The 129th season of Hillsdale College football is set to commence this weekend as the Chargers face a familiar foe on the road in the season opener. Hillsdale travels to the Upper Peninsula to take on Michigan Tech for a 2 p.m. kick.
You can find out more about the contest below. Fans are allowed to attend Saturday's game and you can purchase tickets at the link below. If you are unavailable to attend the game in-person, Michigan Tech also is providing a live-streaming pay-per-view broadcast for spectators that you can access at the webcast link.
To stay up to date with the latest news in Charger athletics, please visit hillsdalechargers.com.
Schedule
Hillsdale College (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) at Michigan Tech (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC) | 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 4 | Kearly Stadium | Houghton, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats | Webcast | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Tech Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2019 Tech Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings | Game Notes
Last Season
The Chargers wrapped up a roller-coaster spring season with two straight road victories, finishing the campaign 2-2 in the four games that were played out of the eight originally scheduled. Hillsdale closed out the season with a 35-28 victory on the road against Ohio Dominican, where the Chargers rushed for 240 yards on the ground and took advantage of two critical Panther turnovers to secure an impressive road victory. Jack Robinson and Logan VanEnkevort each rushed for two Charger touchdowns, and linebacker Kyle Kudla led the team in tackles and was responsible for both turnovers.
Scouting the Opposition
Michigan Tech faces an interesting paradox heading into the 2021 season opener this Saturday – the Huskies boast an experienced squad overall, but none of their players have been in a competitive college football game for nearly two full years.
The last time Michigan Tech took the field in a game that counted was Nov. 16, 2019, when the Huskies earned a 34-21 victory over Northwood to finish off a 5-5 campaign. Michigan Tech sat out the entire 2020 season along with the rest of the GLIAC due to the Covid-19 pandemic, though the Huskies did play an exhibition scrimmage against Minnesota-Duluth on April 17, 2021.
Although the Huskies were just .500 in 2019, that mark was a little bit deceiving – Michigan Tech played close, tough contests against GLIAC foes Grand Valley State and Ashland, and were just a couple of plays away from a significantly better record.
Tech returns several players at key positions from that 2019 squad, who are back after a functional redshirt year. Junior quarterback Will Ark is an experienced starter who accounted for three touchdowns the last time Michigan Tech and Hillsdale met on Sept. 7, 2019, a 29-14 Husky victory, and Tech also returns leading 2019 rusher Jared Smith, as well as three starters on the offensive line.
On defense, the Huskies are paced by All-American senior nose tackle Nate Lajoie, who led the GLIAC in sacks with 8.5 in 2019, as well as additional experience in defensive back Braxton Blackwell and linebackers John Paramski and Clayton Lynn. A potential X-factor for Tech on defense is the return of linebacker Marvin Wright, who hasn't seen the field in two years due to injuries, but who was an All-GLIAC second team performer in 2018.
Michigan Tech does have significant questions to address. The Huskies will have to rebuild a receiving corps that was hit hard by graduation in 2019, with junior Jordan Janssen the only wide receiver on the roster who's caught a collegiate pass. There's also big holes for Tech to fill on the defensive line surrounding Lajoie, and in the secondary surrounding Blackwell.
The kicking game is also an area of uncertainty for the Huskies. Ark also serves as the team's punter and is the school record holder in yards per punt, but for field goals and extra points Tech will turn to true freshmen Drew Wyble and Brendan LeClaire.
The Huskies were picked to finish fifth in the GLIAC in the conference's preseason coaches poll, matching their 2019 finish. Michigan Tech is coached by Steve Olson, who has a 13-18 record at the school entering his fifth season in 2021.
The Series
The Chargers have a long history with the Huskies dating back to Michigan Tech's arrival in the GLIAC in 1980, and while Hillsdale holds a 19-10 edge, the games between the two schools have consistently been close and physical. Michigan Tech is on a two-game winning streak against the Chargers, including a 29-14 win in the last meeting on Sept. 7, 2019, but the two teams are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings – a testament to how hard-fought this series has been historically.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale returns 18 starters from the Spring 2021 season, as well as its kicker and punter, giving the team an exciting amount of experience to draw on. All three of Hillsdale's first team All-G-MAC honorees are back – offensive lineman Cole Johnson, defensive tackle Nate Chambers, and safety Zach Herzog – as well as 10 of the Chargers' 11 All-Conference players overall.
- The Charger football program brought home an impressive and historic award haul this summer. For the first time in program history, Hillsdale had three players earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors – Johnson, senior safety Alex Anschutz and senior wide receiver Konnor Maloney, becoming just the sixth, seventh and eighth players in program history to receive the prestigious honor. All three return this fall. Additionally, 2021 graduate Joey Brenner was named the program's first G-MAC Scholar Athlete of the Year as well, and 79 of Hillsdale's 103 players posted a 3.0 or better GPA for the 2020-21 school year.
- Maloney, a senior, became just the seventh Charger in program history to crack 2,000 receiving yards for his career in the spring 2021 season, and currently has 2,017, 28 behind Nick Gurica (04-08) for sixth place. He's also 10th in career receptions with 121, and needs two touchdown catches to break into the career top 10 for that stat as well. Maloney's 891 receiving yards in the 2018 season are also tenth all-time on Hillsdale's single-season record list.
- Special teams have been an important part of Hillsdale's success under head coach Keith Otterbein, and the Chargers should be one of the best teams in the G-MAC in special teams again this year. The Chargers return senior punter Jack Shannon, who led the conference in yards per punt and is on pace to set the G-MAC's career record in the stat, and redshirt freshman Julian Lee, who was a perfect 13 of 13 on extra points and 2 of 2 on field goals in the Chargers' spring season.
- The Charger football program has long been known for its strong family tradition, and that continues in 2021 with two sets of brothers in the starting lineup. Senior cornerback Matt Harding and sophomore tight end Michael Harding (Livonia, MI/Detroit Catholic Central) will start on opposite sides of the ball, following in the footsteps of older brother Steve Harding, who graduated from Hillsdale in 2014. On the offensive line, twin brothers Nick and Ben Affholter (Quincy, MI/Reading) will hold down the two guard spots. Both are the sons of Brad Affholter, a multi-year starter on the Charger offensive line in the mid-90s. There are two more sets of brothers on the team – Zach Herzog and his brother, Mike, a tailback, and Konnor Maloney and his brother Jacob, a defensive back. Additionally, defensive lineman Calvin McNellie is joined by his brother, Carson, a student manager for the team in 2021.
- With 116 wins to date, Otterbein is third all-time in career coaching victories at Hillsdale, trailing two Charger Athletics Hall of Famers in Frank "Muddy" Waters (138) and Dick Lowry (134). If he maintains his current career pace of wins per season, Otterbein would pass Waters for the all-time record in the fall of 2024.