A momentum-swinging play in the second quarter helped set the tone for Saturday night's loss in Indianapolis for the Hillsdale College football team.
The Chargers suffered a 48-21 loss to the 15th-ranked University of Indianapolis Greyhounds in a non-conference matchup at Key Stadium. The defeat makes Hillsdale 0-2 heading into next weekend's homecoming game against Lake Erie.
Thanks to a pair of long passes from quarterback Luke Keller to wide receiver Konnor Maloney, the second of which resulted in a 27-yard touchdown pass, gave the Chargers a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
A pair of UIndy field goals, which came thanks to some good third-down defense by Hillsdale deep in its own territory, kept the Chargers in the lead late into the second quarter. That's when the Greyhouunds struck.
Maurice Robinson scampered 47 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, giving UIndy a 13-7 lead with just under four minutes left in the first half. The Greyhounds then recovered a Hillsdale fumble on the ensuing kickoff, setting them up at the Charger 22-yard-line. Four plays later, UIndy quarterback TJ Edwards fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Topper to suddenly increase the Greyhound lead to 20-7.
That big-play momentum carried into the third quarter, when Indianapolis scored on plays of 1, 30 and 76 yards to break the game open.
The Greyhounds outgained the Chargers 574-304 in total yardage, and 17 of their 27 first downs came via the running game. Most of that edge came on the ground game, that saw the Greyhounds rush for 369 yards, averaging 8.0 yards per rush, compared to 52 total yards on the ground for Hillsdale.
Keller, making his first collegiate start on the road, finished 15-for-29 for 201 yards and 2 touchdown passes. He found Ben Gendics for a 21-yard scoring pass in the second quarter to draw Hillsdale back to within six, 20-14, just before halftime.
Maloney had a monster game, bouncing back from an injury he suffered on the first play of the game last week. He caught 7 passes for a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown. Michael Herzog and Martin Petersen each caught 2 passes for 14 yards.
Nate Jones and Jason McDonough each led the Chargers defensively with 8 total tackles. Wain Clarke had a tackle-for-loss while Kendall Tobin and Dan Shanley combined on a tackle-for-loss. Nate Chambers picked up a sack from his defensive line position.
PHOTO: Carly Gouge