2018 G-MAC All-Conference Football Awards
They found a way.
Before each game this season, Hillsdale College senior quarterback Chance Stewart tweets: "Find a way." The way was found for Stewart and the rest of the Charger football program, who won the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference title, and a majority of all-conference awards, released Friday morning.
Stewart was named the G-MAC Player of the Year in a vote conducted by conference coaches. He was one of five individual season award winners honored by the G-MAC, representing half of all the individual awards handed out by the conference.
Head coach Keith Otterbein is the 2018 G-MAC Coach of the Year after leading Hillsdale to a 9-2 overall regular season record and 8-0 in the conference. This is his fifth conference coach of the year honor, including the four he won in the GLIAC coaching Hillsdale and Ferris State. He won his 100th game as Hillsdale's coach back on Sept. 15, and is leading the team this week to its third all-time appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Sophomore defensive end Zach VanValkenburg was named the G-MAC Defensive Lineman of the Year. He gave the Chargers an essential threat off the edge and had his best season, leading the conference with 8.5 sacks. His 13 tackles-for-loss ranked fifth in the G-MAC, and his speed and power helped open up playmaking opportunities for a defense that led the G-MAC in interceptions.
Senior safety Wyatt Batdorff was named the G-MAC Defensive Back of the Year. Batdorff has been one of the top players on defense for Hillsdale throughout his career. In 2018 he ranked second on the team and eighth in the G-MAC with 82 total tackles. He was outstanding in run support and used excellent speed and instincts to make tackles across the entire width of the field. His secondary play was an important component in Hillsdale allowing a conference-low 19 points per game this year.
Senior Drew Callahan capped a great career by being named the 2018 G-MAC Offensive Lineman of the Year. The starting center, Callahan was the line's most experienced returning player and put that experience to work making the line calls and driving an offense that was brutally efficient throughout the season. Hillsdale led the league in third-down conversions this season, many of those successful conversions coming on third-and-short situations. Callahan's power and drive from the center position was critical in Hillsdale extending drives, making life stressful on opposing defenses all season.
Stewart moved in as the team's starting quarterback midway through his freshman season of 2015 and hasn't looked back since then. In 2018 he led the G-MAC by averaging 289.5 yards of total offense, and his 2,961 passing yards ranked second in the conference. He has a 24-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and did a brilliant job directing the offense, keeping it unpredictable for opposing defenses. He completed 63 percent of his passes, and needs just 108 yards to become Hillsdale's all-time leading passer.
With his award, Stewart becomes the fourth Hillsdale College football player to be named conference player of the year since 2007. He joins an exclusive club that includes Mark Nicolet (2007), Troy Weatherhead (2010) and Joe Glendening (2011).
Other award winners from the Chargers in 2018 include the following:
FiRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
QB Chance Stewart
WR Trey Brock
TE John Brennan
OL Drew Callahan
OL Mark Konkle
DL Zach VanValkenburg
LB Jay Rose
DB Wyatt Batdorff
PK Joe Philipp
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
TB David Graham
LB Nate Jones
DB Drake Temple
DB Jason McDonough
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
OL Mitchell Albert
DB Merrick Canada
DL Nate Canterbury
WR Konnor Maloney
DL Joe Royer
P Jack Shannon