DE PERE, Wis. - Ripon's three-game winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon with a 30-17 loss against St. Norbert, which also held a 343-248 advantage in total yardage. Ripon out-gained their opponent in rushing yards for the 20th consecutive game, as they out-rushed SNC by a 129-102 margin. Turnovers played a role in the result, with Ripon throwing two interceptions and losing three fumbles, including two inside St. Norbert's 30-yard line.

The game started slowly with five punts in the game's first 11 minutes, before St. Norbert (4-1, 1-0 MWC) connected on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Drew Rhodes to Samuel Staehling to take the lead with less than three minutes to play in the first quarter. Jadon Sackman gave SNC a 14-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown plunge in the opening minute of the second quarter. Ripon (3-2, 0-1 MWC) would get on the board thanks to a 27-yard field goal off the foot of Kyle Jobke with nine and a half minutes remaining in the half, which capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive. St. Norbert answered with a 28-yard field goal of their own, and Sackman added a three-yard touchdown run just before halftime to give the Green Knights a 24-3 halftime lead.

Ripon began to cut into that lead in the second half, connecting on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Julian Patton to Cameron Mignone to make the score 24-10 with 10 and a half minutes left in the third quarter. A pair of St. Norbert field goals would make the score 30-10 mid-way through the fourth quarter, but Ripon kept on fighting. Tyler VanDeVelde punched one in from three yards out to make the score 30-17 and after St. Norbert's next drive resulted in a blocked punt by Lane Barnes, Ripon was set up on SNC's nine-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. The Green Knight's stingy defense, which was allowing less than 10 points per game entering this contest, would keep the Red Hawks out of the end zone however, essentially ending the game.

VanDeVelde led Ripon in rushing with 75 yards on 11 carries (6.8 ypc), including a long of 40 yards. Austin Bunders added 30 yards on the ground. Patton rushed for 21 yards, while also completing four passes for 107 yards, with a long of 63 to Brett Garst. Barnes continued his excellent play this season with a game-high 15 tackles (13 solo), including one for a loss, in addition to his blocked punt. Armando Mosqueda recorded eight tackles (seven solo), while also intercepting a pass for the second consecutive game.

St. Norbert was led by Rhodes, who completed 17-of-21 passes for 206 yards and the one touchdown to Staehling, who caught four passes for 104 yards. Brandon Dudley led the Green Knight's rushing attack with 33 yards on six carries (5.5 ypc). Defensively, Matt Barrett recorded nine tackles and two of SNC's four sacks, with Matt Gurgone and Will Utesch recording the others. Nate Essman and Walter McBride each intercepted a pass for the Green Knights.

Ripon will try to rebound next weekend when they'll host Beloit College Saturday at 1 p.m. That game will be played at Ingalls Field in Ripon, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.