Grinnell College’s football team led Ripon College 14-7 in the first half, but the hosts went on to post a 38-20 victory Saturday afternoon in Ripon, Wis.
Mike McCabe ’13 (pictured) had three touchdown passes for the Pioneers, who fell to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the Midwest Conference.
He completed 18-of-36 passes for 200 yards, while Jason Peters ’14 had six catches for 44 yards and Robert Seer ’12 added four for 36 yards.
The team’s leading rusher was Cody Weber ’13, who had 49 yards.
Defensively, Drew Blumberg ’13 had 14 tackles, Kelsey Davis ’12 had 11 and Tom Brinkman ’13 and Colton Feller ’14 had nine apiece. David Ternes ’15 had eight.
Grinnell opened the scoring when McCabe hit Weber with a 6-yard scoring strike at the 6:31 mark of the first period. This came after Weber blocked a punt and McCabe had a big 34-yard completion to Weber. Logan Granera ’12 had the extra point.
Ripon tied the game later in the period, but Andrew Clark ’14 returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to put Grinnell in good position to score again. It took only three plays, the final a 31-yard TD pass from McCabe to Granera. The latter’s extra point made it 14-7 with :10 left in the period.
However, Ripon scored a touchdown and had a field goal in the second quarter to go up 17-14 at halftime. The hosts made it 24-14 after three periods, and scored a touchdown early in the fourth.
The Pioneers then put together a 14-play, 69-yard drive to score gain. The TD was a 9-yard strike from McCabe to Seer with 6:24 left, and the extra point was no good. McCabe hit Seer with a 13-yard strike during the drive and passed to Peters for a 12-yarder.
Ripon scored once more to secure the win while moving to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.
Grinnell will attempt to get back in the winning column next Saturday with a home game against Lake Forest College. Game time is noon.
