October 29, 2008

Week 9 Game Notes

RIPON, Wis. - The last two times Ripon met Grinnell on the gridiron, the Red Hawks rolled up a combined 1,117 total yards, with 995 yards coming on the ground. Both of those rushing performances rank in the top four in school history for most rushing yards in a single game. Saturday, they'll try to run over Grinnell again in a series that has been dominated by the Red Hawks, who have won 34 of the 41 games between the two.

The Red Hawk's rushing numbers are the lowest they've been in four years, but they still lead the Midwest Conference with an average of 247.4 rushing yards. That doesn't bode well for a Grinnell team that is eighth against the run, allowing a shade under 200 yards per game, while also giving up 381 yards of total offense and a league-worst 34.4 points per game.

"We're a running team, so that's what we're going to do," head coach Ron Ernst said. "We've been very efficient running the ball lately and our players have done an excellent job at executing the game plan."

Ripon is coming off their best rushing performance of the season, which saw them gain 348 yards on the ground in last week's 19-7 win against St. Norbert, who is the final team with a winning record on Ripon's 2008 schedule. This week, Grinnell brings a 2-5 conference record into the game, which is twice as many conference wins as they had a year ago.

"They've improved a lot and they have a new coaching staff, so the team has a new way of doing things," Ernst said. "Sometimes a change in procedures can rejuvenate some people. They've done a great job and certainly can come here and give us trouble if we do not play up to our ability."

Grinnell will try to contain Ripon's rushing attack with the help of linebacker Brett Maloney, who has been flying all over the field and leads all of Division III in tackles with 131 (16.4 per game). He has reached the 20-tackle plateau in four of Grinnell's eight games.

"He's a good athlete, so we'll have to block him well to get the job done," Ernst said. "I've never been real worried about what other team's players are going to do. I'm more concerned about how we perform and our focus will be to play better this week than we did in our last game."

The Pioneers have installed a spread offense this season, which has helped increase their scoring by nearly two points per game. They have scored at least 21 points in three games, which were all won by the Pioneers.

"They want to put the ball in their quarterback's hands and let him make some decisions back there and they'll try to do a lot of different things both running and passing the ball, so we'll just have to be ready for them," said Ernst.

Taking the snaps will be freshman Mike Bogard, who has experienced some success in his first season of collegiate ball. The Brookfield, Wis. native is ninth in the MWC with 56 rushing yards per game, to go along with five rushing touchdowns. He is also fifth in the MWC with 143.8 yards through the air and has thrown four touchdowns on the year.

"He impresses me on film as someone who makes good decisions and if you don't account for him, he will hurt you," Ernst said. "We're certainly going to focus on him and try to take away the things that he does well."

In order to stop Bogard and the Grinnell offense, Ripon will rely heavily on their secondary, which has been getting the job done all season. The Red Hawks have intercepted 15 passes, which is third in the MWC. Nine of those interceptions have come from two players, seniors Chris Kellett and Joshua Kraemer. That duo has combined for more interceptions than four teams in the conference. Kellett's five INTs have moved him into ninth place on Ripon's all-time list, while Kraemer's four picks give him 14 for his career, ranking him sixth in school history.

"They're both smart football players and they do a nice job of disguising what their intentions are," Ernst said. "The key to playing defensive back is giving a quarterback one look, but doing something different, which is something our players do extremely well."

With a win, Ripon would be assured of their third consecutive seven-win season. Should the Red Hawks win both of their remaining games, they would have eight wins in a season for the first time since 2001.

"All coaches want to see their team improve each year," Ernst said. "We would certainly like to have the
UW-Oshkosh and Monmouth games back and have an opportunity to play them again, but if we can finish the season with seven or eight wins, I'd feel pretty good about where we're at as a team and it would be a good springboard for us going into next season."