JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - Ripon College rallied twice before finally knocking off Illinois College, 23-21, in a Midwest Conference game Saturday afternoon at England Stadium to remain unbeaten for the 2022 campaign. 

The win spoiled the Blueboys' Homecoming festivities and is also Ripon's first win at Illinois College since 2009. Ripon (4-0, 3-0) has now own two-straight against IC and leads the all-time series 16-10.

The Blueboys (1-3, 0-3) jumped on Ripon early, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the first 6:29 to go up 14-0 on the Red Hawks. After Ripon's opening drive resulted in a miscue on the Red Hawks' punt, Illinois College took over at the Ripon 8-yard line. Two plays later, Bobby Nelson scored on a 1-yard run and Toby McTamney's extra point put the Blueboys up, 7-0, less than two minutes into the game. On its next drive, Ripon fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, giving the ball right back to Illinois College on the Blueboys' 43-yard line. This time, it took Illinois College 11 plays to march 57 yards and Logan Wongler finished things off with a 3-yard touchdown run and the extra point made it 14-0 with 8:31 still to go in the first quarter. 

In an effort to get back into the game, the Red Hawks took a chance early in the second quarter. Facing a 4th-and-1 on their own 25-yard line, the Red Hawks went for it and converted with a 1-yard run by Cormac Madigan. Ripon made the gamble pay off, as later in the drive, Madigan broke free for a 10-yard touchdown run to cap an epic 13-play, 97-yard march by the Red Hawks. Erik Flores made the extra point and Ripon was back to within 14-7 with 9:45 to go before halftime.

After a short punt by the Blueboys on their next possession, Ripon took over on its 40 and moved the ball again. A 36-yard pass from Jarrett Zibert to Alex Mosqueda got the Red Hawks to the IC 5-yard line, but Ripon had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Flores, trimming the Blueboys' lead to 14-10 with 1:51 to go in the second quarter. On the subsequent kickoff, Zach Paul recovered a fumble at the IC 33-yard line, giving the Red Hawks one last chance to score before the break. Zibert made the Blueboys pay for the mistake, scoring on a 20-yard run with 14 seconds left and Flores's PAT sent Ripon into the locker room with a 17-14 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, the Blueboys again benefitted from a short field, as they only had to go 22 yards to score, this time coming on a 6-yard run by Wongler. The extra point was good and IC went back in front, 21-17, with 7:50 to go in the third quarter.

Early in the final period, Ripon got the ball and drove to IC's 18-yard line, where the Red Hawks again faced a 4th-and-1. Ripon went for it again, but this time the Blueboys' defense stopped the Red Hawks to turn the ball over on downs at the IC 20. Later in the quarter, Ripon started a drive at the IC 47 - again following a short punt by the Blueboys - and this time the Red Hawks were able to finish what they started, going 47 yards in six plays before Madigan ran one in from 3 yards out to make it 23-21 Ripon with 3:05 remaining.

Ripon sealed the win on IC's next possession when Fletcher Dallas picked off a Wongler pass and the Red Hawks were able to run out the clock from there.

For the game, Ripon ground out 341 yards of offense (194 rushing, 147 passing) on 69 plays, an average of 4.9 yards per play. The Red Hawks lost a pair of fumbles, but they forced IC to commit three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception) of its own. Meanwhile, the Red Hawks allowed 274 yards of offense (175 rushing, 99 passing) on 61 plays, an average of 4.5 yards per play. Along with the three turnovers, the Ripon defense forced the IC quarterbacks to go a combined 6-for-21 through the air, completing only 28.6 percent of their passes.

Madigan did the heavy lifting for the Red Hawk offense, piling up 147 yards and two touchdowns on a game-high 30 carries. Zibert completed 13 of his 22 passes for 147 yards and added another 30 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries on the ground. Mosqueda had four catches for 71 yards and Parker Campana added another four catches for 43 yards of his own.

On defense, Clay Ritschard and Brad Guell each had eight total tackles (4 solo, 4 assists) to lead the Red Hawks. Dallas had six tackles (5 solo, 1 assist), two pass break-ups and an interception, Damean Netzler had six tackles (3 solo, 3 assists) as well in the win.

Ripon returns home next week, hosting the Grinnell College Pioneers (2-1, 2-1) in another Midwest Conference game. Kickoff at Ingalls Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. Meanwhile, Illinois College hits the road to take on Lake Forest College (4-0, 3-0) in a Midwest Conference game in Lake Forest, Ill. That game is set to get under way at 2 p.m.