RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College football team defeated Knox College 38-19 Saturday afternoon in the final game of the 2018 season. That gives the Red Hawks a 7-3 season record for the third time in the last six years, and is the 25th non-losing season in Head Coach Ron Ernst's 28 years with the team.

Ripon (7-3) finished Saturday's game with 315 rushing yards, while holding the Prairie Fire to just 26 yards on the ground. The Red Hawks also forced three turnovers, including two interceptions.

"This was a great way to finish the season, and I'm so proud of our players because it was such a fun group of players to work with," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "I looked forward to working with these young men every day, and it was great to see us win this last game and finish the season on a real positive note."

Knox (2-8) got the scoring started early in the first quarter, going 73 yards on six plays, and scoring on a 16-yard run by Ty Straw. The extra point was no good, so Ripon was able to take a 7-6 lead on their first TD of the game, a two-yard run by Brent Anderson with one and a half minutes left in the opening period. Tyler VanDeVelde added a one-yard TD plunge in the final minute of the first half to give Ripon a 14-6 halftime lead, capping a 17-play 85-yard drive, which lasted nearly eight minutes.

VanDeVelde added an 11-yard touchdown run mid-way through the third quarter, but Knox battled back with a 52-yard TD pass from Jacob Amaro to Kobe Shutter. After a blocked punt gave Knox the ball back in great field position, the Prairie Fire added an 18-yard TD pass from Amaro to Hunter Lee. The potential tying two-point conversion was no good, sending the game to the fourth quarter with Ripon leading just 21-19.

In that final quarter, the Red Hawks finished strong, scoring on VanDeVelde's third TD of the game from two yards out with just under 12 minutes remaining. Kyle Jobke then tied a career-high with a 42-yard field goal, while VanDeVelde scored for a fourth time on a nine-yard run to seal the game with under two and a half minutes remaining.

Cormac Madigan led all players with 98 yards on 21 carries, while VanDeVelde rushed for 95 yards on 21 totes, including the four scores. Austin Bunders added 75 yards on 13 carries.

Defensively, Ripon was led by Ethan Hoffman's 15 tackles, giving him 101 for the season, which is just the sixth time a Ripon player has recorded more than 100 tackles in a single season. He also finishes with 234 career tackles, which ranks sixth in program history. Lane Barnes added 11 tackles (eight ssolo), while also forcing two fumbles, giving him a conference-best seven forced fumbles this season. Armando Mosqueda and Bennett Groves each recorded one interception, giving the Red Hawks 20 on the season, which is tied for eighth in program history, and is just five shy of the school record. Their 33 takeaways this season are tied for the third-most in program history.

Ripon finishes the season as the MWC's top scoring team, producing 399 points this season, which ranks second in program history, and is just seven shy of the school record, which was set in 2010. The Red Hawks' 3,199 rushing yards this season are the fourth-most in program history, while their 4,011 yards of total offense ranks eighth in program history.