RIPON, Wisc. - The Ripon College Red Hawks returned home in a big way Saturday afternoon at Ingalls Field, steamrolling the Grinnell College Pioneers, 56-6, in a Midwest Conference game to run their record for the 2022 campaign to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

Ripon defeated Grinnell for the 13th straight time and now leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1941, 44-6-1. Saturday's win is the most lopsided in the Red Hawks' favor in the history of the series. 

Ripon opened the scoring with 9:33 to go in the first quarter when Cormac Madigan broke loose for a 33-yard touchdown run to put the Red Hawks ahead, 7-0. Just more than a minute later, Ripon's Matt Johnson picked off a Grayson Woodhouse pass and returned it 45 yards for another score and Madigan added another 41-yard touchdown run later in the period to give Ripon a commanding 21-0 lead after the opening 15 minutes.

The Red Hawks kept it going in the second quarter, getting a 1-yard touchdown run by Connor Ramage and a pair of touchdown passes, one apiece by Jack Berens (44 yards to Kaipo Magsayo) and Jarrett Zibert (9 yards to Parker Campana) to take a 42-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

With offensive and defensive touchdowns already taken care of, it was the turn of the Red Hawks' special teams to provide Ripon's first touchdown of the second half. After forcing Grinnell (2-2, 2-2) to punt on the Pioneers' opening possession of the third quarter, Kerwin Tattnall fielded a Ricky Morri punt and returned it 83 yards for another touchdown to make it 49-0 Ripon with 13:09 to go in the period. It was the second-longest punt return in Ripon history, only trailing an 86-yard return by Jim Wallace in a game against Illinois College in 1995.

Grinnell got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Woodhouse found Garrett Wilson for a 26-yard touchdown pass, but Ripon added one last score with 1:49 left when Jaylend Brown closed out a Red Hawks drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to put Ripon ahead, 56-6, and close out the scoring. The 56 points scored was the most points in a game for Ripon since a 58-34 victory over Macalester on Oct. 20, 2018.

For the game, Ripon rolled up 372 yards (238 rushing, 134 passing) on 55 plays, averaging 6.8 yards per play despite having the ball for only 24:07 of the 60-minute game. Madigan finished with 145 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, an average of 13.2 yards per carry. Xavier Goetzinger (8 carries, 29 yards), Brown (5 carries, 29 yards 1 TD) and Zibert (2 carries, 23 yards) also had more than 20 yards rushing for the Red Hawks. The trio of Zibert, Berens and Caleb Mammoser combined to finish 9-for-22 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Campana led the receiving corps with 3 catches for 43 yards and a score, Magsayo had two receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown and Madigan pitched in 23 receiving yards on a pair of catches as well.

Ripon's defense held Grinnell to just 171 yards of offense (95 rushing, 76 passing) on 71 plays, only 2.4 yards per play. The Pioneers' 95 rushing yards came on 48 carries, only 2.0 yards per carry, and Woodhouse was harassed into going 7-for-23 with two interceptions when Grinnell went to the passing game. Woodhouse was Grinnell's leading rusher as well, gaining 39 yards on 16 carries. Luke Stefan had 24 yards on 13 carries and Nick Rhinehart caught four passes for 34 yards for the Pioneers.

Damean Netzler was Ripon's leading tackler, making seven stops (five solo, two assists). Fletcher Dallas had four solo tackles, a tackle for loss, and an interception as well. Alex Mosqueda and Dionisio Herrera both notched three solo tackles as well for the Red Hawks, who had 11 tackles for losses totalling 42 yards and two sacks in the victory.

The Red Hawks are back on the road next week, traveling to Lake Forest, Ill., to take on 25th-ranked Lake Forest College (5-0, 4-0) in a clash of two of the top teams in the Midwest Conference.
Kickoff at Farwell Field is set for 1 p.m. Grinnell stays on the road, heading to Galesburg, Ill., to face Knox College (2-3, 1-3), Kickoff at the Knosher Bowl is scheduled for 1 p.m.