RIPON, Wisconsin — Celebrating the official grand opening of the brand new Hopp Stadium, the Ripon football program forced 6 turnovers and shut out the defending Midwest Conference champions Lake Forest 12-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Ripon (3-4, 3-3 MWC) held Lake Forest (6-1, 5-1 MWC) to its first game without a rushing touchdown all season. Through the air, the Foresters had their second-lowest passing yard total on the season as the Red Hawks forced 3 fumbles and 3 interceptions for its highest single-game takeaway total since forcing 8 turnovers against Grinnell on September 29, 2018.
The star of the show on Saturday was the defensive unit, pitching its first shutout since November 12 of last year against Lawrence. Jaden Shackelford had a career-high 13 tackles with 2 tackles-for-loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Clay Ritschard was also in double-digits, tallying 10 tackles with a sack and a forced fumble.
Four different Lake Forest possessions ended in Ripon territory without points thanks to three interceptions, two turnovers on down, a muffed punt and two forced fumbles.
Lake Forest had six drives in the first half, punting twice, turning the ball over on downs twice and getting intercepted twice. After the first turnover on downs for LFC, Ripon drove 8 plays in 48 yards and settled for a successful 30-yard field goal attempt by Erik Flores to pull ahead 3-0 midway through the first quarter.
Following the field goal, Lake Forest drove into Ripon territory but Wes Schneider collected his first interception of the season to get Ripon the ball back. The offense was slow going for both teams in the first half, as five Red Hawk possessions ended in a punt and Ripon took a 3-0 lead into the locker room.
Coming out of the locker room, Lake Forest started on offense and once again drove into Ripon territory before Fletcher Dallas picked off his first pass of the season. After the Red Hawks couldn't take advantage of the second Stewart interception and punted, AJ Jackson muffed the ensuing punt and Deven Soerens recovered it at the Lake Forest 32 to put Ripon in business again.
The offense didn't waste the short field, as a 5-play, 32-yard drive wrapped up with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jack Berens to DeMarcus Conner. Though the extra point was blocked, Ripon led 9-0 with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter.
For the third consecutive possession, Lake Forest coughed the ball up as Shackelford forced a Jayce Knutsen fumble after LFC was deep into Ripon territory. Ripon turned the takeaway into points once again, as Flores nailed a 48-yard field goal to extend the lead to 12-0.
Ripon would force one more turnover in the game, as Ritschard sacked Stewart and stripped the ball, which was recovered by Zane Vetter to effectively put the game away.
Facing a Lake Forest defense that came into the day leading every Division III school in the country in scoring (2.2 points per game given up), the Ripon offense was up to the challenge. Berens completed 10 of 24 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown and an interception. Though the running game was bottled up to the tune of 65 yards on 35 carries, Ripon found success through the air as Alex Mosqueda had 3 catches for 63 yards. Connor Ramage caught 3 balls for 13 yards, while Conner hauled in 2 passes for 18 yards.
Lake Forest was led by quarterback Tre Stewart who went 18-35 for 214 yards and 3 interceptions. AJ Jackson was his favorite target, racking up 7 catches for 110 yards.
NEXT UP: Ripon plays its final home game of the season next Saturday (October 28) as the Red Hawks take on Monmouth. Kickoff from Hopp Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
FOLLOW: Follow Ripon College Red Hawks Athletics on Facebook and @RiponRedHawks on Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to riponredhawks.com for all information, releases and schedules.
Football Stuns Lake Forest in Hopp Stadium Grand Opening
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231021_v636.xml
2023
Lake Forest
0
Ripon
12
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Forest (6-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ripon (3-4) | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 12 |
Oct 21, 2023