A major chapter in the history of Hillsdale College football ended on a positive note for the Charger Saturday afternoon.
Hillsdale played its final regular season GLIAC game, and earned a 42-10 win over Lake Erie College at Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium. The win completes Hillsdale's season with a 5-5 record overall, and 4-5 in the GLIAC, while the Storm finish out 0-11.
The Chargers put two touchdowns on the board in each of the first two quarters, building a 28-3 halftime lead and never looking back. The fourth of those four scores came in dramatic fashion.
Linebacker Wain Clarke (pictured) recovered a fumble forced by senior Drew Mallery, setting Hillsdale up at the Storm 36-yard line with 10 seconds to go in the first half. On the second play of the drive, sophomore quarterback Chance Stewart threw a 36-yard rainbow pass into the end zone, which was caught by sophomore wide receiver Trey Brock, in the middle of a pack of players, for a hail mary touchdown pass to end the half.
Brock and Stewart completed seasons that saw them be crowned GLIAC statistical champions in the regular season. Brock, who has emerged as one of Division II's top wide receivers in his second season, set a school record by averaging 132.2 receiving yards per game, totaling 1,322 on the season. Against the Storm, Brock caught 8 passes for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns, a fitting end to an incredible campaign.
Brock's 1,322 receiving yards were just 47 shy of the school record, set by Andre Holmes in 2010, However, Holmes needed 12 games to get his record total, while Brock needed just 10 to get his yardage.
Stewart finished the season with a 19-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, simply remarkable given the level of competition he faced week in and week out in the GLIAC. In his final game of his second season, Stewart played just a shade over two quarters, completing 14-of-19 passes for 190 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Stewart averaged 282.9 passing yards per game, ranking him No. 1 in the GLIAC at the conclusion of the regular season.
Sophomore tailback Joe Reverman battled hard through injuries throughout the second half of the season that left him unable to practice most weeks. He still ran hard against the Storm, rushing 16 times for 68 yards and a career-high tying 3 touchdowns.
Before the game, the program honored its 13 graduating senior players and several of them had days to remember. Defensive end Drew Mallery, a team captain, was a wrecking machine all over the field against Lake Erie, leading the team with 11 total tackles, and 6.5 tackles for loss. He recorded 1 ½ sacks, broke up two passes and forced the fumble Clarke recovered before the half in a monster performance.
Linebacker Andrew Hoffer returned to action after missing several weeks with an injury, and had 8 total tackles, a career-high. Senior defensive back Joe Duff totaled 5 tackles in his last game as a Charger.
On the offensive side, senior tailback Jack Wiseman did a great job in limited duty, carrying the ball 7 times for 49 yards, an average of 7 yards per carry in his final performance.
Next year a new era of Charger football begins as it joins the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Some of the foes will be new, but others, like Saturday's opponent Lake Erie College, will become more regular rivals as an exciting future in Hillsdale College athletics unfolds.
PHOTO CREDIT: Carly Gouge