some holes. We have to get more than one hat on him and get him to the ground as soon as possible."

Ripon's defense is led by linebacker Ethan Hoffman and safety Lane Barnes, both of whom rank in the top 10 in the MWC in tackles. Barnes has had an extraordinary Junior campaign, as he has been named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week twice this season, including last week when he recorded a career-high 15 tackles at St. Norbert, while also blocking a punt. Barnes is tied for second in the conference with three interceptions, while also tied for the league lead in forced fumbles (3). Fellow defensive back Bennett Groves also has three interceptions on the year.

"Our goal is always to get off the field as quickly as possible and give the ball to our offense with great field position and let them do their thing," Ernst said. "We've really tried to emphasize creating turnovers on defense because the more we can give our offense the ball, the better off we'll be."

Saturday's game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.