Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
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Turnovers
Time of Poss.
GRINNELL, Iowa — Jake Marshall won his first career game as the Ripon head football coach after the Red Hawks defeated Grinnell 31-12 on Saturday afternoon at Rosenbloom Field in the Midwest Conference opener for both teams.
After the first two drives of the game ended in punts, Ripon (1-1, 1-0 MWC) struck first as Connor Ramage scored his first touchdown of the season on a 1 yard plunge to give the Red Hawks an early lead.
After three consecutive possessions ended on turnover on downs – two by Grinnell (0-2, 0-1 MWC) and one by Ripon – senior quarterback Jarrett Zibert, on his only pass of the day, found Alex Mosqueda for a 29 yard touchdown strike to double Ripon's lead to 14-0.
The Pioneers would not go away, however, as a 1 yard touchdown run on the next drive brought Grinnell within eight at 14-6 after the missed point-after attempt.
After the teams traded punts at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, Ripon added to its lead after Erik Flores connected on a 25 yard field goal attempt following a 10 play, 57 yard drive that chewed up nearly six minutes on the clock.
The next possession, however, brought Grinnell within one score again after a 8 play, 65 yard drive resulted in a 13 yard touchdown pass. Once again, the extra point was missed and Ripon led 17-12 with 3:19 remaining in the third quarter.
As they did all day, the Red Hawks had an answer once again. Sophomore quarterback Jack Berens rushed for an 11 yard touchdown to give Ripon a 24-12 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Berens went 16-28 for 221 yards with one touchdown and one interception on the afternoon. He added 7 carries for 60 yards and another score.
To round out the scoring and to produce the only points of the fourth quarter, Berens found Mosqueda for a 63 yard touchdown pass which put the game away.
Mosquda had a monster day receiving, hauling in 8 catches for a career-high 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns – also a single-game career-high.
Ramage led the ground attack for Ripon with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Jaden Shackelford had 11 tackles while Clay Ritschard chipped in 10 to pace Ripon. Jake Davies added an interception for the Ripon defense.
NEXT UP: Ripon hosts its home opener next Saturday (September 16) against Illinois College at Ingalls Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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