RIPON, Wisconsin — The Ripon football program finished strong on both sides of the ball to defeat Knox 24-17 on Saturday night at Hopp Stadium, securing a victory on Homecoming in the Red Hawks' first-ever night game at their on-campus facility.
After Knox (2-3, 1-3 MWC) scored with under three minutes left to come within 24-17 of Ripon (2-3, 2-2 MWC), the Prairie Fire recovered their onside kick and were in business near midfield with three timeouts, the two-minute timeout and 2:36 on the clock. However, the Prairie Fire's second play of the drive was intercepted by the Red Hawks' Zane Vetter, giving Ripon the ball back and allowing the offense to salt away the remainder of the clock.
Following back-to-back punts to open the game on both sides, Ripon chewed off over seven minutes of clock on its second possession of the game. The drive was capped off with a three-yard touchdown run on fourth down by Cason Boudwine, and the Red Hawks were on the board.
Knox threatened at the beginning of the second quarter, driving down inside the Ripon red zone. However, Andy Ferrer forced and recovered a fumble inside the 15, thwarting the opposition's rally. Following a string of three more punts, Knox turned a short field (its drive started at the Ripon 23-yard line after a Red Hawks' punt) into points, as Jadon Grossnickle connected on a field goal from 26 yards out and Ripon led 7-3 with 2:28 left until half.
Ripon made its final drive of the half count, racing down the field in seven plays. Quarterback Jack Berens rushed into the end zone from four yards out, putting Ripon in front 14-3 at halftime.
The Prairie Fire refused to go away and scored on their second drive of the second half with a one-yard touchdown plunge. Ripon responded quickly, and on the ensuing possession, Berens found Parker Campana for a 35-yard touchdown strike on a 3rd and 20 to make it 21-10 Ripon.
Ripon continued to score points after that, forcing a Knox punt and driving down inside the Prairie Fire 5. The Red Hawks settled for a successful 21-yard field goal by Ben Crock, making it a 24-10 game with six minutes to go.
The Prairie Fire went to work quickly, using a no-huddle, spread attack on its next drive. Izayiah Hawes rushed in from one yard out after Knox converted four first downs on the drive to make it 24-17.
After the onside kick and interception, Knox still had all three timeouts left, plus the two-minute timeout. However, four consecutive rushes by Connor Ramage – and two first-down conversions – sealed the victory, Ripon's second at home in as many tries this season.
Berens was 9-of-16 for 191 yards and a score through the air, while Campana (2 catches, 72 yards, 1 touchdown), Seth Bruzon (2 catches, 67 yards) and Alex Mosqueda (4 catches, 41 yards) were his top targets. On the ground, Ramage had a game-high 13 carries for 71 yards.
Defensively, Clay Ritschard had a game-high 12 tackles, while Gavin Engh had a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Ripon had a 17-12 advantage in first downs, and a 191-66 edge in yards through the air. The Red Hawks amassed 327 yards of total offense, allowing just 203 – a season-low. Against the triple-option attack, the Red Hawks controlled time of possession (33:15 to 26:45) and converted 6-of-14 third downs, along with both of their fourth down attempts.
NEXT UP: Ripon hosts the University of Chicago next Saturday (October 19) at 1 p.m. to finish its two-game homestand.
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