Beloit College Buccaneers (2-5, 1-2 MWC North)
at Ripon College Red Hawks (4-3, 1-2 MWC North)
Saturday, October 31, 2015, 1:00 p.m.
Ingalls Field, Ripon, Wisconsin
The Buccaneers look to snap a four-game drought as they hit the road for the final time this season with an MWC North match-up at Ripon. The Bucs fell to North Division-leader St. Norbert College 33-0 at Strong Stadium last Saturday while the Red Hawks dropped a 15-6 decision at Carroll University, their second straight loss…
The Series: The Buccaneers and Red Hawks are meeting for the 101st time, the most-played series on the Beloit books and one of the most-played series in Wisconsin collegiate football. RC leads the series 67-29 with four ties. The Red Hawks have won 13 of the last 14, 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.)…
The Bucs Most Recent Game: Beloit ran into a formidable opponent at Strong Stadium, falling 33-0 to Midwest Conference North Division-leader St. Norbert College. The Green Knights got rolling quickly, putting together a 10-play drive for the first score, a one-yard run, just under five minutes into the first quarter. The point-after hit the right upright. They made it 13-0 after one quarter with a 13-yard scoring run at 2:33, completing a quick five-play, 98-yard drive. SNC kept it up in the second quarter, scoring on a five-yard pass at the 11:31 mark. The blocked point-after made it 19-0, a lead they increased to 26-0 at the break with a one-yard run at 6:41. St. Norbert closed out the scoring with 58 seconds left in the third quarter with a third one-yard scoring run, making it 33-0. The Green Knights totaled 473 yards of offense while holding the Buccaneers to 196Danny May threw for 62 yards, with Mike Nolden (26 yards) and Kam Sallee (19 yards) each catching four passes. Mason Dixon had 45 yards rushing on 17 carries. Defensively Antonio Jones continued his strong play with 20 tackles, including 15 solo or first hit. Jones also grabbed his fourth interception of the season. Dewight Walker had eight tackles and a blocked extra point while Henry Jacobsen and Brendon Endrina had seven tackles each. Jack Sommer had the team's lone sack, on which he forced and recovered the fumble.
Bucs' Last Time vs. the Red Hawks: Beloit kept coming but finally ran out of time in a 35-28 loss to Ripon College on November 1, 2014, at Strong Stadium in the 2014 home finale. Ripon jumped out to a 7-0 lead at 8:11 of the first quarter with a 14-play, nearly seven-minute drive, culminating in a Stephen Covalt three-yard TD run, the only score of the quarter. Beloit tied it up at 7-all at 10:21 of the second quarter following a fumble recovery by Jacob Grams when Evan Phillips hit Michael Nolden on the first play of the drive with a 17-yard scoring pass. But RC bounced back with two scores in the final 4:43 of the half – a Jordan Hibbard three-yard run and a Covalt four-yard run - to lead 21-7 at the break. The Buccaneers tied it back up at 21 apiece in the third quarter, capitalizing on a pair of Ripon turnovers. Antonio Jones made it 21-14 with a 12-yard pick-six at 6:39 and then Daniel Quijas recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up Kam Sallee's rugged 26-yard game-tying run at 6:19. But RC took the lead for good three minutes later after an eight-play drive on an 11-yard scoring pass from Covalt to Hibbard to make it 27-21 thru three quarters. The Red Hawks scored an insurance TD – a seven-yard pass from Covalt to Eric Hussin - and what proved to be the deciding points, midway through the fourth quarter with a time-consuming 17-play, 73-yard, eight-minute march that put them up 35-21. Nolden caught his second TD pass from Phillips with 3:50 left after Quijas recovered his second fumble of the game to pull Beloit within 35-28. But Ripon ran seven plays to run out the remaining time for the win. Mason Dixon had 97 rushing yards on 20 carries while Phillips threw for 103. Nolden caught four passes for 68 yards. Covalt finished with 131 yards rushing and 97 passing to lead the Red Hawks. Nathan Silloway caught two passes for 65 yards. On defense David Lafayette led five Bucs with double-figure tackles with 15. Jones had 14 and Dewight Walker, Riley Pearson and Quijas had 10 each. Grams also finished with a pair of fumble recoveries. Josie Schaffer and Decker Thompson both had seven tackles for RC, with Schaffer getting the team's lone sack.
Notes & Notables: Senior DB Antonio Jones leads the Bucs in tackles with 67 tackles. 49 have come in the last three games with 23 vs. Monmouth, 6 at Macalester, and 20 last Saturday against St. Norbert. The 23 tackles were the second-most in Beloit history in a game (record: 24) while the 20 tied for the fourth-most in a game…Junior K Kam Sallee has 15 career field goals, just two behind #2 placekicker Matt Laszlo, who had 17 from 1988-91. The all-time Beloit leader is Greg Dummer, who booted 22 from 1982-85…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: Beloit returns to Strong Stadium for Senior Day and the regular season finale as the host the Pioneers of Carroll University. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. The next week the Buccaneers host an as-yet-unaknown opponent from the MWC South Division for MWC Championship Saturday in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff…