Game Notes vs. Knox College

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's 2018 football season will come to a close Saturday against Knox College in what will be the battle for fifth-place in the Midwest Conference. This will be the 49th meeting between these two teams, including the second this season. Ripon leads the all-time series 42-6 and Red Hawks Head Coach Ron Ernst is 19-1 against Knox in his career, with that one loss coming last season.

Ripon (6-3, 3-2 MWC) defeated Knox (2-7, 2-3 MWC) earlier this season by a score of 28-3, which occurred in the third game of the season. In that contest, the Red Hawks scored two first hlaf touchdowns on a pair of TD passes by Julian Patton - a 15-yarder to Cameron Mignone, and a 16-yarder to Austin Bunders. Tyler VanDeVelde and Cormac Madigan each scored a rushing touchdown, as Ripon gained 249 yards on the ground. Ripon's defense intercepted three passes that day, including two by Lane Barnes and one by Bennett Groves, as that marked one of three games this season in which Ripon's defense did not yield a touchdown.

"I think it's an advantage for us that we've already played them once this season because we certainly have a good understanding of their personnel, and we have a pretty good idea of what they're trying to do offensively. That being said, we still need to line up and play," Ernst said. "I see it as an advantage because it's an opportunity to build on our game plan from the last time we played them. There are some things that both teams will do differently, but it will be a fun game to play."

One thing Ripon's offense must do is protect the ball, while trying to take it away from the Prairie Fire. In their earlier match-up this season, Ripon's first four possessions all ended in lost fumbles. Defensively, Ripon ranks third in all of Division-III in takeaways with 30, which would rank fourth in school history, and is 11 shy of the school record. The Red Hawks also rank fourth in D-III with a conference-best 18 interceptions, which is two shy of the school's single season top 10. Ripon is the only team in the MWC to have more than one player in the top 10 in the league for interceptions, as they have five such players. Bennett Groves, Cameron Gruenwald, and Devin Smith are all tied for the MWC lead with four INTs, while Lane Barnes is tied for sixth (3) and Armando Mosqueda is tied for ninth (2).

"The last time we played them, we turned the ball over on our first four possessions, so the key is to take care of the ball and make sure we execute our assignments," Ernst said. "On defense, we need to continue to play very aggressively, and if we do that, we'll be in pretty good shape."

Offensively, Ripon is the number one scoring team in the MWC, averaging 40.1 points per game. Their 361 points this season already ranks fourth in school history with one game left to play. They are 46 points shy of breaking the single season school record of 406, which was set in 2010. The Red Hawks' conference-leading 320.4 rushing yards per game ranks third in D-III, and would rank fourth in program history for a single season. They also lead the MWC in Total Offense (409.3 ypg), fourth-down conversions (75 percent), and first downs per game (22.2).

"If a team wins its last game of the season, it's a tremendous boost for offseason recruiting, and the players are excited to get things going already for next season," Ernst said. "Winning on Saturday could be a tremendous benefit for our team."

A win would also give Ripon a 7-3 record to end the season for the fifth time in the last 10 years, and would tie their largest win total since 2008.It would also give Ernst his 174th career victory, which would be 15 more wins than the next highest total in MWC history.

"Coming into this season, we had a lot of question marks, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but our players have really stepped up and played well, and it has been a terrific season," Ernst said. "There are a couple games that had we played better, we could have won, but 7-3 would be a great finish to the season because I'm not sure many people thought that's how well we would do before the season began."

Saturday's game against Knox will begin at 1 p.m. at Ingalls Field in Ripon, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/. We will be accepting donations of non-perishable food items at the gate as part of the fifth annual MWC Canned Food Challenge, with all donations going to the Ripon Food Pantry. In lieu of food items, monetary donations will be accepted, with $1 being equal to two cans.