RIPON, Wis. – In front of an electrifying atmosphere with the stands fully packed, the Ripon College football team played a rare night game at Ingalls Field on Saturday. They did not send the Ripon faithful home disappointed, defeating Augsburg University 46-38 to earn their first season opening win in six years. That also marks Ripon's first-ever win against Augsburg, who had won the first two meetings in the series.
The two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense, with Ripon out-gaining the Auggies 570-432. Although Ripon's yardage was nearly identical through the air and on the ground, it was in the latter that Ripon made its mark on this night. Playing in his first career college game, freshman running back Connor Ramage rumbled for 226 yards on 36 carries (6.3 ypc), to go along with six rushing touchdowns, which ties a school record set by Cormac Madigan three years ago. His yardage output also ranks 10th in program history for a single game.
"Connor had a very good night, but he'd be the first to tell you that those big guys up front blocking for him did a really good job," Ripon Head Football Coach Ron Ernst said. "Connor did a great job and he's going to have a great career at Ripon College, but that offensive line also deserves a tremendous amount of credit."
Ramage and the Red Hawks (1-0) got the scoring started mid-way through the first quarter when he ran 16 yards for his first career touchdown. He would add a five yard score later in the quarter before Augsburg (0-1) got on the board with a three-yard touchdown pass from Cade Sheehan to Dominic Smith. After a 23-yard field goal by Erik Flores gave the Red Hawks a 16-6 lead, Augsburg closed the gap with four minutes left in the half when Sheehan connected with Josiah Ferguson on an 18-yard score. Ramage would give Ripon some breathing room in the final minute of the first half, scoring from eight yards out to record the hat trick and give Ripon a 23-12 halftime lead.
Augsburg would take the opening drive of the second half in for a score, as Sheehan threw his third TD of the contest, this time a four-yarder to Braden Tretter to cut Ripon's lead to five. As he did all day, Ramage had an answer, crossing the goal line for a fourth time from 18 yards out mid-way through the third period. After Augsburg returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a score, the Augies would take their first lead of the game on their next possession, which resulted in a five-yard touchdown pass from Sheehan to Ferguson.
"I told our players before the game that there'd be some things that went wrong during the course of the game, but this team didn't fold," Ernst said. "We continued to come right back at Augsburg and kept supporting each other. I was really happy with the way our team stuck together for 60 minutes and the attitude they all had during the game."
Ramage would cap off Ripon's ensuing possession with a six-yard TD run to give Ripon the lead again, before scoring for a sixth time in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, giving the Red Hawks a 43-31 advantage. Flores connected on a second field goal later in the period from 27 yards out to give Ripon even more breathing room. Augsburg would score a late touchdown, but it was not enough as Ripon held on for the victory.
In addition to Ramage's outstanding performance, Kaipo Magsayo also impressed, leading all Ripon receivers with 10 catches for 130 yards. Madigan completed 9-of-12 passes for 108 yards before giving way to Jarrett Zibert, who was also efficient by completing 11-of-19 passes for 169 yards. Those two quarterbacks also combined for 65 yards rushing on 12 carries.
"Cormac is our guy, but Jarrett deserves a tremendous amount of credit for being prepared for this opportunity," Ernst said. "I knew his opportunity would come eventually, but I didn't know it would happen in the first game of the season and he was up to the challenge."
Defensively, Ripon was led by Zach Bunders' eight tackles, including one for a loss, to go along with an interception. Seth Lane and Devin Smith also each intercepted a pass, with Smith's essentially ending the game in the final seconds. Dylon Ross, Quincy DiLoreto, Desmond Murphy, and Paxton Walker each had a part in a sack for the Red Hawks.
Sheehan completed 28-of-47 passes for Augsburg, racking up 393 yards and five touchdowns through the air. His top receiver was Smith, who caught 13 passes for 212 yards and one score. The Auggie defense was led by Leban Kahin's 10 tackles.
The Red Hawks will be in action again next weekend when they'll open Midwest Conference play at Knox College on Saturday at 1 p.m in Galesburg, Ill. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.
"I'm excited to start conference play next week," Ernst said. "We need to work on the things we need to improve on in order to get better because I think this team has a lot of upside this season."
Ripon Wins Season Opener Behind Ramage's Historic Debut
/seasons/2021/boxscores/20210904_5v0s.xml
2021
Augsburg
38
Ripon
46
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augsburg (0-1) | 0 | 12 | 19 | 7 | 38 |
| Ripon (1-0) | 13 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 46 |
Sep 06, 2021