Mission Statement
It is the mission of the Ripon High School Football Program to create an atmosphere that will give our players the opportunity to grow and develop both on and off the field.
We will:
1. Foster a team environment based on trust and commitment.
2. Develop the complete individual; athletically, academically, and their strength of character.
Team, Character, Commitment, Discipline
Ripon fell in triple overtime on Friday night to the Hughson Huskies. After going up 17-0 in the first half, we just couldn't put them away. Hughson continued to make plays and went up 20-17 with just over 1:00 minute left in the game. However, the Indians drove the ball to the Husky 10 and Ryan Baker kicked the FG to send the game into overtime with no time on the clock. It was an exciting overtime. The Huskies scored first and followed with a 2 point conversion. Efren Sifuentes then scored and followed with a 2 point conversion to send it into the second overtime. Sifuentes scored again in the second overtime, but was stopped on the 2 point try. The Huskies followed with a TD of their own and were stopped on the 2 point try. In the 3rd overtime Hughson scored on 4th down from the 10 and hit a pop pass for the 2 point conversion. The Indians scored on the next play, but were stopped short on the two point try and Hughson won the game. It was quite a battle by both teams and hats go off to the Huskies who made several remarkable plays throughout the night to help them win the game.
Last Friday the Indians travelled up to Tuolumne City to take on the Bears of Summerville. The F/S won in a blow out 47-0. The varsity won in a game that was closer than it looked, 28-14. The Indians jumped to an early lead at 14-0, but Summerville came back to tie it up at 14-14, early in the 4th quarter before Ripon was able to put it away with 2 touchdowns for a final of 28-14. The Indians offense looked very powerful again racking up over 420 yards including 346 rushing. The offensive line did a great job all night long of controling the line of scrimmage. Next up for the Indians is a tough road game vs. the Argonaut Mustangs.
The Indians moved to 3-0 by defeating the Argonaut Mustangs on a last second field goal. It was a hard fought game going back and forth the entire night. Ripon scored first on Kory Parks blocked punt who scooped up the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. Argonaut came back to tie the score 7-7. Ryan Baker kicked his first of 3 field goals with 30 seconds left in the half to put the Indians up 10-7. He added another FG in the 3rd quarter to put us up 13-7. Argonaut scored early in the 4th quarter to go up 14-13. Ripon drove the ball to the Argonaut 1 yd. line and Baker kicked the winning FG with 15 seconds left to give the Indians the lead. Jarod Macedo picked off a desperation pass on the games final play to put the game away. It was a hard fought game by both teams and an exciting win for the Indians who are 3-0 for the first time since 2003. The F/S was defeated 22-14 in another game that went back and forth the entire night. Next up for Ripon is the homecoming game vs. Bret Harte who comes into the game at 2-1 and has one of the more potent offenses around.
Indians Now 5-3
After 3 rough weeks the Indians got back on track Friday night with a big win over Ripon Christian. On Oct. 24 Ripon was done in by Modesto Christian 36-10. We turned the ball over four times and had in opportune penalties, and they are one of the best teams in the section. Couple those things together and you just aren't going to win. The score does not indicate the way the game went. We still were able to rush for almost 250 yards- 130 by Efren Sifuentes and 103 by Ryan Baker. MC is led by one of the best players in the section in QB Isiah Burse who is a human highlight film.
However, on Halloween night Ripon overwhelmed the rival RC Knights. It was the last home game for this years seniors and they made it a night to remember. Efren Sifuentes ran for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns, Nick Curtice ran for 132 yards and Michael Merchant was 6 for 10 for 140 yards, including a 42 yard touchdown pass to Ryan Baker. The defense held RC to one first down and 22 total yards in the first half and Ripon led 31-0 at the break. RC continued to fight hard but there was too much to overcome and the Indians won 38-13. The Indians will finish the season off at Riverbank this Friday and then travel Escalon for the final game of the season.
