This Saturday, football returns to Hillsdale College for its 128th season after an absence of over a year.
And though spring football is uncharted territory for all of us, the excitement of game day more than makes up for any weirdness about a critical Great Midwest Athletic Conference game being played in mid-March.
Hillsdale kicks off a season full of hope and expectations with a young but talented roster, and opens the seven-game spring 2021 season with a crucial contest against a long-time rival and a fellow perennial G-MAC title contender Findlay.
The Oilers were third and the Chargers fourth in the G-MAC standings the last time the conference had a full season, in 2019, but both were not far off a serious title push, and both teams also return a great deal of talent.
The winner of Saturday's game will leave Hillsdale a real contender for the G-MAC crown, while the loser will have significant ground to make up to get back in the title race over the next five weeks.
Under the current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Guidelines, up to 1,000 fans are allowed to attend this this weekend's home contest against Findlay. It is requested, in order to comply with the MDHHS order, that fans wear masks for the contest and engage in physical distancing from individuals not in their household during the event.
Tickets cost $8 and are available at hillsdale.universitytickets.com.
If you can't make it to the game, you can follow along at home on the Great Midwest Digital Network, with a live stream and live stats available at the links below.
Schedule
Findlay (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) at Hillsdale College (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, March 13 | Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats vs Findlay | Webcast vs Findlay | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Findlay Roster | 2019 Hillsdale Stats | 2019 Findlay Stats | G-MAC Schedule | Hillsdale Preview | Game Notes
Scouting the Opposition
Despite a third-place finish in 2019, the Oilers might have been the best team in the G-MAC, statistically speaking, with the conference's second-best scoring offense and second-best scoring defense, but Findlay finished third thanks to close losses to both runner-up Ohio Dominican and champion Tiffin.
The Oilers are an intriguing blend of experienced, high-end talent and completely new faces. On defense, Findlay returns the G-MAC Defensive Player of the Year in Christopher Jefferson, who finished with 62 tackles and a league-best nine interceptions in 2019, as well as second-team All-G-MAC linebacker Jack Trombetti (68 tackles) and honorable mention Cade Rogers (6.5 tackles for loss).
Up front, senior Ervin Besingi (6.5 TFL, 4 sacks) leads a young unit that's projected to have three new starters.
Offensively, the Oilers return second-team All-G-MAC quarterback Matt Winzler, who threw for 2,577 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2019, and two of their three-headed running back trio from last season, including first-team All-G-MAC tailback Brian Benson and honorable mention tailback Derek Lynch.
Findlay does have significant holes to fill offensively. The Oilers return first-team left tackle Logan Bailey but must replace three other All-G-MAC-caliber starters up front, and the top returning receiver in the two-deep is Marlin Richardson, who caught 21 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns as the team's third receiver in 2019.
On special teams, kicker Chase Wilcox takes the full-time job after going 2 for 2 on field goals in spot duty in 2019, while Austin Snyder takes over as the punter.
One potential X-Factor for Saturday's game is a number of returning players for Findlay that are not currently listed on their two-deep, including first-team All-G-MAC receiver Ruben Flowers and second-team All-G-MAC defensive lineman Logan Speyer. Their availability (or lack of availability) for this weekend's contest could be a significant swing factor in this weekend's game.
Findlay is coached by Rob Keys, who is entering his 10th season at the helm of the Oilers with a 63-37 record. During his tenure, Keys guided the Oilers to their first NCAA Division II playoff appearance in school history in 2017.
The Series
Hillsdale leads the all-time series with Findlay 17-12-1. The two teams have been playing since 1952, and it's been a competitive series throughout, though the Oilers have had the better side of it recently, winning five of the last six meetings. In the most recent meeting in 2019, the Oilers picked up a 41-16 victory, forcing three Charger turnovers and racking up 468 yards of total offense to pull away for a home win.
Other Notes
- Hillsdale returns four All-G-MAC honorees from last season's squad: G-MAC co-Freshman of the Year Luke Keller, first-team defensive back Zach Herzog, second-team wide receiver Konnor Maloney, and second-team linebacker Alex Anschutz.
- Maloney, a senior wide receiver, is on track to become an all-time great in several statistical categories at Hillsdale College. The Lansing, Michigan native is already eighth all-time in career receiving yards at Hillsdale, with 1,936, and he needs just two receptions and two touchdown catches to break into the top 10 for those stats as well. Maloney's 891 receiving yards in the 2018 season are also tenth all-time on Hillsdale's single-season record list.
- Hillsdale is 12-6 under head coach Keith Otterbein in home openers, and Otterbein has a 6-10 record against Findlay since taking the job in 2002.
- Sophomore quarterback Luke Keller's 2,113 passing yards as a redshirt freshman in 2019 have him on an impressive career trajectory. He's just 1,901 yards behind Brian Boyse ('89) for 10th all time in career passing yardage. His 16 passing touchdowns also have him closing in on the top 10 all time list in that stat as well with several seasons of eligibility remaining.
- The Charger football program has long been known for its strong family tradition, and that continues in 2021 with five sets of brothers on the active roster: Ben Affholter and Nick Affholter, Matt Harding and Michael Harding, Michael Herzog and Zach Herzog, Bryan Hickey and Jacob Hickey and Calvin McNellie and Carson McNellie. A sixth pair includes Garrett McKenzie and his brother Gavin, a student coach with the football team this season. Numerous other players have parents, grandparents or siblings that played football for Hillsdale College in the past.
- With 114 wins entering his 19th season with the Chargers, 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.
- Hillsdale's current layoff of 483 days between games is the longest since World War II, when the Chargers went three full years without playing a contest from 1942 to 1945.