RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's much anticipated 2006 season debut was spoiled last week at the hands of a very good UW-Oshkosh team. The Titans downed the Red Hawks 57-0 in Oshkosh as they used a 40 point explosion in the second half to put the game away.

The good news for the Red Hawks is that they have a clean slate to work with this week, as they'll play their conference opener against Lake Forest. Even though last week's loss was tough to swallow, that doesn't mean Ripon wants to put it out of their mind completely.

"I don't want us to forget about last week's game because I want us to take what happened and learn from it, so we can get better because of it," head coach Ron Ernst said. "That game was certainly one that we can take a lot out of and learn from what we did and didn't do."

At first glance, the score may look like the Red Hawks didn't get anything going all day. However, even in a blowout, they were able to recognize some things they did well, including moving the ball down the field at times, especially during the first half.

"There's something positive that can be taken out of any situation and this is no different," Ernst said. "There are some things that we did well and some things we didn't do so well, but by learning the things we didn't do so well, and changing them, we can become a better football team and that's exactly what we're going to do."

Now that Ripon's got their annual non-conference contest out of the way, they can get down to business by focusing on their Midwest Conference opponents. The first team in their path will be the Foresters of Lake Forest, who also lost their season opener last week, 21-6 at Washington University (MO). When the Foresters play the Red Hawks though, records don't really matter, as the two teams always play each other tough.

"We've always had good games with Lake Forest and the games are always hard fought battles," Ernst said. “They're coming off a tough loss last week, just like us, so it's basically a new season for both teams.�

During last year's game, also at Ripon, the Red Hawks did what they do best... run the football. Ripon carried the ball 71 times for 317 yards in a 21-14 victory. All three Red Hawk scores came via the running game. Bob Faulds ran for two scores, while Collin West ran for the other. In all, Ripon compiled 458 yards in the game, compared to 257 for the Foresters. With all that said, 2005 doesn't mean much in 2006.

"Last year's game was just that, with last year's players. This year is a brand new season," said Ernst.

Although it is a new season, there is one constant that will hold true and carry over from last year into Saturday's game. That is the Red Hawk's offensive philosophy, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that has followed the Ripon football team over the past few years.

It's no secret that we're going to try to run the ball. We're going to put the ball in the hands of (John) McGuire and (Bob) Faulds and whomever else is on the field," Ernst said. "We did a great job of moving the ball last year and hopefully we'll have the same result this season."

With all 10 Midwest Conference schools opening up conference play this weekend, a win is crucial for every team as they all jockey for position in the MWC's early season standings. A loss this Saturday, while not guaranteeing less than a conference championship, will put any team in an early season hole.

"It would be huge to win this first conference game. Our first priority is to win conference and nobody wants to be in a situation early in the season where they'll have to climb out of the cellar because of early losses," Ernst said. "These are games that we've got to win and we're looking forward to improving from week one to week two and if we do, we'll be fine."