For the second straight week, the Hillsdale College football team hung tough with a nationally ranked opponent from Ohio. Unfortunately for the Chargers, the team had the same result against Ashland as it did last week versus Ohio Dominican.
The Charger defense held the GLIAC's highest scoring offense to just one touchdown and one field goal in a 17-7 loss to the Eagles Saturday afternoon at Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium. Ashland, ranked 24th in the latest NCAA Division II poll, is now 6-1 while Hillsdale falls to 2-5.
Hillsdale hits the road next week to take on Tiffin University for a 1:30 p.m. start.
Coming into this matchup. Ashland had been averaging 42 points per game. However, the Eagle offense was held out of the end zone on every drive of the game except the very first one. Hillsdale's defense was able to limit Ashland to just 103 yards through the air, and gave the Chargers a fighting chance throughout the game. The Eagles' last touchdown came on a 61-yard interception return by Kyle Tomko with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter.
This was the first time Ashland had defeated Hillsdale since September 27, 2008.
Defensively, the Chargers got a number of terrific performances. Senior Tim Moinet had an interception and 8 total tackles. True freshman linebacker Jay Rose had one of his most active games of the season, tallying 11 tackles, 2 quarterback hurries and 2 tackles-for-loss.
Sophomore Zach Swaffer recorded a sack and also had 2 tackles-for-loss. Junior Justin D'Agostino led the team with 13 total tackles, while sophomore Austin Koneval had 12. Hillsdale stopped Ashland on 12 out of 19 third-down conversions in the game.
Offensively, the Chargers came very close to hitting on some big pass plays, but just missed completions by inches throughout the game. The team's two leading receivers - Taylor Cone and Timmy Mills - are both redshirt freshmen. They combined for 7 receptions for 92 yards, each getting 46 yards in the game.
Sophomore quarterback Mark LaPrairie threw for 154 yards, while sophomore Jack Wiseman scored the team's only touchdown, an 18-yard romp with 1:22 left in the seconde quarter that cut Ashland's lead to 10-7.
Sophomore tailback Bennett Lewis saw his most extensive action in a month, carrying the ball 10 times for a team-high 46 yards.
Photo by Sheridan Markatos