RIPON, Wis. - For the second consecutive week, Ripon's defense did not yield a touchdown, defeating Knox College 28-3 Saturday afternoon for their second win in a row. The Red Hawks intercepted three passes, while breaking up eight passes, recording 11 tackles for a loss, sacking the quarterback three times, and limiting the Prairie Fire to just 49 rushing yards.

"Our defense is playing very well right now and is playing with a lot of enthusiasm and confidence because we're keeping the schemes fairly simple and just letting them play," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "Our defensive players have responded extremely well and believe in what we're trying to do, while also doing a terrific job of execution."

Both team's defenses were stout for the first quarter and a half, until Ripon (2-1) broke through with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Julian Patton to Cameron Mignone with five and a half minutes left in the second period to cap an 11-play, 89-yard drive. Four minutes later, Patton found Austin Bunders for a 16-yard strike and a 14-0 Red Hawks lead as the teams went to halftime.

"We just didn't get the job done during our first few possessions of the game, but we know what our players are capable of doing, so we just stuck with it," Ernst said. "If something bad happens, we teach our players to put it behind us and move onto the next play, and their response was a solid 28-3 win."

Knox (0-3) finally got on the board mid-way through the third quarter when Jesus Flores kicked a 40-yard field goal. Ripon then answered with a four-play, 43-yard drive that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown plunge by Tyler VanDeVelde. Cormac Madigan finished the game's scoring with an eight-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Ripon finished the game with 481 yards of total offense, with 274 coming on the ground and 207 through the air. Madigan led the Red Hawks in rushing for the second consecutive game with 93 yards on nine carries (10.3 ypc), while also completing 3-of-4 passes for 55 yards. VanDeVelde added 64 rushing yards and 35 receiving on two catches, while Bunders gained 63 yards on the ground, while also catching four passes for 60 yards. Quarterback Julian Patton completed 8-of-14 passes for 152 yards and the two TDs.

Defensively, Ethan Hoffman led Ripon with a game-high 17 tackles (11 solo). Lane Barnes added 12 tackles (nine solo), including three for a loss, while also recording one sack and forcing two fumbles. Barnes also intercepted two passes, giving him three INTs during the past two weeks, while breaking up another pass.

"Lane is playing at a very high level right now, and he's one of the smartest football players that I've had the opportunity to coach," Ernst said. "Lane studies film and knows what adjustments to make and he's a tough competitor who we're very fortunate to have on our team."

Dakota Jordan and Shane Strabley also combined to sack the quarterback, while Bennett Groves added a third interception for the Red Hawks swarming defense.

Knox was led by Quarterback Jacob Amaro, who completed 29-of-51 passes for 242 yards, completing at least one pass to eight different players. Grant Graham caught a team-high eight passes for 58 yards for the Prairie Fire.

Ripon will try to build on this performance next weekend when they'll travel to Grinnell College on Saturday at 1 p.m. That game will be played in Grinnell, Iowa, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.

"Every game on our schedule is difficult, and we're looking forward to that challenge and the opportunity to improve next week," said Ernst.