Trailing 14-10 to host Walsh at halftime, the Hillsdale College football team knew it had to answer the bell to avoid its first 0-3 start to the season since 1998.
The Chargers did just that, scoring 21 straight third quarter points to seize control for a 31-21 victory over the Cavaliers that helped the Chargers improve to 1-2 on the year.
Coming out of halftime, Hillsdale assembled a 13 play, 62 yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock. Sophomore quarterback Luke Keller found tight end Michael Harding for a nine yard completion at the Walsh 33 on 4th and 2 to extend the drive, then finished it with his feet, sneaking in for a one-yard touchdown run to help the Chargers retake a 17-14 lead.
After forcing a stop at midfield, Hillsdale took advantage of a mishandled snap on a Walsh punt to take over at the Cavalier 36, and took advantage with another nine play drive capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Josef Hissom to extend the Chargers' lead late in the third quarter.
The Charger defense finished off the scoring run on Walsh's next drive, as Hillsdale's junior defensive back, Matt Harding, jumped a screen pass, intercepted the ball and strode into the end zone untouched for a pick-six touchdown from nine yards out.
Walsh cut the lead to 10 on a 50-yard screen pass for a touchdown on its next possession, and had several chances to close the gap further, but Hillsdale's defense stood tall in the final 14 minutes of the game. Two third-down sacks, one by Joe Royer and Jonathan Burton, and one by Kyle Parran and Nate Chambers, cut two promising Walsh drives short, and a bruising 10 run play drive that took 4:46 off the clock left Walsh with no timeouts and not enough time to mount a comeback attempt.
Hillsdale jumped out to an early lead in the contest. After both teams opened the game with three and outs, senior punter Jack Shannon pinned Walsh at the one yard line on a 69-yard punt, and the ensuing short field that created set up a 23-yard field goal by Julian Lee that put the Chargers up 3-0 with 7:05 to play in the first quarter.
The Chargers struck again after a Walsh fumble gave them the ball in Cavalier territory, as Keller rushed for a 35-yard touchdown on a QB keeper on 4th and 2 to give Hillsdale a 10-0 lead.
Walsh came roaring back with 14 unanswered points to take the lead into halftime, turning two Charger turnovers into short-field touchdowns, but missed a chance to build their lead when safety Zach Herzog picked off a Walsh pass at the Hillsdale 33 to kill a promising Cavalier drive with 40 seconds remaining in the half.
While the Chargers were far from perfect in any phase of the game, big plays in all three phases helped Hillsdale pull out the victory. Keller had a tough day throwing the ball, finishing 8 of 22 for 67 yards and two interceptions, but kept his cool and made big plays with his feet, rushing for 126 yards and two touchdowns on 21 attempts to help keep the Charger offense afloat.
True freshman Jack Robinson rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries and Hissom added 64 yards on a touchdown on 22 carries, as the Charger offensive line wore down a solid Walsh defensive front to help to finish with 270 yards rushing and 4.5 yards per carry.
Defensively, Hillsdale held Walsh to just 229 yards of total offense. The Chargers had three interceptions, with junior Joe Schneider picking off a pass to add to Herzog and Harding's takeaways, and Pearson also forced a fumble that was recovered by Garrett McKenzie for a fourth Walsh turnover.
Hillsdale's pass rush gave the Cavaliers problems all game. Kyle Parran finished with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss, and Joe Royer and Zachary Tokie each added a sack as well for the Chargers. Herzog led in tackles with eight, Kyle Kudla chipped in seven and Schneider finished with six.
On special teams, Shannon averaged 39.2 yards per punt and pinned Walsh inside their own 20 twice, and Lee was perfect on the day, making that 23 yard field goal and all four extra point attempts to improve to 10 of 10 on all attempts this season.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Chargers dating back to the fall of 2019. The Chargers (1-2, 1-2 G-MAC) briefly dip out of conference play next week for their final home game of the season this coming Saturday, April 17, at 2 p.m. against Gannon. Hillsdale also will celebrate its graduating class of 2021 that day, honoring 11 seniors who will play their final home game against the Knights.
Photo by Anthony Lupi
