Football

Category: Football

Ripon edges Lawrence in wild football finale

In one of the wilder games in Lawrence University’s storied football rivalry with Ripon College, the Red Hawks pulled out a 56-55 Midwest Conference victory in the season finale in the Banta Bowl.

In the 112th meeting between the teams, Ripon (5-5, 5-4 MWC) scored a touchdown with 33 seconds left to rally from a 13-point deficit in the final 9:53.

Lawrence (2-8, 2-7) rolled up 583 yards of offense, and the Vikings were led by senior wide receiver Tyler Mazur and senior running back Ben Hartman. Mazur caught six passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns, and Hartman ran 14 times for 125 yards for a hefty 8.9-yard average and two touchdowns.

Max Herrmann paced Ripon with 21 carries for 140 yards, and quarterback Tom Sawyer had 22 carries for 107 yards.

Lawrence grabbed a 55-42 lead when quarterback Luke Barthelmess connected with Mazur for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 9:53 remaining in the game. The Lawrence defense then forced a three-and-out, but Dominique Dirden muffed Marshall Zahn’s punt and Ripon recovered at the Lawrence 10-yard line.

The Red Hawks scored two plays later on Michael Crusan’s six-yard run to trim the lead to 55-49 with 8:17 left.

After a penalty forced Lawrence to start at its own three-yard line on the ensuing drive, the Vikings moved to their own 26. Barthelmess then ripped off a 41-yard run but the play was called back by a holding penalty. Lawrence was forced to punt, and Ripon took over at its own 43.

Ripon moved 57 yards in 10 plays with Hermann plunging in from a yard out. Jacob Gahart added the extra point to give Ripon the 56-55 lead.

Lawrence got the ball back at its own 32 after the kickoff, but Ripon forced a fourth-down interception to end the game.

The Vikings scored on three of their four possessions in the opening quarter. Lawrence got a 59-yard touchdown catch from Mazur, a 21-yard scoring run from Hartman and a 17-yard touchdown run from Scott Vandeloo and led 20-7.

The teams then traded touchdowns as Mazur caught a 28-yard scoring pass, and Vandeloo added a five-yard touchdown run. Lawrence, which missed two consecutive extra points, went for two after Vandeloo’s touchdown as Mazur ran it in for a 34-21 lead at the half.

After a missed Ripon field goal, Lawrence took its opening possession of the second half and scored on Hartman’s five-yard touchdown run. The key play in the drive was Mazur’s 35-yard catch to the Ripon nine-yard line.

The teams then traded touchdowns as Dirden caught a 46-yard scoring pass, and Lawrence led 48-35 after three quarters.

Junior defensive end Andy Paider made a career-high 16 tackles, including a sack, for Lawrence. He also forced and recovered a fumble. Freshman defensive back Alex Opgenorth added 13 tackles and an interception for the Vikings.

The 111 combined points is the most in a game in Lawrence football history. The previous high was 105, which was done last week at Knox College.

Box score

Turnovers, Mortensen send Vikings to defeat at Knox

GALESBURG, Ill. — Knox College’s Derek Mortensen ran for 203 yards and six touchdowns, and the Lawrence University football team turned the ball over five times in a 63-42 Midwest Conference loss on Saturday at the Knosher Bowl.

Lawrence (2-7, 2-6 MWC) lost despite have more total yards (583-520),  running 30 more plays and owning a 7:05 advantage in time of possession over the Prairie Fire (2-7, 2-6).

Lawrence quarterback Luke Barthelmess completed 27 of 50 passes for 386 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Barthelmess broke Jim Petran’s career passing yards record of 5,431 yards and the junior quarterback now has 5,738 yards for his career.

Dominique Dirden caught 11 passes for 184 yards for the Vikings, and Tyler Mazur grabbed eight passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Mazur became just the sixth receiver in Lawrence history to pass 2,000 career receiving yards and now has 2,031. Senior running back Ben Hartman carried only nine times but had 89 yards for an impressive 9.9-yard average.

Knox built a 21-14 halftime lead with the help of four Lawrence turnovers in the first half. The Prairie Fire took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 52 yards for a touchdown and a 28-14 edge.

Another turnover gave Knox the ball back at the Lawrence 16-yard line, and Mortensen scored two plays later for a 35-14 lead.

The Vikings, who recovered three Knox fumbles on the afternoon, then failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at their own 34-yard line, and Knox took over on downs. Knox scored two plays later and led 42-14. Lawrence’s next drive ended on downs at the Knox 31, and the Prairie Fire drove for another score and a 49-14 lead.

Barthelmess than ran eight yards for a touchdown and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Taylor Mandich to trim the lead to 49-28 after three quarters.

Knox then hit on an 85-yard touchdown pass to crush any hope of a Lawrence comeback. Barthelmess ran for another touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to Mazur in the final quarter.

Box score

Inside LU Athletics: Football team fights back with road victory

The last month had been rough on the Lawrence University football team.

Facing the Midwest Conference’s powerhouse teams in four consecutive weeks, the Vikings got beaten up pretty good.

Rather than packing it in for the final three weeks, Lawrence fought back by going on the road and handing out some punishment of its own. The Vikings beat Grinnell College 24-14 last Saturday and are looking to build on that success.

“We had the big four weeks where we were going up against Goliath every week,” Lawrence head coach Mike Barthelmess said. “When our guys get the opportunity to play against a like team, I feel like we are going to do well.

“I feel so strongly that when we do decide to show up and play, we can compete with anyone in the conference. We have the same opportunity this week.”

Lawrence (2-6, 2-5 MWC) travels to Knox College (1-7, 1-6) to face a vastly improved Prairie Fire squad on Saturday.

“Knox is so much better than last year, and they run the ball extremely well,” Barthelmess said. “Fortunately, our defense is starting to get better at the right time. The players are working hard and (defensive coordinator Jason Anderson and defensive assistant Rich Agness) are making the right adjustments.”

The Vikings defense allowed the fewest points (14) last Saturday since they gave up 12 to Knox back in 2010. They also allowed a season-low 268 yards, and Grinnell picked up 107 of those yards on just two plays.

Barthelmess said the defensive coaches left the calls to the players on the field, and that fits with his philosophy of the team taking ownership in the program.

“They (Anderson and Agness) train them all week as to what calls to make, and then they leave it to the guys to do that,” Barthelmess said. “You’ve got a defensive group that are starting to buy into a system that is much different than what they’ve had in the past.”

The Vikings also took a big step forward when Grinnell challenged Lawrence in the second half. Lawrence led 17-0 at the half, just like they did back in 2010. Two seasons ago, Grinnell came back and won 31-17. That didn’t happen last week after Grinnell scored on the opening possession of the second half.

“When we went into halftime this weekend, I was just crazed. I was bound and determined not to let that happen again,” Barthelmess said. “We had the 98-yard drive, and that was huge. That made a statement to Grinnell and ourselves that we were not going to let down.”

Lawrence answered the Grinnell score with a 13-play, 98-yard touchdown drive to go up 24-7. Grinnell got a 68-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter to close within 10, but the Vikings dominated the rest of the game to close out the victory.

“I see potential in these guys. I see potential in these guys that they don’t see. When these things happen, it may surprise them but it doesn’t me,” Barthelmess said.

“I’ve been placed in this position to show these guys what they can be. If I can do that, then I’m doing my job.”

Numbers game

Senior football player Tyler Mazur has put together some eye-popping numbers in only two seasons as a wide receiver. Mazur, who came to Lawrence as a sophomore, played quarterback during his first season with the Vikings.

That hasn’t stopped him from amassing 116 catches for 1,927 yards and 20 touchdowns. Mazur is poised to be just the sixth receiver in Lawrence history to reach 2,000 receiving yards. He currently ranks sixth in Lawrence history in catches, seventh in receiving yards and fourth in total touchdowns.

Record set to fall

Junior quarterback Luke Barthelmess is set to break Lawrence’s career passing yards record, which has stood since 1979. Barthlemess has 5,352 yards, just 80 short of breaking the record of 5,431 established by All-America quarterback Jim Petran from 1976-79.

Dropping the puck

The Lawrence hockey team drops the puck on its home season Saturday night at the Appleton Family Ice Center when the Vikings host Concordia (Wis.) University. The Vikings play their season opener at Concordia on Friday night.

Barthelmess, Mazur lead Vikings past Grinnell

GRINNELL, Iowa — Quarterback Luke Barthelmess ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, and receiver Tyler Mazur had another big day as the Lawrence University football team beat Grinnell College 24-14 in a Midwest Conference game Saturday at Rosenbloom Field.

Barthelmess ran 17 times for 103 yards and topped the 100-yard mark for the second time this season. Barthelmess also completed 14 of 29 passes for 207 yards. Barthelmess, who also topped the 100-yard rushing mark in the season opener against Cornell, became the first Lawrence back since Craig Ebert in 2008 to rush for more than 100 yards in a game twice in the same season.

Mazur caught six passes for 138 yards and a touchdown, and he ran 11 times for 40 yards.

The Vikings (2-6, 2-5 MWC) built a 17-0 lead and then used a 98-yard scoring drive in the third quarter to help put the game away.

Lawrence took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards in nine plays for a 7-0 lead. Ben Hartman had a 25-yard run to give the Vikings a first down at the Grinnell three-yard line, and Barthelmess hit Mazur with a touchdown pass on the next play.

After Grinnell (2-6, 2-6) gave up the ball on downs on its first possession of the game, Lawrence took over at its own 21. The Vikings got runs from Barthelmess of 19 and 27 yards, the latter giving Lawrence a first down at the Grinnell 12. Lawrence scored three plays later on Barthelmess’ five-yard run for a 14-0 lead.

Lawrence drove all the way to the Grinnell five-yard line on its next possession but had to settle for Cody Robel’s 23-yard field goal and led 17-0 at the half.

Grinnell scored on its first possession of the second half with a 62-yard drive for a touchdown. Quarterback Sam Poulos hit Jacob Meixler with an 11-yard scoring pass to trim the margin to 17-7.

After an exchange of punts, Lawrence took over at its own two-yard line with 5:22 left in the third quarter. The Vikings moved 98 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown with just 15 seconds left in the third quarter. The Vikings converted all three third downs on the drive and got a 24-yard completion to Dominque Dirden to the Grinnell one-yard line. Barthelmess scored three plays later to put Lawrence up 24-7.

Grinnell got a 68-yard touchdown pass from Poulos to Meixler to cut the lead to 24-14 with 6:28 left in the game, but the Lawrence defense held the Pioneers right there.

The Pioneers got the ball back but gave it up just four plays later, and Lawrence got a first down to run out the clock.

Lawrence hits the road again next Saturday with a game at Knox College.

Box score

Big second quarter pushes Monmouth past Lawrence

The Monmouth College football team exploded for 28 points in the second quarter and went on to a 56-28 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday in the Banta Bowl.

The Scots (4-3, 4-2 MWC) got a big day on the ground from running back Trey Yocum, who ran 29 times for 176 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Brik Wedekind was 12 of 14 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Tyler Mazur had a huge day for Lawrence (1-6, 1-5) with nine catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Luke Barthelmess was 16 of 32 passing for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Barthelmess moved past Eric Aspenson (4,941) for second place on Lawrence’s career passing list and now has 5,145 passing yards.

The game was tied 7-7 after Mazur caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Barthelmess with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Wedekind then hit C.J. Shields with a 37-yard scoring pass on the first play of the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. The Scots quickly made it 21-7 on Wedekind’s six-yard scoring pass to Garrett Youngren with 8:50 left in the second quarter. Yocum then tacked on another score with a two-yard touchdown run with 4:14 left in the half.

An interception gave Monmouth another chance before the end of the first half, and Yocum capped a 36-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run for a 35-7 lead at the break.

The teams then traded scores in the second half. After Monmouth opened the half with a touchdown drive, Ben Hartman returned the kickoff 46 yards to the Monmouth 44-yard line. The Vikings scored six plays later on Barthelmess’ four-yard run to cut the lead to 42-14.

After another short Yocum touchdown run, Mazur caught a pair of 62-yard scoring passes. He grabbed one near the end of the third quarter and completed Lawrence’s scoring with another one with 4:20 left in the game.

Linebacker Jon Hope paced the Lawrence defense with 14 tackles, and Sam Ausloos added 11.

Box score

St. Norbert runs past Vikings

DE PERE, Wis. — The St. Norbert College football team jumped out to a big early lead and went on to a 79-7 Midwest Conference victory over Lawrence University on Saturday at Schneider Stadium.

St. Norbert (5-2, 5-1 MWC) built a 35-0 lead after the first quarter and led 45-0 at the half. Lawrence (1-5), which played this as a nonconference game due to a quirk in this season’s schedule, got its only touchdown in the third quarter.

Austin Williams led St. Norbert with 18 carries for 172 yards and three touchdowns. St. Norbert piled up 366 rushing yards. Quarterback James Tringalli was 7 of 13 passing for 126 yards and a touchdown.

Lawrence, which was limited to 120 total yards, got its only score when Tyler Mazur caught a 54-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. The touchdown pass was the first in the career of freshman quarterback Akeem Williams. 

Box score