RIPON, Wis. — The Ripon College football team jumped out to a 21-point halftime lead and went on to a 48-28 Midwest Conference win over Lawrence University in the 113th game in the state’s oldest college football rivalry.
With the win, Ripon retains possession of the Doehling-Heselton Memorial Trophy.
Quarterback Stephen Covalt led Ripon (7-3,by running 27 times for 107 yards and a touchdown. Amazingly, Covalt fumbled seven times on the afternoon, but only lost one fumble to the Lawrence defense. Eric Langman added 95 yards on seven carries and he scored twice for the Red Hawks. Covalt completed 8 of 12 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Lawrence quarterback Luke Barthelmess completed 14 of 37 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Barthelmess also ran 16 times for 110 yards.
Barthelmess finished a stellar career as the most prolific passer in Lawrence history. Barthelmess’ 285 passing yards on the afternoon moved him past former Monmouth College star Rob Purlee (8,017) into fourth place in Midwest Conference history with 8,190 yards. Barthelmess now has 62 career touchdown passes and that ranks seventh in conference history. He moved past former Ripon star Brock Bauer (61) and is tied with former Illinois College standout Pete Jennings.
Defensive back/wide receiver Sam Wagner had a huge day for the Vikings. On defense, he recorded a game-high 12 tackles, including 1.0 tackles for loss. On offense, Wagner caught three passes for 119 yards, and included in that total was a 64-yard touchdown catch.
Ripon led 14-0 in the first quarter when Barthelmess connected with Wagner on the 64-yard scoring pass to cut the margin in half. Ripon then got two touchdown passes from Covalt in the second quarter to stretch the margin to 28-7 at the half.
Lawrence trimmed the lead to 28-14 when Barthelmess hit Tyler Lueck with a five-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the third quarter. Ripon countered by scoring the game’s next three touchdowns to seal the victory.
Lawrence got a one-yard touchdown run from Isaac Barthelmess and a two-yard touchdown pass from Luke Barthelmess to Dan Dubnicka to finish the scoring.