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RIPON, Wis. - Heading into their game against Carroll College, the Red Hawks had won five consecutive conference games. That streak came to an end Saturday afternoon, as the Pioneers defeated Ripon 28-26. Carroll had lost five of their previous six road contests, but were able to reverse that trend with the win at Ingalls Field, moving them into a third-place tie with the Red Hawks in the Midwest Conference standings.
"We played our worst game of the year," head football coach Ron Ernst said. "We didn't make good decisions and didn't tackle well, and this is what happens when you don't do those things."
Things started out a lot better than they ended, as Ripon (3-2, 3-1) struck first, scoring on a Tygh Walters one-yard plunge in the final minute of the first quarter. Carroll (3-2, 3-1) would tie things up on the subsequent drive, which went for 88 yards on 12 plays, culminating in a five-yard quarterback keeper by Chris Rogers. That tie would only last 13 seconds however, as Josh Kraemer showed how valuable special teams can be by returning the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a score, which ranks seventh in Ripon history for longest kickoff return in a game. The extra point was missed, which would haunt the Red Hawks later in the game. The lead continued to shift in the first half with three minutes remaining. That's when Carroll's Jon Singer found the end zone from six yards out, giving the Pioneers a 14-13 lead at the half.
Carroll added to that lead on their first drive of the second half. Chris Rogers found receiver Josh Gould for an eight yard score just three minutes into the third quarter, giving the Pioneers an eight point advantage. Facing their largest deficit in a conference game in five games, the Red Hawks refused to back down. Walters found John McGuire, who maneuvered his way through the defense for a 34 yard touchdown. The Red Hawks opted to go for two after missing that earlier extra point, but the two-point try was no good, keeping Carroll's lead at two.
Bryce Crocker extended that lead for the Pioneers on a two-yard plunge with four and a half minutes remaining, putting Carroll up by nine points. After a 20 yard touchdown run by Scott Perkins and extra point made the score 28-26 with five and a half minutes left in the game, Ripon looked to their defense for a stop. After one three-and-out by Carroll, Ripon got the ball back, but couldn't do anything with it, leading to a second straight three-and-out by the Pioneers. After the punt, the Red Hawks got the ball back at their own 24-yard line with just over one minute to play. They were able to go 33 yards, but it wasn't enough in what was Ripon's homecoming game.
"You just can't put yourself in those positions. We just didn't make good decisions at the end, and it cost us," Ernst said. "We just have to go back to work this week in practice. We have to improve our tackling, execution, and consistency, and we'll just go from there."
Ripon will try to get back in the win column next Saturday at Beloit College. Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. at Strong Stadium and can be seen live via webcast at www.midwestconference.tv.
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