RIPON, Wisc. - The Ripon College Red Hawks closed the 2022 regular season and honored their 23 seniors - along with head coach Ron Ernst - in the best possible way Saturday afternoon, demolishing Lawrence University, 82-0, in a Midwest Conference game that was historic for many reasons.

The 82 points scored by Ripon is the most put up by the Red Hawks since Ripon beat St. John's Military Academy, 86-0, in 1916, more than 100 years ago. Also, the 82-point margin of victory is the largest in the series between Ripon and Lawrence, the oldest college football rivalry in Wisconsin. The series dates back to 1893 and the Red Hawks - who claimed the Doehling-Heselton Trophy with the win - have now won 21 straight games against Lawrence and lead the all-time series, 67-46-7.

Ernst and the 23-player senior class were honored before the game, the Red Hawks' last regular-season home contest. Ernst is retiring at the end of this season and has a record of 193-114 (.629) in 31 seasons as the head coach of the Red Hawks. Ripon's 9-1 record this season ties two other years (1996, 2000) as the winningest in the program's 131-year history and all three nine-win seasons came with Ernst at the helm.

Ripon (9-1, 8-1) finished  the regular season in a three-way tie for first in the Midwest Conference standings, ending up in a deadlock with Lake Forest College (9-1, 8-1) and Monmouth College (8-2, 8-1). Because all three teams are 1-1 against each other, the next tiebreaker is number of quarters led in conference play. By virtue of its 13-7 win over the University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon, Lake Forest won that tiebreaker with 32 quarters led and while Monmouth also had 32, but the Foresters beat Monmouth in their head-to-head game. Ripon led 28 quarters in conference play and needed Knox College to beat Monmouth on Saturday for the Red Hawks to claim the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs.

Instead, Ripon now has to play the waiting game to see if it earned one of five at-large bids to the playoffs. The pairings for the playoffs will be announced on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT.

Not to be lost in all of the other events on Saturday was running back Cormac Madigan becoming Ripon's all-time leader in rushing yards. Madigan rolled up 203 yards on 20 carries before being lifted early in the second half and Madigan likely finishes his Ripon career with 4,139 yards on 651 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry. His carries also ranks second on the Red Hawks' all-time list behind the 776 carries by Troy DeVoe from 1997-2001. It was DeVoe who previously held the record for career rushing yards, running for 4,117 yards in his career at Ripon.

Ripon dominated Lawrence from the outset, scoring three times in the first quarter en route to taking a 49-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Red Hawks substituted freely throughout the second half, but the substitutes had just as much offensive success as the starters. Ripon had 487 yards of offense (373 rushing, 114 passing) on 65 plays, an average of 7.5 yards per play, and 22 first downs in the romp.

Jarrett Zibert was a perfect 8-for-8 for 105 yards and three touchdowns through the air, added two carries for 20 yards and even caught a 9-yard pass from wide receiver Parker Campana as well.

Madigan had his 203 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries on the ground and added a 12-yard touchdown catch before leaving the game. Connor Ramage pitched in 58 yards and two TDs on eight carries, Xavier Goetzinger had 35 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, Mike Burke finished with two catches for 44 yards and a touchdown and Kaipo Magsayo added a touchdown catch as well.
While the Red Hawks' offensive output was impressive, Ripon's defense was just as memorable as the Red Hawks posted their first shutout of the season.

Ripon limited Lawrence (0-10, 0-9) to just four yards of offense on 50 plays (an average of 0.08 yards - 2.88 inches - per play) and three first downs. The Vikings had 28 carries for minus-22 yards and the Lawrence quarterbacks were only 6-for-22 for 26 yards with two interceptions through the air.

Ten Red Hawk players had two or more tackles in the game, led by Dylon Ross, who had 5 solo tackles - all for losses totalling 13 yards. Damean Netzler had five tackles (4 solo, 1 assist), three of which were for losses totalling 7 yards.