RIPON, Wis. - This Saturday's game between Monmouth and Ripon at Ingalls Field could be monumental in determining this year's Midwest Conference champion. Each team enters the game with identical 4-1 marks in the MWC, putting both schools in a three-way tie for second place with Carroll College.

Ripon's only conference loss came to Carroll two weeks ago, but after last week's 56-9 drubbing of Beloit College, their loss to the Pioneers should be erased from their memory by now. The Red Hawk's dominated Beloit, rushing for 528 yards, which ranks second in school history for a single game.

"We asked our kids to just focus on their own performance and don't worry about what Beloit is going to try to do, and our kids really responded well to that challenge," head football coach Ron Ernst said. "Our kids bounced back after a very tough loss and played like we expected them to, so it certainly makes this week easier at practice in the sense that now we can focus on all the things we need to do in order to keep winning."

The Ripon coaching staff is approaching this week's game much like last week, stressing to the players that it's more important to take care of business on their end than it is to worry about what Monmouth will try to do.

"Our coaches are asking the players to not even look at what Monmouth does, but be more concerned with their own performance and playing up to their capabilities. If they do that, we'll be alright," Ernst said. "As coaches, we do a good job of putting kids in position to adjust and make plays, but in the end, it all comes down to the players being able to be confident that they can get the job done."

In order to stop the Fighting Scots on Saturday, the Ripon defense must contain freshman quarterback Alex Tanney, who in his first year as a starting QB at the college level, has already experienced much success. Tanney has completed 63 percent of his passes, while tossing 11 touchdowns and a league-low two interceptions. Tanney's 1,601 passing yards ranks second in the Midwest Conference, while his pass efficiency of 135.4 ranks fourth.

"Right now, Tanney impresses me as much as any quarterback that we're going to face all year. He is a very good player and doesn't play like a freshman at all. Instead, he plays like an extremely experienced player," Ernst said. "We're going to try to do a lot of things and give him some different looks on defense and hopefully, our players will execute the things that we've talked about."

Monmouth's passing game will have its work cut out for them when they come to town. Ripon currently ranks second in the conference in pass defense, allowing 153 passing yards per game. Last week against Beloit, the Red Hawk defense held the Buccaneers to just three completions for 59 yards, while forcing three interceptions.

"Defensively, we're about where I thought we'd be at this point. We've played well so far, but there's always room for improvement and I would like to see us take another step in the right direction this Saturday," said Ernst.

Tanney isn't the only weapon the Red Hawks will have to worry about. Monmouth also has an excellent running game, despite losing Dante Daniels, who led the Midwest Conference in rushing last season. This year's starter, Jeff Davis, ranks fourth in the MWC in rushing, averaging 89.7 yards per contest, while also scoring six touchdowns.

"They've got a very good running game, with a great offensive line that has given a lot of teams trouble this year," Ernst said. "They also have a very athletic defense that will present a problem at times with the many different looks that they'll give us."

One thing is certain this weekend. Whomever comes out on top will have a realistic shot at a conference championship, while the loser will have to get a lot of help from a lot of different teams. The Red Hawks have lost the last four meetings with the Fighting Scots by an average of 15 points per game, but they'll hope to reverse that trend this weekend so that they can control their own destiny next week at conference leader St. Norbert, in hopes of achieving their goal of a conference championship.

"A lot of teams lost their chance at winning a championship after the second or third week of the season and I would like to think that that's why kids choose to play football at Ripon. We're always in a position to fight for a championship. Every year's unique and we've got to take this team and find what kind of personality they have and see what they can do down the stretch," said Ernst.