A Look Back At The 2003 State Champions

REGULAR SEASON

AUG 29 CLINTONVILLE TRUCKERS W1 47- 7

SEP 5 at Sheboygan Falls Falcons W2 56-36

SEP 12 OMRO FOXES W3 56- 7

SEP 19 MARKESAN HORNETS(HC) W4 57-19

SEP 26 at Wautoma Hornets W5 20- 0

OCT 3 at Mayville Cardinals W6 41-21

OCT 10 WINNECONNE WOLVES W7 42- 8

OCT 17 at Berlin Indians W8 49- 0

OCT 23 WAUPUN WARRIORS W9 43- 7

WIAA PLAYOFFS

OCT 28 VALDERS VIKINGS W10 48-13

NOV 1 OCONTO BLUE DEVILS W11 56-42

NOV 8 vs WLA VIKINGS (at Fond du Lac) W12 41-26

NOV 15 vs Wittenberg-Birnamwood Chargers (at Appleton) W13 56-20

NOV 20 vs Broadhead-Juda Cardinals (at Madison) W14 21- 7

For a team that averaged 47 points per game, Ripon turned to its defense Thursday night to secure its first-ever state championship. The Tigers delivered with back-to-back third quarter defensive stands inside its red zone, stymied standout tailback Josh Restivo and blanked the Cardinals after falling behind 7-0 on Brodhead-Juda?s opening possession. All of which added up to a convincing 21-7 victory Thursday night at Camp Randall Stadium to cap an undefeated season. "Our offense put up some great numbers, but the defense was what got us through the playoffs and came up big for us tonight," Ripon coach Rick Kelm said. "They made the big play when they had to and the defense is what brought this (state championship) home today." Ninth-ranked Brodhead-Juda marched 82 yards on its opening touchdown drive, but was held to 118 yards thereafter until mounting a 54-yard drive in the final two minutes, which ended on Adam Vogelsang's end zone interception. Coming in, the Rock Valley Conference champions averaged 345 yards per game, with 247 yards rushing. But, top-ranked Ripon (14-0) allowed merely 262 yards Thursday and 116 on the ground to earn the Division 4 title. "The defense stepped up tonight," said Vogelsang who finished with two interceptions from his safety position, while also directing the Tigers offense at quarterback. After falling behind 14-7, Brodhead-Juda (11-3) marched to the Ripon 20 as Restivo ripped off 36 yards on the opening drive of the second half. But, on third-and-four the senior gained only a yard as Evan Koon dragged down Restivo on off-tackle run. On fourth-down, the Ripon defense penetrated and Restivo's diving attempt came up two yards short. Josh Riese gave the Cardinals another scoring chance after a 35-yard interception return on the ensuing drive set up the Cardinals offense at the Ripon 21. The drive reached the Ripon 10, but Nick Studt dragged down Sky Ammann for a 15-yard sack on third down and A.J. Curtis? 41-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. "After I threw that interception and our defense stepped up, that was the big play of the game," Vogelsang said. "You could feel them kind of letdown after not scoring right there." The Tigers also frustrated Brodhead-Juda by not allowing Restivo to get loose. The 5-foot, 9-inch speedster was held to 11 yards in the first half and finished with 52 yards on 18 carries. The RVC Back of the Year ends the season with 1,585 yards on 199 carries and 24 touchdowns. Backup Matt Arn led the Cardinals with 68 yards on 10 carries and Riese finished with five receptions for 123 yards. But, it wasn't enough to penetrate the Tigers defense over the final three quarters as Ripon rallied for the 14-point victory. "The defense is what brought us over the top," Kelm said. "Brodhead-Juda played us tougher than anybody else has all season. Restivo is lightening, but what it really came down to was our inside guys. He got his first few steps, but at least we made him deviate. You give him a straight line and it's going to be trouble."

PASSING ATT CMP INT TD YDS

Vogelsang 92 43 3 11 1161

E.Minor 1 1 0 1 17

Mlodzik 1 0 0 0 0

TEAM TOTALS 94 44 3 12 1178

OPPONENTS 271 130 29 11 1766

RECEIVING REC YDS TD AVG LN

E. Minor 24 548 5 22.8 65

Martinez 10 373 6 37.3 82

LaMont 4 132 0 33.0 46

I. Minor 4 90 1 22.5 60

Roemer 2 35 0 17.5 19

SCORING TD FG 2PT XP TOT

E. Minor 41 0 3 0 252

Martinez 6 0 0 75 111

Vogelsang 17 0 0 0 102

I. Minor 11 0 1 0 68

Roemer 9 0 1 0 56

Olm 7 0 0 0 42

LaMont 0 0 1 0 2

KICK RET ATT YDS TD AVE LNG

E.Minor 12 333 1 27.8 82

I. Minor 10 189 0 18.9 36

Trapp 5 50 0 10.0 14

Roemer 4 31 0 7.8 15

Vogelsang 3 66 0 22.0 29

Martinez 1 0 0 0.0 0

TOTALS 35 669 1 19.1 82

RUSHING ATT YDS TD AVE LNG

E. Minor 204 2003 35 9.8 89

Vogelsang 126 1064 17 8.4 92

Olm 86 743 7 8.6 52

I. Minor 106 714 10 6.7 57

Roemer 32 317 9 9.9 72

Pimental 11 85 0 7.7 41

Veleke 13 74 0 5.7 25

Williams 14 64 0 4.6 32

Thiel 7 55 0 7.9 31

Schroeder 9 40 0 4.4 8

Mlodzik 18 30 0 1.7 7

Trapp 1 2 0 2.0 2

TOTAL 627 5191 78 8.3 92

OPPONENTS 472 1857 19 3.9

KICK OFFS ATT YDS AVE RY RA

Martinez 85 3052 35.9 807 9.5

Olm 19 669 35.2 125 6.6

TOTAL 104 3721 35.8 932 9.0

OPPONENTS 37 1358 36.7 669 18.1

PUNTS ATT YDS AVE RY RA

Thiel 20 653 32.7 36 1.8

Olm 1 35 35.0 0 0.0

Vogelsang 1 26 26.0 0 0.0

TOTAL 22 714 32.4 36 1.6

OPPONENT 52 1543 29.7 92 1.8

PUNT RET ATT YDS TD AVE LNG

Martinez 17 77 0 4.5 15

E. Minor 2 15 0 7.5 15

TEAM TOTALS 19 92 0 4.8 15

DEFENSIVE STATISTICS

SACKS - Pockat 7, Studt 7, Schroeder 3, Baker 2, Baurichter 2, Trapp 2, Roemer 1, Warnke 1, Olm 1, Koon 1

TOP TACKLERS - Roemer 168, Schroeder 126, Studt 109, Koon 98, Pockat 70, Trapp 70

FORCED FUMBLES - Pockat 3, Baker 2, Schroeder 2, Koon, Vogelsang, Dolske, Meier, Johnson, Neuman, Clausen, Roemer, Studt, Trapp - 1 each

FUMBLE RECOVERED - Roemer 4, Schroeder 3, Vogelsang 3, Pockat 2, Perry, Studt, Lambert, Chipman, Neuman, Trapp, Johnson, Koon, I. Minor 1 each

INTERCEPTIONS - Vogelsang 10, Lukoski 6, I. Minor 2, Roemer 2, Meier 2, E. Minor 1, Baker 1, Schieler 1, Trapp 1, Henslin 1, Koon 1, Schroeder 1

BLOCKED KICKS - Koon 3