Game Notes vs. St. Norbert

RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College football team will begin their conference season Saturday against longtime Midwest Conference rival St. Norbert College, who will be playing their final game at Ingalls Field as a member of the MWC, as next year's game is in De Pere, before SNC joins the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) in 2021. This will be the 43rd all-time meeting between these teams, with St. Norbert holding a 31-11 advantage. The Green Knights have won each of the last 10 meetings and 19 of the last 20, with Ripon's last win coming at Ingalls Field in 2008, but as is the case in most conference games, all the records get thrown out the window when these two teams meet on the gridiron.

"Our players are very excited about this game, and we're looking forward to it," Ripon Head Coach Ron Ernst said. "We've been working hard in practice to eliminate mistakes, and if we can do that, I believe we stack up very well against them. It's our first conference game of the season, so there's a lot at stake."

Ripon (1-3, 0-0 MWC) enters the game as one of the top passing defenses in the country, ranking fifth in Division-III in passing yards allowed per game, as they have yielded an average of just 120.5 yards through the air this season. They set a new standard in last week's game against Monmouth, as the Red Hawks allowed negative-13 yards passing, which broke a school record for fewest passing yards allowed in a single game. This weekend, the Red Hawks defense will receive its biggest test, as St. Norbert (1-2, 0-0 MWC) will bring their top-ranked passing attack, which is averaging a league-best 349.7 passing yards per game.

"Our secondary is pretty good, but they will test us with an excellent passing game, which they have hung their hat on this season," Ernst said. "They're going to try to throw the ball and we'll do our best to stop them and we'll see who gets the job done best. One key for us will be to get pressure on their quarterback and make him as uncomfortable as possible, which will hopefully force him into making some mistakes.

In two games this season, St. Norbert quarterback Gage McClanahan has thrown for 441 yards and three touchdowns, while completing 68 percent of his passes, but he has also thrown five interceptions. He will be helped out by wide receiver Samuel Staehling, who leads the MWC in receiving yards (520), touchdowns (6), yards per reception (23.6), and receiving yards per game (173.3). The Senior from Plymouth, Wis. also ranks second in the conference in receptions with 22 in St. Norbert's three games this season.

"Staehling is the best receiver in the conference," Ernst said. "He has very good hands and great speed, so we're going to need to know where he is at all times and defend him the best we can."

The polar opposite of St. Norbert's offense, Ripon will look to gain their chunk yards on the ground. The Red Hawks lead the MWC in rushing yards per game with 214.0. They will be going up against a St. Norbert defense that ranks eighth in the league in stopping the run, allowing 141.3 yards per game on the ground.

"We need to continue to run the ball. We've made some mistakes in the past few games by putting the ball on the ground, but if we can eliminate those mistakes, it will be very difficult to stop us," Ernst said. "If we don't get a first down, we have to be able to flip the field and put our defense in a good position to succeed."

That is exactly what Ripon is able to do at times thanks to punter Cameron Gruenwald, who currently ranks second in the MWC in punting with an average of 39.9. The Senior from Iola, Wis. also ranks second in school history for career punting average (37.3).

"It's very important to have someone like Cam because he's going to put the defense in a pretty good situation," Ernst said. "We're lucky to have him, both as a punter, and as a defensive back."

The winner of Saturday's game will have a leg up on half of the conference, as they will be one of three undefeated teams in the MWC North Division, with only four more conference games remaining. Both teams are hoping to avoid that 0-1 hole at all costs.

"It's very important to get a win to start the conference season because I feel like we're one of the top teams in the division and we have the capability to do some really good things," said Ernst.

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. at Ingalls Field in Ripon, and can be seen live with LiveStats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/. The game will also serve as Ripon's 'Play For The Cure' game in which all fans are asked to wear pink to support cancer awareness.