MADISON - Forget Cookie Town. Ripon is the new Titletown. The Ripon High School football team won its second Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship in three years with a 21-16 victory over West Salem on Thursday night at Camp Randall Stadium. Junior QB Scott Gillespie scored two rushing touchdowns and John Pimental rushed for 113 yards for the Tigers, who finished the season with a perfect 14-0 record. "I love all those guys," Gillespie said. "It’s what you dream of when you are a little kid and it finally happened." Frigid temperatures did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Ripon crowd, which was one of the biggest of the eight schools that competed on Thursday at Camp Randall. With temperatures in the high teens, Ripon started out slow but didn’t take long to heat up, taking a 14-3 lead at halftime after Gillespie scored twice in the second quarter. West Salem scored a touchdown just before the end of the third quarter and looked to have all the momentum after stopping Ripon on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers’ defense came up big when it mattered. Ripon forced West Salem to punt and Pimental capped off Ripon’s scoring with a 4-yard plunge to give the Tigers a 21-9 lead. The Panthers added a late touchdown but James Hron recovered the onside kick and Ripon ran out the clock. After taking a team picture and talking with the media, several Ripon players danced on the big "W" on the middle of the field. The football team returned for a midnight celebration, and school started two hours later Friday to let students recover from the festivities.
Ripon caps perfect season
Madison - After winning the Division 4 state championship in 2003, Ripon coach Rick Kelm made the mistake of forgetting about his wife and the Tigers fans after the game. Lesson learned. After Ripon won its second state title in three years, a 21-16 victory over West Salem in the nightcap Thursday, Kelm worked the east grandstands of Camp Randall Stadium like a greeting line. "The first time we did this, I got caught up in the after-game stuff and forgot about my wife and the fans," Kelm said. "I almost didn't find her this time, but I did. "This community is so great, I wanted to thank everybody." Actually, the community might want to think about thanking Kelm. The Tigers finished their season at 14-0 and, although the score Thursday might not indicate it, did it in fairly convincing fashion. After West Salem (11-3) opened the frosty evening with a 28-yard field goal by Adam Hutson, Ripon answered with a pair of touchdowns by quarterback Scott Gillespie. Gillespie gave Ripon the lead for keeps on a 3-yard keeper on the first play of the second quarter. He padded the lead when he scored on a 1-yard quarterback draw late in the same period. "We haven't called any of those plays down at the goal line all year," the junior quarterback said. "I don't know if Coach was saving those or what, but they were blocked perfectly and they were open." West Salem finally got on track late in the third quarter, scoring on Dan Sprehn's 3-yard run with 7 seconds left. That cut Ripon's lead to 14-9 and the Tigers needed an answer. They found it in John Pimental, who scored the decisive touchdown on a 4-yard run with 3:41 left. The key play of the drive was Gillespie's 29-yard jump-ball pass on fourth and 11 to James Hron, who wrestled the ball away from two West Salem defenders. "I just threw it for grabs and James made a great catch," Gillespie said. Said Kelm: "The kids made some comments on the sideline that if we got the ball back in that situation, they would take it in. We've done that all year." West Salem wasn't finished, however, cutting the Ripon lead to 21-16 as Sprehn plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out for his second touchdown. The Panthers' onside kick recovery failed, however, and Ripon ran out the final minute. "Ripon is a very well-coached team and was the better team out there
tonight," West Salem coach Wayne Sackett said. "We didn't have the collisions tonight to create turnovers and we have
lived off turnovers in the playoffs."
REGULAR SEASON
AUGUST 26 CLINTONVILLE TRUCKERS (NC) W1 54- 6
SEPTEMBER 2 at Sheboygan Falls Falcons (NC) W2 12- 6
SEPTEMBER 9 at Berlin Indians W3 41-15
SEPTEMBER 16 WAUPUN WARRIORS W4 22-20
SEPTEMBER 23 OMRO FOXES W5 21- 6
SEPTEMBER 30 at Lomira Lions (NC) W6 39-14
OCTOBER 7 at Wautoma Hornets W7 42-27
OCTOBER 14 at Mayville Cardinals W8 35-28
OCTOBER 20 WINNECONNE WOLVES W9 49-13
WIAA PLAYOFFS
OCTOBER 25 COLUMBUS CARDINALS W10 63- 6
OCTOBER 29 MILWAUKEE THOMAS MORE CAVALIERS W11 28- 7
NOVEMBER 4 WINNEBAGO LUTHERAN VIKINGS W12 35- 0
NOVEMBER 12 vs Lodi Blue Devils at Beaver Dam W13 21-14
NOVEMBER 17 vs West Salem Panthers at Madison W14 21-16
NO NAME HGT WGT YR POS
4 Pasqual Rinnert SR K
5 Scott Gillespie 6-0 170 JR QB-DB
10 Ben Lukoski 6-0 170 SR E-DB
15 Justin Kernen 5-8 155 JR QB-DB
16 John Ernst 6-2 160 SO QB-DB
17 James Hron 6-3 180 SR E-DB
18 Max Kulick 5-11 150 SO QB-DB
20 Mike Parks 5-11 150 JR RB-LB
21 Justin Baker 5-6 150 SO RB-LB
22 John Pimental 6-0 170 SR RB-DB
23 Isaac Minor 6-1 175 SR RB-DB
24 Chad Beck 5-10 210 JR RB-LB
25 Peter Schroeder 5-10 155 SO RB-LB
30 Noah Schnell-Harrison 5-10 160 JR RB-LB
31 Taylor Veleke 5-7 185 SR RB-DT
33 Alex Goplin 5-7 150 SO RB-LB
34 David Soda 5-9 175 JR RB-LB
41 Jim Stewart 5-10 165 SR E-DB
42 John Pahlas 5-9 185 JR RB-LB
43 Chase Hanson 5-11 155 SO RB-LB
44 Ted Mlodzik 5-6 155 SO RB-LB
50 Cody Hanson 5-9 190 JR G-DT
51 Jason Polcyn 6-2 255 JR C-DT
52 Jon Foster 5-10 170 SO G-LB
54 Alex Gratton 5-6 210 SO T-DT
NO NAME HGT WGT YR POS
55 Nate Schilcher 6-5 240 SR C-DT
60 Jake Brown 5-8 200 SO C-DT
61 Devon Hundt 6-2 200 SO T-DE
61 Devon Hundt 6-2 200 SO T-DE
62 Justin Stefanski 5-11 180 JR G-DT
63 Sam Stollfuss 5-7 170 JR G-DT
64 Vince Kubisiak 6-1 180 SR G-LB
65 Joe Leahy 6-0 210 JR T-DT
66 Mike Wiltzius 5-7 185 SO G-DT
67 Ryan Kegler 6-0 255 JR T-DT
68 Brady Robichaud 6-0 200 JR T-DE
70 Travis Bender 6-0 215 SO G-DT
72 Eric Neuman 6-2 220 SR T-LB
73 Tyler Cler 6-0 240 SO T-DT
74 Cody Kolberg 6-2 170 SR T-DE
75 Eric Towne 5-10 190 JR T-DT
76 Aaron Studt 6-4 230 SR T-DE
77 Clint Baurichter 6-0 235 SR G-DE
78 Nick Bradshaw 5-11 245 SR T-DT
80 Gavin Zimmerman 5-6 140 JR E-DB
81 Ryan Hill 6-2 160 JR E-DB
82 Mitch Martine 5-11 155 SO E-DB
83 Casey Ehrenbe 5-7 130 SO E-DB
84 Justin Rank 5-11 160 JR E-DB
85 Adam Splittgaber 6-3 200 SR E-DB
Coaches: Rick Kelm, Gib Stoeberl, Bill Kinziger, Al Schraeder, Bill Butler, Jason Wickstrom, Greg Peterson, Marty Moldenhauer
