Ihlenfeldt, Green Knights Run Over Ripon to Open MWC North Action

From Asst. AD/Athletics Communications, October 12, 2019 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

RIPON - On a cold, blustery, overcast autumn afternoon, St. Norbert College used a time-honored recipe for success in a 24-6 win over Ripon College in a Midwest Conference North Division game at Ingalls Field.

Passing just one time in the second half, the Green Knights pulled away from a 10-3 halftime lead. St. Norbert (2-2, 1-0 MWC North) rode the legs of Nate Ihlenfeldt down the stretch, who posted a career-high 241 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Ihlenfeldt had 136 yards in the fourth quarter alone as the Green Knights attempted just one pass in the second half.

Ihlenfeldt's total is the fifth-highest mark in St. Norbert history, and the first 200-yard rushing game for the Green Knights since Csaey Meehan had 254 yards against Grinnell College on Oct. 30, 2004. Matt O'Grady's 282 yards against Monmouth College on Oct. 14, 2000 is the school record. Norm Jarock's 268 yards against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 9, 1957 and Jim Maier's 247 yards against UW-Milwaukee on Oct. 31, 1970 round out the top four.

The victory is St. Norbert's 11th consecutive win over the Red Hawks and the 20th in the last 21 meetings.

St. Norbert found itself with bad field position to open the game, going against the wind in the first quarter. The Red Hawks parlayed the field position and a wind-obstructed punt into a 45-yard field goal by Kyle Jobke midway through the first quarter. After a trade of possessions, the Green Knights got on the board when Ihlenfeldt popped a 56-yard touchdown with 55 seconds left in the first quarter for a 7-3 lead.

The Green Knights got a big defensive stop with 2:08 left in the second quarter when Joe Peterson intercepted Cormac Madigan at the St. Norbert 5-yard line. St. Norbert marched 84 yards in 10 plays to score on a 28-yard field goal from Danny Simon with 11 seconds left for a 10-3 halftime edge.

Ripon melted nearly the first half of the third quarter off the clock to start the second half, traversing 63 yards on 12 plays, but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Jobke at the 7:42 mark to cut the deficit to 10-6.

From there it was all Ihlenfeldt, who sprung 19- and 11-yard touchdown runs with 12:44 and 5:55 left in the fourth quarter, respectively. Ihlenfeldt rushed for 155 yards in the second half.

St. Norbert, which ran just 52 plays, totaled 390 yards of total offense, with 274 coming on the ground. Ripon, which ran 56 plays in a game that lasted just 2 hours 13 minutes, finished with 243 yards of offense.

Gage McClanahan completed 6 of 12 passes for 79 yards to lead the Green Knights through the air. Ihlenfeldt caught three passes for 17 yards, while Mark Molitor caught two passes for 71 yards.

Ripon quarterback Cormac Madigan rushed 26 times for 145 yards, with much of his yardage coming out of scrambles after setting up to pass. Madigan completed 1 of 6 passes for 11 yards and two interceptions.

Maccabee Barrett led St. Norbert’s defense with 13 tackles, while Blake Olejniczak had eight stops and Jerome Tillis six tackles, with two tackles-for-loss.