Schedule
Hillsdale College (1-2, 1-2 G-MAC) at Ohio Dominican (4-1, 4-1 G-MAC| 12 p.m. ET Saturday, April 24 | Panther Stadium | Columbus, Ohio
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Live Stats vs ODU | Webcast vs ODU
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | ODU Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 ODU Stats | G-MAC Schedule | Game Notes
Last Week
Hillsdale's game against Gannon was cancelled and will not be rescheduled. The week before, the Chargers rallied from a 14-10 halftime deficit with 21 straight third-quarter points to beat Walsh on the road, 31-21, and pick up Hillsdale's first win of the Spring 2021 season. Quarterback Luke Keller led Hillsdale with two rushing touchdowns, Josef Hissom added a rushing touchdown of his own, and Matt Harding returned an interception for a touchdown as well. For a full recap, click here.
Scouting the Opposition
The Panthers have never finished worse than second in the G-MAC since joining the league in 2017, and Ohio Dominican can reach that mark for the fourth straight season with a win over Hillsdale on Saturday in both teams' season finale.
ODU is 4-1 in conference play and has shown a knack for winning close, defensive games. Three of the Panthers' four wins were by a touchdown or less, including handing Findlay its only conference loss on the road on April 10.
Senior linebacker Dauson Dales, one of the best at his position in the G-MAC, spearheads an aggressive ODU linebacking corps. Dales has 64 tackles, an average of 12.8 per game, and nine tackles for loss this season. Redshirt freshmen Michael Powers and Daishaun Hill also have been impact players for the ODU defense, while juniors Ashton Gilkey and Godwin Joe lead the secondary with a combined three interceptions and 10 pass breakups.
The ODU defense has been the star so far and taken pressure off the offense, which has been just good enough most weeks to get the Panthers over the top. Returning starter Evan Ernst has a proven track record at quarterback for the Panthers, and has posted a solid completion percentage this year, connecting with his targets 65.7 percent of the time for 715 yards and four touchdowns, despite being sacked a G-MAC high 18 times in five games.
Senior Frederick Pitts V and freshman Travis Whittaker have split the carries on the ground, combining for six touchdowns and 474 yards rushing and showing flashes of being a lethal one-two combination, but as a whole the team is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry.
Receivers David Turner (31 catches, 284 yds, 3 touchdowns) and James Morgan (24 catches, 169 yards and a touchdown) give Ernst dependable targets. Whether or not the ODU offensive line can keep Ernst clean from the Hillsdale pass rush long enough to find Turner and Morgan for big plays could be the deciding factor in Saturday's game.
Senior Jed Quackenbush gives ODU one of the best special teams units in the conference. He's made all 12 of his extra points and field goals this season, and he's averaging 40.6 yards per punt, with over half his punts downed inside the 20.
Ohio Dominican's head coach is Kelly Cummings, who's led the Panthers to a 34-14 record in five seasons at the helm, including a 2017 G-MAC title and an America's Crossroads Bowl appearance in 2019. An assistant at ODU for several years before taking the top job, Cummings also coached at Toledo, Findlay, Wittenberg and Denison before joining the Panthers in 2013.
The Series
Hillsdale is 3-6 all-time against ODU, though they've outscored the Panthers 235-229 in those nine meetings. ODU won last year's meeting 17-7 in the season finale for both teams and has won five of the last six contests. The Chargers' most recent win over ODU came on Sept. 15, 2018, in a 34-18 road victory over the Panthers.
Other Notes
- Saturday marks the final contest for eight Hillsdale graduating seniors who are looking to go out with one final win: tight end Joey Brenner (#16), defensive back Tommy Froman (#25), wide receiver Alexander Giampietro (#6), wide receiver Jack Murphy (#27), offensive lineman Hunter Pearson (#85), tight end Drew Rubick (#84), and defensive back Michael Valdez (#14). The seniors were a part of 24 wins in their careers and were on the 2018 G-MAC Championship team that reached the Super Region 1 semifinals with just the second Charger football postseason win in the Division II era.
- 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, became the seventh Charger in program history to crack 2,000 receiving yards for his career against Tiffin, and currently has 2,017, 28 behind Nick Gurica (04-08) for sixth place. He's also 10th in career receptions with 121, and needs two touchdown catches to break into the career top 10 for that stat as well. Maloney's 891 receiving yards in the 2018 season are also tenth all-time on Hillsdale's single-season record list.
- Special teams has been an important part of Hillsdale's success under head coach Keith Otterbein, and they're off to a strong start this season. Senior punter Jack Shannon was named the G-MAC Special Teams Player of the Week after setting a G-MAC record for yards per punt (48.4) against Tiffin on April 3, and leads the G-MAC in the stat with an average of 43.5 yards. Freshman Julian Lee is 10 for 10 on kicks, including two made field goals of 23 and 33 yards.
- Sophomore quarterback Luke Keller showcased his legs as well as his arm in Hillsdale's 31-21 win over Walsh on April 10. Keller ran for 126 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first Hillsdale quarterback to rush for over 100 yards since Sam Landry ran for 103 against Saginaw Valley St. on Oct. 26, 2013. His total of 126 yards was the most by a Charger QB on the ground since Aaron Scholl ran for 131 yards against Indianapolis on August 28, 2004. Averaging 65 yards per game on the ground, Keller is currently third among all players in the G-MAC in that stat. He also leads the G-MAC in points per game with 8 thanks to his four rushing touchdowns on the season.
- A senior captain, Alex Anschutz leads the Chargers with 24 tackles. An accomplished student, he's also one of four active football players to earn the President's Scholar-Athlete Award from Hillsdale this spring for maintaining a 3.8 or higher GPA throughout his time with the Chargers, along with Joey Brenner, Cole Johnson and Nathan LaFree.
- 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 115 wins to date, 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.