RIPON, Wis. - Scoring on six of its first seven possessions, the Ripon College Red Hawks soared past the Knox College Prairie Fire on Saturday for a 33-6 victory in the Midwest Conference football opener at Ingalls Field. 

The Red Hawks' balanced attack produced 329 yards of total offense, including 179 yards on the ground and 150 by air. Knox was held to 178 total yards, Ripon's fifth-best defensive effort in the last 15 seasons. 

Cormac Madigan rushed for his 13th 100-yard game in his career, nearly out-gaining the Prairie Fire by himself, collecting 137 yards.

Madigan wasted little time to find the end zone, racing 72 yards for the end zone on the Red Hawks' second play to give Ripon a 6-0 lead with 12:35 to play in the first quarter. He carried the ball all 85 yards on Ripon's first drive. 

Ripon converted two third downs and a fourth down to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Zibert to Kaipo Magsayo. Erik Flores' kick gave the Red Hawks a 13-0 lead with 5:30 left in the opening quarter.

After being held to a punt for the only time in the first half, Ripon forced a fumble with 7:44 to play in the first half. A roughing the punter penalty gave Ripon new life on its third possession, and Zibert capitalized on the next play for a 22-yard touchdown pass to Magsayo, pushing Red Hawks up to 20-6. Bennet Bemmer came up with the recovery at the Knox 20. Flores added a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead, 23-0. Flores later hit again from 35 yards to lead 26-0.

Aided by a 65-yard, third-down pass from Kaile Williams to Tyler Elfering, Williams found the end zone on a 1-yard run to score Knox's only points. The two-point try failed.

Jake Davies returned the kickoff 27 yards to the Ripon 32 Zibert orchestrated a one-minute scoring drive, capped by a Madigan 3-yard touchdown run and Flores PAT. 

Ripon's 33-6 lead at the half secured the win as both teams were held scoreless in the second half. 

Zibert completed 12-of-20 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He added 22 yards on the ground. Magsayo led the receivers with 46 yards on four catches. 

Damean Netzler led the defense with 11 tackles, including 10 solo and four for a loss. Matt Johnson had seven stops and Quincy DiLoreto had six.

Knox was held to 88 yards passing as Williams completed only 4-of-17 passes. His 46 yards rushing was also a team-high.

Ripon (2-0, 1-0) will hit the road for the first time next Saturday, Sept. 17 with a trip to Cornell College (1-1, 1-0) in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Van Metre Park Field at Ash Park.