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RIPON, Wis. - Knox and Ripon enter Saturday's game in Galesburg, Ill. having experienced different results last weekend, in their first conference game of 2008. The Prairie Fire lost 62-27 to Illinois College, which means they'll be trying their hardest to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole. The Red Hawks meanwhile, handled Lake Forest easily,
14-3, meaning they'll want to continue that momentum and remain at the top of the Midwest Conference standings.
The Red Hawks have dominated the series between these two schools, winning 34 of the 39 meetings. Last season, Ripon got off to a quick start, scoring 22 points in the first quarter, en route to a 28-10 victory over the Prairie Fire at Ingalls Field. This year, Knox will look to make it more competitive at the renovated Knox Bowl.
"They run the ball a lot like our offense does and neither team throws the ball a lot," said head football coach Ron Ernst. "They run the triple read option better than what they did last year and they're a much improved team. Much like any option team, the only thing stopping them has been themselves."
The thing that has hurt Knox the most early in the season has been turnovers. Last week, their flexbone offense scored four touchdowns, but also turned the ball over five times, leading to several Illinois College points. Just like Ripon's offense, Knox has a high-powered rushing attack that is meant to put points on the board. So far, that plan has worked, scoring eight touchdowns through two games. The Red Hawks hope to slow that attack down on Saturday, and may have the inside track, having seen that same offense day in and day out in practice this year.
"We see it and are used to the game speed of it," said Ernst. "We have a good understanding of our responsibilities and we have a good idea of what we need to do to slow it down. It's just a matter of going out there and executing."
The Ripon defense has been dominant at times this season, no matter what type of offense they've faced. Last week's win against Lake Forest was the first time in 65 games that Ripon did not allow a touchdown. They held the Foresters to 173 total yards, a week after allowing 248 total yards to UW-Oshkosh in a one-point loss.
"We're playing pretty well right now. The second half against Lake Forest especially, we came out and showed what we're capable of. We have good team speed and I think our we are playing inspired football right now," said Ernst. "We're being a little less complex than we have in the past, which is allowing our team to play better."
With the toughest part of Ripon's schedule yet to come, it may be easy for some teams in that situation to overlook the early part of the schedule, but that is not the case for the Red Hawks, who remain focused on the task at hand.
"One thing I've been happy with about our team is that they always stay focused on the team in front of them. They understand that Knox is very capable of beating us if we don't go down there and play to the best of our ability," said Ernst. "Any team can beat any other team on any given day. We fear no one, but respect everyone and it's important to go down there with that idea, which is what our players are going to do."
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