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RIPON, Wis. - The Red Hawks enter Saturday's game tied with Monmouth and St. Norbert atop the Midwest Conference standings, with a 3-0 league mark. Carroll stands just one game behind the "big three", and with a win on Saturday, can climb back into contention for a conference championship, making the stakes that much higher.
This weekend's game will be a test of wills. Ripon leads the league in rushing offense with 219.2 yards per game. Carroll on the other hand ranks first in the conference in rushing defense, allowing under 80 rushing yards per contest. The Pioneers have not allowed a rushing touchdown all season.
"Every team brings certain elements to the game that they do well and right now, Carroll has a very good rush defense," head football coach Ron Ernst said. "This will be an interesting challenge for our kids since we do run the ball extremely well. It will be a test of will to see who can get the job done, but we're certainly going to try to run the ball and we'll take what they give us."
Last week, Ripon rushed for a season-high 343 yards in a 48-17 win at Illinois College. They'll look to do more of the same this week, but after also passing for 173 last week, the Red Hawks may look to keep Carroll off balance. A big reason for the more balanced offense this year is the play of quarterback Tygh Walters, who currently leads the MWC in pass efficiency with a 239.8 rating. Walters has tossed nine touchdown passes this season, including four in last week's contest, and is yet to throw an interception through four games.
"It doesn't matter what Tygh's asked to do because he's been making good decisions on the field, which is the key to being a successful quarterback," Ernst said. "For the most part, he's made some decisions that have taken the team down the field and we hope to continue to do that."
Carroll's offense will look for some holes to run through on Saturday. The Pioneers rank third in the MWC in rushing yards, led by Bryce Crocker, who leads the conference with 436 yards and seven touchdowns. Crocker is averaging 5.8 yards per carry, and is also a receiving threat out of the backfield, catching 10 passes for 121 yards.
"Crocker is a very good back, who runs hard and is very quick, so he'll be someone that we'll have to keep an eye on," Ernst said. "He's gotten better each year and if we don't contain him, he will break off a run from anywhere, so that's something that we're a little concerned with."
The Pioneers lost to Monmouth 6-3 last week, in what was the first game of a tough four-game stretch that includes Ripon, Illinois College, and St. Norbert. The Red Hawk's schedule will only get tougher as the season goes on. After Carroll and Beloit, Ripon will battle Monmouth and St. Norbert in back-to-back weeks in what will likely determine the conference championship
"This week's game is a big one for a lot of reasons. It's a conference game and Carroll's a very good team," Ernst said. "We seem to improve every single week, no matter who the opponent is and it's important to continue to do that so we can seek out the goals that we've set this year."
There may be a little more energy in the air than usual at Ingalls Field on Saturday in what will be Ripon's 2007 Homecoming game. As much as some people would like to get caught up in the festivities of Homecoming week, the Red Hawks are focused on taking care of the task at hand.
"We want to treat Homecoming just like any other game. There may be a lot more alumni at the game than usual, which is nice to see, but we just want to keep our focus and do our job," Ernst said. "Everyone has things that they want to do during Homecoming week, but I've always felt that the football team's singular job is to just win the game. We don't want to worry about anything except winning, so hopefully, that's what we'll do on Saturday."
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