RIPON, Wis. - Ripon College is in the midst of their first losing streak of the season, dropping their last two games, each by 10 points, at Monmouth and last week against St. Norbert. Even though a conference championship is out of reach now, the Red Hawks still have something to play for Saturday when they take the field against Grinnell.

"We've readjusted our goals after last week and we now hope to finish 7-3 and in second place in the conference. We have a lot of pride in our program and I think the kids will come out and play really well," said Head Coach Ron Ernst.

Whether they play well or not all hinges on how they go about stopping Grinnell quarterback Sean Pfalzer, whom is the only Midwest Conference quarterback that is ranked in the top 10 in both rushing (ninth) and passing (second). The senior has also thrown for 14 touchdowns, which is tied for second in the conference. Pfalzer currently leads the MWC in total offense, combining for 267 yards per game. If that weren't enough, Pfalzer also serves as the Pioneer's punter and kicker.

"Pfalzer is someone that is going to cause us a tremendous amount of concern if we don't contain him. He does everything. He's their leading rusher and passer and I think he may even sell popcorn at halftime. We've got to contain him and we can't let him get on the edges and run and do some things that cause us trouble," said Ernst.

What makes Pfalzer unique from other QB's in the Midwest Conference is that he doesn't rely on one area of his game in order to beat you. He has many weapons at his disposal.

"He is one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. He's not the best thrower or runner, but does both of those things very well," Ernst said. "Our conference is known for quarterbacks that are either passers or runners. There are very few that can do both and he's one of them.

With a record of 1-7, Grinnell wouldn't appear to be a threat, but with their offense, anything can happen. Ripon however, will counter with a defense that is one of the best in the Midwest Conference, allowing a league low 114 yards through the air.

"We're just going to do our thing. We've been playing great defensively for the past couple weeks and we just need to keep doing what we're doing and force them into mistakes," said Ernst.

These last two games of the season (Grinnell and Lawrence) are still as important as they were last week, when Ripon was in the thick of the conference race. With them now out of the running for a championship, they are still motivated to go into next season feeling good about themselves with a couple of victories.

"If we could finish with a better conference record than last year, when we finished fourth and were picked to finish fourth, that will springboard us into next year," said Ernst.