RIPON, Wis. -- The Ripon College football team held off a determined Lawrence University squad on Saturday and posted a 41-17 Midwest Conference victory at Ingalls Field.
It was the 109th meeting between the two teams in the state's oldest college football rivalry.
Matthew Miller ran 22 times for 148 yards to lead the Ripon attack. Ripon finished with 415 yards of offense, including 366 on the ground. Lawrence quarterback Nick Maxam completed 16 of 32 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown.
Ripon (7-3, 7-2 MWC) led 14-0 early in the second quarter when the Vikings got on the board. Lawrence (1-8, 1-8), which had its first drive stopped with an interception at the Ripon 3-yard line, got a 51-yard kickoff return from Nate Nelson to the Ripon 30.
Nelson then caught a 25-yard pass to the Ripon 5. Nelson scored two plays later when he hauled in a 7-yard scoring pass from Maxam to cut the lead to 14-7.
After Lawrence's Mats Jonsson recovered a Miller fumble at the Ripon 38, the Ripon defense came up with another big play. Maxam was intercepted in the end zone four plays later to snuff out the drive.
The Ripon defense then made another big play when Joe Faulds recovered a Ben Hartman fumble and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead. Lawrence bounced back with another big play from Nelson. He caught a 39-yard pass from Maxam to the Ripon 18. A personal foul penalty moved the ball to the 9, but the drive stalled and Lawrence settled for Cody Robel's 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-10.
Ripon made it 28-10 on T.J. Pierce's 4-yard scoring run later in the third quarter. That capped a seven-play, 50-yard drive.
Lawrence came right back and marched 69 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. Josh Scheck caught a 28-yard pass and Jeremiah Johnson had a 32-yard reception on the drive. Johnson, who finished with seven catches for 125 yards, capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge with 14:15 left in the game.
Lawrence took its next possession and moved 78 yards in 10 plays before the drive stalled at the Ripon 10. Robel's 27-yard field goal was blocked, and Ripon took over at its own 18.
Ripon moved the ball 82 yards in 13 plays, with Jared Parr scoring the touchdown on a 1-yard run with just 39 seconds left in the contest. Matt Bull then intercepted Maxam and returned it for a touchdown to finish the scoring.
Linebacker Greg Pater led Lawrence and all defenders with 16 tackles. Defensive end Matt Frelich finished with 12 tackles.
Lawrence wraps up its season when it travels to Minnesota-Morris next Saturday for a nonconference game.