MONMOUTH, Ill. - The Ripon College Red Hawks fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Saturday afternoon, dropping a 39-31 decision to Monmouth College in a Midwest Conference game at April Zorn Memorial Stadium.

Ripon's loss means there is a three-way tie atop the Midwest Conference standings with one week to go in the regular season. The Red Hawks (8-1, 7-1) are tied with Monmouth (7-2, 7-1) and Lake Forest College (8-1, 7-1) and each of the teams is 1-1 against the other two teams in the three-way tie. The Red Hawks close out the regular season next week with a home game against Lawrence University (0-9, 0-8). Meanwhile, Lake Forest is at the University of Chicago (7-2, 6-2) and Monmouth travels to Knox College (5-4, 4-4) in their regular-season finales.

Monmouth - which has now won five straight meetings with the Red Hawks - jumped on Ripon early, getting a pair of touchdown passes from Carter Boyer to open up a 12-0 advantage with two minutes to go in the opening quarter. However, on the Fighting Scots' second extra point attempt, Fletcher Dallas was able to return the ball for a two-point conversion to get Ripon back to within 12-2.

The Red Hawks then went to work offensively, as running back Cormac Madigan scored on a 19-yard run and quarterback Jarrett Zibert added a 22-yard touchdown run of his own to put Ripon ahead, 16-12, with 7:46 to go before halftime. Boyer threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this one a 22-yard strike to Nate Thornton, to give Monmouth a 19-16 advantage just before the break, but Zibert ran one in from 11 yards out with 8 seconds to go to send the Red Hawks into the locker room with a 23-19 lead.

The Fighting Scots rallied again in the second half, though, as Boyer scored on a 7-yard touchdown run, Jake Uryasz hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Boyer and Davin Lawrence pitched in a 4-yard touchdown run of his own and Monmouth led, 39-23, with 11:10 to go in the game.

However, the Red Hawks didn't go quietly. Instead, they battled back as they have done all season long, showing the determination that led them to an 8-0 start for just the third time in the 131-year history of Ripon football. Zibert found Kaipo Magsayo for a 78-yard touchdown pass and following a two-point conversion - a pass from Zibert to Alex Mosqueda - the Red Hawks were back to within 39-31 with 5:31 still showing on the clock.

After forcing Monmouth to punt, Ripon got the ball back at its own 49-yard line with 3:14 to go in the game. The comeback bid came up short, though, as the Fighting Scots got an interception on the Red Hawks' second play from scrimmage and Monmouth was able to run out the clock from there. The loss ended Ripon's quest to become the first 9-0 team in program history.

For the game, Ripon managed 282 yards of offense and 14 first downs on 65 plays, an average of 4.3 yards per play. The Red Hawks struggled to maintain consistency offensively, as they had 10 punts, went 2-for-14 on third downs, had seven fumbles (but only losing one) and had a pair of interceptions as well. However, Ripon's defense kept the Red Hawks in the game, forcing Monmouth to fumble five times (recovering one) and picking off a pair of passes themselves. Ripon also forced Monmouth to punt seven times in the contest.

Zibert completed 11-of-26 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions, adding 71 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as well. Madigan had 61 yards and a score on 14 carries and Parker Campana led the Ripon receiving corps with four catches for 19 yards. Matt Johnson led the Red Hawk defense with nine total tackles (4 solo, 5 assists) and Damean Netzler filled the stat sheet with eight tackles (4 solo, 4 assists), a tackle for loss of 3 yards, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry as well.

Boyer finished the game 16-for-38 for 243 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions for Monmouth. Lawrence had 115 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, Thornton caught six passes for 94 yards and three TDs and Uryasz had 103 receiving yards and a TD on four catches for the Fighting Scots.

Kickoff for the Ripon-Lawrence matchup at Ingalls Field is scheduled for noon.