Charger Football Game Notes – Week 5
Northern Michigan University football webpage
September 25, 2012 – The Hillsdale College football team will seek its fourth straight win this Saturday at home when it welcomes Northern Michigan University for the first time in four years.
The rivalry between the Wildcats and Chargers has been sporadic over the years, with the teams not playing one another in 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011. However, that is likely to change now that Hillsdale is a GLIAC North Division neighbor with NMU.
The Chargers come into Saturday's contest on a three-game winning streak, the most recent coming in a 63-14 whipping of Notre Dame College in Ohio last week. Northern Michigan is 1-3 overall, and lost at home last weekend to Ashland, 42-13. Hillsdale is in a four-way tie for first place in the GLIAC North at 3-0 in the conference, while NMU is the lone team in the North Division still without a GLIAC win this season.
As part of this weekend's game, Hillsdale College's football program is supporting the Coaches to Cure MD program, supported by the American Football Coaches Association. In its first four years of existence, the Coach to Cure MD program has raised more than $1 million for muscular dystrophy research. Head coach Keith Otterbein and the Chargers have been proud supporters of this program in each of the past four seasons, and appreciate everyone's support of the initiative.
On the field, Hillsdale is hoping to follow up one of its most lopsided wins in years with a win before it embarks on a challenging two-game road trip Oct. 6 and 13. Hillsdale has won 19 of its last 21 home games, and after this week, will face Wayne State and Ferris State in back-to-back away games.
The Chargers scored more points last week in any game they've played since 1968, and scored three touchdowns on interception returns. It had been nine years since Hillsdale returned an interception for a touchdown once, but Nick Galvan, Steven Embry and Matt Payne all took it to the house in last week's big win over the Falcons. Hillsdale's defense has been stout during its three-game winning streak. The first team defense has played 10 quarters over the past three games and allowed a total of two touchdowns. Last week, Hillsdale's defense limited Pedro Powell, the GLIAC's leading rusher, to a season-low 30 yards on the ground.
Senior RB Joe Glendening also made history last week, setting the new career record for total touchdowns. His two scores gave him 53 for his career, eclipsing the record previously held by Vinnie Panizzi and set in 2009. Every touchdown Glendening scores from now through the end of the season, will only add to the record. One of the last individual records left for Glendening to reach is the career rushing yardage mark. He enters this week's game with 3,810 career rushing yards, leaving him 686 yards away from breaking Scott Schulte's record of 4,495.