GALT — The Ripon High Indians came to play Friday at Liberty Ranch.

As the No. 7 seeded team in Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI, they were close to staging the upset over the unbeaten Hawks, only for those efforts to fall short in the postseason opener, 30-28.

"I couldn't be more proud of our guys — they put everything they had, only to come up short," said Ripon coach Cole Williams.

The Indians (5-6) had trouble early on against Liberty Ranch (11-0) and its Wing-T offense.

The Hawks were led by Andrew Quinn and Joe Lara, who both went over 100 yards — Quinn had a game-high 177 yards on 16 carries with on touchdown, while Lara racked up 117 yards on 15 attempts and a pair of TDs —while managing to befuddle the Indians on defense during most of the first half.

Still, Ripon kept the game close behind the play of quarterback Andrew Shaw and a quick strike by Matthew Gaines.

Liberty Ranch opened the scoring by going 80 yards on six plays on that possession, with Quinn finding paydirt from the Indians 4.

Ripon forced a turnover later in the first quarter as Xabriel Reyes recovered a fumble.

Moments later, Gaines, following a 15-yard penalty called on the Hawks, found an opening and scooted 41 yards to help even the game at 7-7.

Liberty Ranch went up 10-7 towards the end of the quarter on James Rangel's 28-yard field goal.

Indians cashed in on their ensuing possession as Shaw found daylight on the left side of the line, racing 39 yards on the option play to put his team up 14-10.

The back and forth scoring continued as the Hawks reclaimed the lead a few minutes later on Lara's 13-yard TD.

Shaw, who delivered on a long completion to Gavin Decena, scored from the 2 to put Ripon back on top, 17-14.

With less than a minute left before halftime, Liberty Ranch went to the air with quarterback Ryan Ogas finding Wyatt Corriea in the end zone for the 16-yard score.

"We came out in the second half and just kept on doing what we had been doing," said Williams, praising his team's defense.

The result of that was a scoreless third quarter.

The Hawks put together a drive late in the third quarter that carried over to the fourth quarter.

Lara punched the ball in from the 6 yard line, padding the lead, 30-21.

On the ensuing kickoff, Gavin Duran nearly broke loose on the return only to be stopped near the Hawks 30.

Shaw then connected a pass to Mike Evans, with Kael Rangel capping the drive with a 1-yard plunge.

Alan Aguirre's extra-point kick made it a two-point game.

With about three minutes left in the game, Liberty Ranch punted for the first time at midfield. The quick kick went wayward for short yardage, giving Ripon an opportunity for one last drive.

But Shaw suffered a leg injury and was forced out of the game, and the Hawks' defense held up to preserve the win.

"Our guys played their [behinds] off," Williams said following the season-ending loss.