Midwest Conference unbeaten Ripon reeled off three quick touchdowns in the opening quarter en route to a 49-14 football win over the host Rams on a rainy Saturday at Van Metre Field at Ash Park.
The Red Hawks (3-0 overall, 2-0 MWC) relied on a balanced offensive attack that generated 443 total yards and scored on all six possessions in the red zone. The young Rams (1-2 overall, 1-1 MWC) showed flashes with big plays, although couldn’t overcome three turnovers and were limited to 244 yards.
Cornell freshman wideout LaQuanta Crawford netted 52 yards on three receptions, including an athletic 18-yard touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone as the Rams trimmed the deficit to 21-7 with 10:06 left in the second quarter.
Ripon converted a pair of Cornell miscues into 14 points in the first half. The Red Hawks recovered an errant punt snap at Cornell’s 2-yard line on the Rams’ opening possession. An interception near midfield triggered a Ripon TD drive late in the second quarter, putting the visiting team ahead 28-7 at the break.
The Red Hawks put the game out of reach with two unanswered TD drives in the second half, extending their lead to 42-7.
Cornell drove 60 yards on six plays for its second score of the game midway through the fourth quarter. Freshman Joel Lacy barreled in from nine yards out, recording his fifth TD of the young season.
Lacy finished with 31 yards on seven carries. Daniel Abesames-Hammer led the Rams with 36 rushing yards on only four attempts, highlighted by a long of 26 yards.
Cornell sophomore quarterback Jordan Modrynski went 11-of-28 passing for 159 yards and was sacked three times. He had a long completion of 44 yards to Tony Gomez.
The Rams amassed 215 yards on kickoff returns. Isaiah Spencer broke off a 66-yard return early in the game and finished with 90 yards on two attempts. Rommel Pinner returned three kicks for 66 yards.
Defensively, Anthony Hoffman and Thomas Horne shared team-high honors with seven tackles apiece, followed by Shawn Laikupu with six. Hoffman and Laikupu each had one tackle for loss.
Quarterback Jarrett Zibert passed for 240 yards and four TDs for the turnover-free Red Hawks. Cormac Madigan rushed for 103 yards and one score.
Coming up – Cornell enters a bye week before playing host to MWC preseason favorite Lake Forest (3-0, 2-0 MWC) at 1 p.m. Oct. 1 in Mount Vernon. Lake Forest comes in off a 48-14 win over Knox.