Beloit College Buccaneers (3-3, 3-2 MWC)
vs. Ripon College Red Hawks (5-1, 4-1 MWC)
Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1:00 p.m.
Strong Stadium, Beloit, Wisconsin
The Game: The Buccaneers return to Strong Stadium for the first time since September 25 as they host the Red Hawks of Ripon College.
The Teams: The Bucs needed overtime before topping Lake Forest College 33-27 in Lake Forest last Saturday. The Red Hawks went three overtimes before falling to Monmouth College 51-45 last Saturday in Ripon.
The Coaches: Chris Brann is in his fifth season as head coach of the Buccaneers. He is 0-4 against the Red Hawks, 0-2 in Strong Stadium. Ron Ernst is in his 20th season as head coach of the Red Hawks. He is 13-6 against the Bucs, 5-4 at Strong Stadium.
The Series: The Buccaneers and Red Hawks are meeting for the 96th time, the oldest Football series on the Beloit College books. Ripon leads the series 62-29 with four ties. The Red Hawks have won eight of the last nine, with the lone Beloit win in the streak coming in 2005. The teams 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 win in 1906, 4-0. Included in the first six Buccaneers 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.)
Buccaneers Last Time Out: Beloit needed an extra couple of plays but came away with a 33-27 Midwest Conference overtime win at Lake Forest College last Saturday. Derek Carrier caught a 22-yard TD pass from Brian Maughn on the second play of their OT possession to end the game. The Buccaneer defense had shut down the Foresters in their possession to open the extra period, forcing a 22-yard missed field goal. The Buccaneers were rolling early. Terence Steward scored from ten yards away to cap a seven-play drive to make it 7-0 at the 5:33 mark and then Mat Kahl kicked a 32-yard field goal with 46 seconds left in the quarter to make it 10-0 after one. LFC cut into the lead at 6:48 of the second with a short scoring pass before Beloit retook their ten-point advantage at the break when Steward scored his second TD, this one from one yard out. The Buccaneers made it 24-7 early in the third quarter when Odin Grina caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Maughn but the Foresters got themselves back into the contest, getting a short scoring pass at 6:26 and field goals at 4:30 and :16 to make it 24-20 entering the final quarter. Kahl booted his second field goal of the game, from 30 yards away, early in the fourth quarter to give the Bucs a seven-point cushion. But Lake Forest struck late in regulation to force overtime, scoring on a short run with 1:13 left to tie it at 27-all and set the stage for Carrier's game-winning catch. Steward finished with 67 yards rushing on 21 carries. Maughn was 13 of 27 for 229 yards but had three interceptions. Grina led the receiving corp with five catches for 108 yards while Carrier finished with four catches for 74 yards. On defense Tony Baratti had 13 tackles, 3.5 for loss, while also forcing and recovering a fumble that led to Grina's TD catch to open the second half. Chris Halcsik had nine tackles. Valde Raizys, who also had a sack, and Michael Underwood each recorded interceptions, with Underwood returning his for 38 yards.
Last Time vs. the Red Hawks: Beloit stood toe-to-toe with MWC co-leader Ripon College on October 10 at Strong Stadium for three quarters but a big fourth quarter by the Red Hawks was enough in the 20-6 loss. The teams played scoreless ball through the first 25 minutes of the contest before RC got a 38-yard field goal five minutes before halftime for the only points of the opening two quarters. Neither team scored coming out of the lockerroom before the Red Hawks struck on a 13-yard scoring pass six seconds into the fourth quarter coming off a turnover. They made it 17-0 six minutes later on a short scoring run that completed a 61-yard drive and tacked on another field goal with 1:52 left from 34 yards away. The Buccaneers got on the board with under a minute left when Julian Ross caught a 31-yard TD pass from Brian Maughn. The two-point conversion missed but the Bucs recovered the onside kick and Beloit had another chance but an interception ended the drive and Ripon ran out the final 35 seconds. Maughn finished with 202 yards passing while Ross caught four passes for 77 yards. Terence Steward had 56 yards on 18 carries. The Buccaneer defense was led by Matt Fogerty, who had ten tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Tony Baratti had nine tackles. Joe Goldufsky recovered a fumble to go along with six tackles while Quentin Layne had Beloit's interception to shut down an RC drive.
Individual Accolades: Mat Kahl kicked a pair of field goals in a game for the second time this season at Lake Forest last Saturday, hitting from 32 and 30. He also kicked two against St. Norbert back on September 11…The Bucs are now 2-0 in overtime games after Saturday's extra-time win. Their only other recorded overtime game was a 16-13 victory over Grinnell College in Beloit on November 3, 2007…Valde Raizys recorded his fifth sack of the season on Saturday and is now just ½ sack from ten for his career…Julian Ross needs just four catches to become the all-time Beloit leader in that category…
Up Ahead for the Bucs: The Bucs stay at home as they host Monmouth College next Saturday, October 23. They then travel to Lawrence University in Appleton for their final road contest of the season on October 30 before closing out 2010 on November 6 against Illinois College on Senior Day.