The Lawrence-Ripon football rivalry is chocked full of anecdotes, challenges, animosity, friendships, hooliganism, pranks, and fun.
When the teams began playing Wisconsin's oldest college football rivalry back in 1893, no one knew how heated it would become, especially in the early years. The game in 1896 seems representative of the rough-and-tumble football that was played a century ago. The Lawrence side of the story is taken from the student newspaper: "The game was foul and rough from start to finish. Ripon repeatedly slugged, to which the umpire was blind Š pugilism, kneeism, and heelism, not football. Such playing will kill football. If Ripon or football must die, we are sorry, but it ought to be Ripon."
The 1905 game saw Ripon successfully lobby to shorten the game because the Redmen knew Lawrence had the stronger squad. Claiming they had to make an early train back, Ripon said 25-minute halves, rather than the traditional 35-minute halves, would be sufficient. The conditions were finally accepted by Lawrence captain R.K. (Bob) Wolter, acting as coach in the absence of Coach Deacon, who was scouting Marquette that day. Ripon's fears were justified as Lawrence rolled to touchdown after touchdown. After only 15 minutes of play in the second half, Ripon walked off the field and terminated the game with the score 59-0. It was Lawrence's largest margin of victory until the Vikings won 62-0 in 1953. Ripon's holds the rivalry's biggest blowout with an 80-0 victory in 1894.
The early days of the rivalry had all the making of a bad marriage. The schools would fight, break off relations, make up, fight, break off relations, make up and on and on. Between 1895 and 1915, relations were broken off between the schools at least a half dozen times. The first time Lawrence threatened to take its ball and go home was 1895. After three years of frostiness, the teams got together again, but by 1907 the fighting, both verbal and physical, was so bad that Lawrence President Samuel Plantz decreed that another game would not be played for four years. The teams still managed to play in 1908.
With such high spirits on the field, it became inevitable that the rest of the student body would throw themselves into the fray. The raids between the two campuses number in the dozens, as students armed themselves with toilet paper and paint. Red and blue paint proved to be the favorite weapons, but burning an R or L into the opposing team's turf was also popular. One Lawrence student rode the 45 miles from Appleton to Ripon on a motorcycle to ignite the Ripon homecoming bonfire a night early.
Many a captain of industry in the Fox Valley actually sacrificed his hair for his alma mater. For a number of years, it was common practice to capture one of the raiders and imprison him in Brokaw Hall at Lawrence or Smith Hall at Ripon. He would be released before the game, with his head shaved clean and only an R or L left standing in the stubble.
When the raids got out of hand in the 1950s, students called a halt to the proceedings. The teams then began playing for a silver-plated trophy called the "Old Paint Bucket." The whereabouts of the trophy are unknown.
The series is tied 46-46-7 and records of both schools confirm that, but deciding who was leading the rivalry wasn't also so cut and dried. As late as the mid-1960s, there was a dispute over the series record. The 1901 game was the one in dispute. Ripon claimed to have won the game 22-11 on Thanksgiving Day, but Lawrence said it won game 32-6. A newspaper account from the Appleton Evening Crescent finally put the issue to rest in 1966. The headline and story said Lawrence had won the game 23-6 and that stands as the official record today.
But the newspaper story itself describes a wild contest: "The game at Ripon, Thanksgiving Day, between the Lawrence University and Ripon College teams resulted in a victory for the Lawrence team over the Ripon team, the Ripon officials, and the Ripon crowd by a score of 23-6, which under ordinary circumstances would have been anywhere up to 60-0. Twice, Lawrence men who had got clear away for a run down a clear field were tackled by spectators. Once on an alleged off-side play which resulted in a 25-yard run for a touchdown, the ball was not only ordered back to where it started, but also given to Ripon, a double penalty which is amusing, to persons understanding football, for its very boldness of either deliberate unfairness or utter incompetency."
The Ripon-Lawrence rivalry is an old and fierce one, and the numbers bear that out. After 99 games, the series is tied 46-46-7. Ripon has scored 1,468 points and Lawrence has 1,405 points. Ripon is averaging 14.82 points per game and Lawrence is at 14.19, a 0.63 differential that favors the Red Hawks.
Both team's defenses have shown their dominance. Lawrence has 20 shutouts in the series and Ripon has 18.
Despite the close nature of the rivalry, the games aren't always as close. Only three games have been decided by a point, with Ripon winning two (7-6 in 1927 and 15-14 in 1962) and Lawrence taking the other (14-13 in 1938). However, 25 games have been decided by seven points or less, with Lawrence leading that category 14-11.
The highest scoring game in the rivalry came in 1998, when Ripon beat Lawrence 45-42 at Ingalls Field. The 87 combined points is only the eighth-highest in Lawrence history. The record was set in 1998 when Lawrence and Beloit combined for 105 points. Beloit beat the Vikings 62-43.
The Vikings are searching for some of the good karma they had last year when they scored a 25-22 upset of the Red Hawks at the Banta Bowl. Ripon jumped out to a 15-0 lead, but Lawrence rallied for 25 unanswered points and held on for the victory.
Lawrence enters this game still plagued by injuries. Sophomore linebacker Jeff Divjak was lost for the season in last Saturday's loss to Monmouth. Divjak, who was named a freshman All-American by USA Football and was a first-team all-conference pick last season, broke his leg in the first quarter against the Scots. Senior cornerback Ty Molitor aggravated a shoulder injury and his return this week is questionable.
The Vikings had been having some success on defense before giving up 507 yards in a 62-33 loss to Monmouth. Lawrence's defense is now allowing 364.8 yards per game (177.9 passing, 186.9 rushing).
Stepping into the void caused by the loss of Divjak has been strong safety Nate Keller. The sophomore from Manawa led the team in tackles with nine against Carroll two weeks ago and had five tackles and two tackles for losses against Monmouth. Keller is second on the team in tackles with 30. Freshman defensive back Micheal Binley led the Vikings with nine tackles against the Scots.
Freshman wide receiver Zach Michael continues to spark Lawrence's offense. The former Appleton East High School star leads the team with 49 catches for 756 yards and eight touchdowns. Two more freshmen, tight end Tony Bouressa and wide receiver Josh Meyer, are next on the team with 13 and 12 catches, respectively.
Freshman quarterback R.J. Rosenthal has done a credible job since stepping into a starting role in the fourth game. Rosenthal, who led Iola-Scandinavia to the WIAA Division 5 championship game as a senior in high school, has completed 66 of 159 passes for 967 yards. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
The Lawrence running game is also dominated by a pair of freshmen. Waupaca native Justin Berrens leads the team with 383 rushing yards, while Waunakee's Jacques Hacquebord has a team-high 102 carries. Junior fullback J.C. Radliff leads the team with a 4.6-yard per carry average.