RIPON, Wis. - Ron Ernst's 32nd season and farewell campaign as head coach kicked off with career win No. 185 on Saturday. Ripon College knocked off St. Norbert College, 13-10, in front of nearly 2,000 fans at Ingalls Field to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Green Knights, the first since 2008.

Tied 3-3 at the half, and 10-10 after three quarters, Ripon and St. Norbert were matched point-for-point at the end of each of the first three quarters. However, that all changed in the final frame. 

Junior defensive lineman Levi Hall (Bear Creek, Ala.) recovered a Delton Zueleger fumble at the Ripon 1 yard line to stymie St. Norbert's attempt to take the lead early in the fourth quarter. A bad snap into the end zone two plays later nearly led to a safety, but Jarrett Zibert (Las Vegas, Nev.) was able to get loose and throw the ball away. Zibert then found a seam for a 18-yard carry to give the Red Hawks offense space to work with. 

Ripon looked for a home run on a reverse halfback pass, but it fell just out of reach for what could have been the go-ahead score. Ramage powered his way up the middle for 19 yards on 4th and 2 to keep the drive alive. However, back-to-back sacks pushed the Red Hawks out of field goal range to the St. Norbert 43, forcing a Ripon punt with 5:53 to play. 
 
After forcing a three-and-out, Ripon rallied in the final four minutes to set up a 36-yard go-ahead field goal by Erik Flores (Yuma, Arz.) with 1:28 remaining. Flores drilled it down the middle to give the Red Hawks the lead, his seventh points of the game.

St. Norbert marched down field in the next 70 seconds, but linebacker Julian Herrerra (Denver, Colo.) broke up a potential first down pass at the 20 with seven seconds left. The defense flushed Green Knights quarterback Richie Gilles out of the pocket and out of bounds as time expired to secure the win.

After a scoreless first quarter, St. Norbert found the scoreboard first on a 19-yard Dan Simon field goal with 2:18 left in the half. Ripon answered as Flores made a 25-yard field goal with 19 seconds left to tie the game entering halftime.

Gilles connected with Austin Miller on a 12-yard touchdown pass with 9:28 left in the third quarter for the first touchdown of the game. Ripon evened the score, 10-10, with 5:19 left in the third on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Zibert to Kaipo Magsayo (Chandler, Ariz.). Flores' kick was good. A 54-yard pass to Cormac Madigan (Rosendale, Wis.) helped set up the touchdown. Madigan finished with 64 yards to lead Red Hawk receivers and was the leading rusher with 61 yards to finish with 125 yards total offense.

Zibert led Ripon with 175 yards on 16-of-26 passing and one touchdown. He threw two interceptions. Connor Ramage (Green Bay, Wis.) rushed four times for 54 yards.

Damean Netzler (Wautoma, Wis.) led Ripon's defense with eight tackles. Clay Ritschard (Argyle, Wis.) and Quincy DiLoreto (Madison, Wis.) each had seven stops. Dylan Ross (Scott AFB, Ill.) led the pass rush with two sacks and DiLoreto had one. Jake Davies (Brandon, Wis.) had one interception.

St. Norbert was led by Gilles' 154 yards on 13-of-24 passing. Zueleger led the Green Knights' running attack with 74 yards. 

Entering the game, Ripon was 11-32 all-time against St. Norbert.

Ripon (1-0) will host Knox College at Ingalls Field on Saturday, Sept. 10 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.