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Red Hawks Look Forward To Challenge In '07
The 2006 Ripon College football season brought many record-breaking performances and the Red Hawk's best conference finish in five years, finishing tied for second with a 7-2 mark. It was a season that saw them win their first five conference contests for the first time in a decade, while also rushing for 2,506 yards, which ranks second for a single season in school history. Their 7-3 overall record was their best since 2002. All of this begs the question, what can the Red Hawks do for an encore?
"I'm excited and optimistic about this season because I think there's reason to be. We have some very good kids coming back and I'm excited about this year's incoming freshmen," head football coach Ron Ernst said. "A lot will depend on how hard the kids have worked out during the summer and how they've prepared themselves both physically and mentally. We had good workouts in the spring, but the last three months they've been home and on their own. I believe that if they've done what they've needed to do, then we will be a pretty solid team this season."
The most glaring thing missing from this year's team will be at the most important position on the field. Quarterback Bob Faulds was lost to graduation, after a stellar career, in which he splattered his name across the Ripon career record book, finishing in the top ten in seven offensive categories.
"Bob was a great leader and a tremendous player who ran our offense very well during his four years here. When you lose that kind of leadership, it's going to be tough to replace, but as with any position, when you lose good kids, you have to replace them with other good kids," said Ernst.
Quarterbacks
The quarterback position will be one of the more open competitions during the preseason practices, as Ripon returns just one signal caller, Junior Tygh Walters (West Bend, Wis./West), from last year's team.
"Tygh is an excellent quarterback and has certainly paid his dues and waited in the wings. He has worked extremely hard to get to this point and is an excellent leader," said Ernst.
Walters may have an advantage, having already studied this offense for two years at the collegiate level, but that doesn't mean he's got the starter's job locked up.
"Our program has never taken kids who have been on the team one year and automatically given them a spot the following season. This position is probably more wide open than any other, simply because Faulds has been there for the past four years," said Ernst.
Walters will compete for the starting job with four incoming freshmen, who were each recruited because they fit Ripon's offensive philosophy. They will all likely will push each other to become better players.
"We have recruited a group of freshmen quarterbacks who have option experience and have run this type of offense in one degree or another in high school. This is going to be a real position battle and the starting job will go to the young man who makes plays, executes, and makes the fewest mistakes," said Ernst.
Fullbacks
A key component to the slot bone offense that the Red Hawks run is the fullback. Lucky for the Red Hawks fullback appears to be the strongest position on the team, in terms of both depth and talent. Scott Perkins (Jr., Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago), Bill Olm (Sr., Ripon, Wis./Ripon), and Jon Larsen (Jr., West Bend, Wis./West), all return from last season. The trio rushed for 965 yards and ten touchdowns last season. They will be joined by Tyler Ruppert (So., Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville), who missed last season with a knee injury, as well as several freshmen, who will be vying for some playing time.
"Perkins got a little more game experience last year as the starter, before getting hurt late in the season, but Larsen and Olm then came in and did an excellent job, never really missing a beat," said Ernst. "Ruppert had a setback last year with his injury, but has shown tremendous potential and talent when he's healthy."
Running Back
The Red Hawks will also return all the key contributors at running back. The stable of backs include seniors John McGuire (Algoma, Wis./Algoma) and Matt Birschbach (Fond du Lac, Wis./St. Mary's Springs) and sophomore Andrew Fink (Juneau, Wis./Hustisford).
McGuire and Birschbach carried the load last season, combining for 715 yards and six touchdowns. That will likely be the case again this year, as they are the most experienced running backs returning.
"Our running backs are much like our fullbacks in that we have several different players with tremendous experience. We return our main core of running backs from last season when we had tremendous talent and success," Ernst said.
Wide Receiver
Ted Bartels (Jr., Wabeno, Wis./Wabeno) and Brian Felix (Jr., Marengo, Ill./Marengo) will likely fill the starting wide out positions, as they each started every game in 2006. The Red Hawks lost only one receiver from last year's squad, Matt Hartman, to graduation. Robert Bergfeld (Jr., Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) and Bob Wood (Jr., Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington) will also contribute at receiver. Wood, who also runs track at Ripon, missed all of last year with an injury, but could possibly open up the offense a bit more with his speed.
"Ted Bartels and Brian Felix will be reliable once again, and Bergfeld is going to challenge for some playing time. Wood will be healthy this year, so we're going to have some real burners at receiver," Ernst said.
Offensive Line
Other than quarterback, the offensive line may have the most question marks surrounding it, after losing the entire right side (Mike Louison and Rob Perkins) to graduation.
"I think those are going to be two key spots that we'll have to replace this season because we want to run the ball a lot, and to do that, we've got to have offensive linemen who are going to get the job done," Ernst said.
As uncertain as things are on the right side of the line, the left side will be solidified by three veterans. Senior Mike Strelow (Appleton, Wis./North) will be the anchor at left tackle. He will be joined by guard Trevor Wirth (Jr., Verona, Wis./Middleton) and center Mark Leupold (Jr., Maribel, Wis./Denmark).
"The three players we have returning on the offensive line are all very good players," said Ernst. "We also have some very good freshmen coming in that could challenge for a starting spot, as well as some talented kids who are returning that have been waiting for a chance to play, so it's going to be a good battle in camp."
Defensive Line
The trenches were also decimated on the defensive side of the ball, where just one of the three starters is returning. Senior Kris Raisleger (Kewaunee, Wis./Kewaunee) will be looked upon as one of the leaders on both the defense and the team. After a season that saw him lead the team with six tackles for a loss, to go along with one and a half sacks, Raisleger will be looked upon even more to be the glue that holds the defense together up front.
"Raisleger is the leader on that defensive line. He's a kid that we're going to have to hang our hat on and may not be able to take him off the field very often," Ernst said.
The other two spots on the defensive line will be determined by who shows the most in the preseason practices. There are several returning players that could get the nod, as well as any number of incoming freshmen.
"Paul Braun (So., Mayville, Wis./Mayville), Ray Anderson (So., Fox River Grove, Ill./Cary-Grove), and Nick Damico (Jr., Germantown, Wis./Germantown) are a few players that we'll have to rely on a little more this season," said Ernst. "When these young kids get a little better and get more experience, we're going to have a pretty solid group up front."
Linebackers
One of the more unexpected storylines of last season was the play of linebacker Mike Krause (So., Spencer, Wis./Spencer), who as a freshman, led the team in tackles with 68, including four for a loss. He will be at the center of the defense again this year at the middle linebacker spot, hoping for repeat success.
"You never know how a freshman is going to make the transition from high school to college, and Mike did an excellent job of doing just that," said Ernst. "He learned the position and got better every single week. He's a young man that we're going to have to depend upon on the defensive side of the ball."
Nick Little (Sr., Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) also returns at linebacker, while the other linebacker position is open entering the season, due to the departure of Eric Saari to graduation.
"It will be interesting to see who emerges as our third linebacker because we have more kids in our program that want to play that position than any other, so there will be a lot of kids challenging for a starting spot," Ernst said.
Defensive Backs
Arguably the most talented and biggest play making position is at defensive back, where the Red Hawks return four all-conference players. Seniors Chris Kellett (Neenah, Wis./Neenah) and Danny Murphy (Hollandale, Wis./Pecatonica) will be joined by juniors Vince Spratte (Waukesha, Wis./West) and Joshua Kraemer (Waukesha, Wis./West) to form a core of defensive backs that rivals anyone in the conference or region. The quintet combined for 14 interceptions, five sacks, and five forced fumbles last season.
"All four of those players are play makers and they are always in different positions to make a play. We ask them to do different kinds of things and put them into good spots to make something happen. They all have tremendous football instincts," Ernst said.
As the case usually is though, success breeds expectations, which have been set to a higher standard by the Red Hawk coaching staff this year.
"I was very proud of the way the secondary played last year, but because of that, I have higher expectations for them going into this season, and I expect more out of them," said Ernst. "Hopefully they'll notice that and rise to the occasion and perform even better."
Special Teams
One of the most underrated things about football often is field position, which is provided by the special teams. The Red Hawks will have an open competition for kicking duties this season and in the end will choose the right player for each situation.
"We're going to look at who handles those duties the best and develop our schemes around those players. We've got some kids that can get the job done and want that responsibility, so I feel pretty good about it," said Ernst. "We're going to find the right guy for kickoffs, field goals, and punting. If it's one guy, great, but if it's three different people, that's fine too."
The one thing that's certain about this unit is that Joshua Kraemer will be returning kicks and once again trying to put the 'special' in special teams. Last season, Kraemer led the nation in punt returns, with an average of 17.4 yards per return, to go along with a 22.8 return average on kick returns.
"It will be interesting to see how people kick to him and whether or not they'll give him a chance to touch the ball on returns," said Ernst. "He did a great job last year, thanks in part to the people blocking for him, but Josh did a heck of a job. He's a very talented athlete and we're certainly going to have him back there again."
Schedule
This year's schedule is the same as last year's, except home and away sites are reversed. One thing that the Red Hawks hope isn't the same is the way they start the season. Last year, a young Red Hawks team took it on the chin, losing 57-0 at UW-Oshkosh.
"We were very inexperienced to open the season last year and quite frankly, we got shellacked. We played very well for one half, then the wheels came off in the second half," said Ernst.
This year, it will be UW-Oshkosh's turn to experience Ripon's brand of home cooking, as the two teams will do battle at Ingalls Field in Ripon on September 1, in what will be the season opener for both teams.
"It's one game out of ten, just like any other game," Ernst said. "The thing that hurt us last year is that we didn't play well for four quarters and we have to learn from that, which I think we did. Game number one is the starting point, but I'm looking for our team to play better because of the experience we now have."
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