Ripon College Red Hawks (1-6, 0-3 MWC North)
at Beloit College Buccaneers (2-5, 0-3 MWC North)
Saturday, November 1, 2014, 1:00 p.m.
Strong Stadium, Beloit, Wisconsin
The Bucs play their 2014 home finale as they take on Ripon College for the 100th time. Beloit is coming off a 29-14 loss at St. Norbert College, their fourth straight setback. The Red Hawks are looking to snap a five-game losing streak after last Saturday's 48-14 home defeat at the hands of Carroll University.
The Series: The Buccaneers and Red Hawks are meeting for the 100th time, the most-played series on the Beloit books and one of the most-played series in Wisconsin collegiate football. RC leads the series 66-29 with four ties. The Red Hawks have won 12 of the last 13, with the lone Beloit win in that streak coming in 2005 (28-22 in Beloit). The programs first met in the second game of the 1893 season, a 22-0 Beloit win. The Bucs won the first six meetings, including back-to-back games during the 1895 season, before Ripon got their first series victory in 1906, 4-0. Included in the first six Buccaneer victories were scores of 82-0 (1895) and 78-0 (1900). The 82-0 win ranks as the second-largest margin of victory in Beloit history while the 78-0 victory is #3. (#1 is a 115-0 win over DeKalb in 1913.)
Most Recent Game: For the second straight week the third quarter was the downfall for the Beloit College Football team in a 29-14 loss at St. Norbert College last Saturday. The Green Knights scored 13 third-quarter points to turn a 7-0 halftime advantage into a 20-0 lead. SNC had the lone score of the opening half at the 6:35 mark of the first quarter on a short run and made it stand up for a 7-0 lead at the break. The Green Knights then got a pair of TD runs - at 9:03 and 3:10 - in the third quarter and added two field goals at 12:06 and 7:42 of the fourth quarter to build their advantage to 26-0. Beloit got on the board at 6:10 of the final quarter on Mason Dixon's 57-yard scoring run. After another St. Norbert field goal at the 2:03 mark Michael Nolden caught a five-yard pass from Even Phillips with 34 seconds remaining to close out the scoring. Dixon finished with 135 yards on the ground on 20 carries while Phillips threw for 153. Kam Sallee caught seven passes for 105 yards to lead the receiving corps. On defense Riley Pearson had 12 tackles, eight solo, while Derell Carter made 10 tackles with a half a sack. David Lafayette and Daniel Quijas each made nine tackles, Quijas with half a sack and an interception. Alan Ham record two sacks and Antonio Jones and interception.
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Red Hawks: Beloit fell behind in the first half and couldn't make up the deficit in a 40-14 Midwest Conference loss at Ripon College on October 26, 2013. The Red Hawks scored the lone TD of the opening quarter on a 12-yard run by Stephen Covalt but missed the point-after to lead 6-0 through one. They tacked on three scores in the second quarter – a three-yard run by Covalt, an eight-yard run by Connor Greenwal, and a 27-yard pass from Covalt to Nathan Kuehl - to build their lead to 26-0 at the break. They then added the only score of the third quarter on a 21-yard scoring pass from Covalt to Nathan Silloway to lead 33-0 heading to the fourth. Beloit got on the board 36 seconds into the final quarter when Kam Sallee hit Michael Nolden with a 16-yard TD pass. After RC got their final score on a five-yard run by Tony Klock three minutes later, Mason Dixon closed out the scoring with 10:49 remaining on a 74-yard run, the longest of his short career. Dixon finished with 148 yards on the ground on 20 carries to top the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Sallee had 86 yards rushing on nine carries and passed for 64. Lukeson Versulien caught two passes for 60 yards, including a 35-yard reception, and finished with 116 all-purpose yards. Covalt finished with 160 yards rushing while completing two passes for 48 yards. Eric Langman addede 69 yards rushing and Greenwal 57 as Ripon ran for 401 yards on the day. Defensively, Riley Pearson had 18 tackles, six solo, tying for the fourth-most in Beloit history. His 12 tackle assists tied for the third-most, the fifth time that's been accomplished. Derell Carter added nine tackles and Mat Kahl eight. Andy Krueger made 11 tackles and Nick Weiss 10 to lead the Red Hawk defense. Krueger also had 1.5 sacks.
Senior Send-Off: Four Buccaneer defensive starters will play their final game at Strong Stadium on Saturday as Beloit closes the home portion of its schedule. DE Derell Carter, DT Alan Ham, DB Tyler Coleman and DE Jake Fisher have combined for nearly 650 tackles, 34 sacks and six interceptions in their four seasons, including 150 tackles, 16 sacks and two picks this season.
Notes: RB Mason Dixon jumped over 2,000 career rushing yards last Saturday with his 135-yard effort. He is the eighth Buccaneer to surpass the milestone…WR Michael Nolden went over the 700-yard career receiving mark with his five catches for 31 yards at St. Norbert…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit hits the road for its final regular season game, playing at Carroll University in Waukesha on November 8 at 1:00 p.m. They then wait for word on their November 15 opponent and destination for MWC Championship Day.