If the Hillsdale College football team didn't quite have its back to the wall heading into this Saturday's trip to Northwood, it was close to it.
But over the last few seasons, the Chargers have done some of their best work when people have counted them out, and this weekend was no different.
Hillsdale dominated every facet of the game in a 41-7 demolition of the host Timberwolves, scoring on their opening possession and leading wire-to-wire while outscoring Northwood 28-0 after halftime to put the game away.
The biggest factor in the Chargers' victory was a much-improved offensive effort. Coming off a shutout loss to Tiffin the week before, and having failed to break 300 total yards in three of its last four games, Hillsdale knew it needed a better effort on that side of the ball going forward.
Against the Timberwolves, Hillsdale set the tone early behind a huge game from senior tailback Michael Herzog, who rushed for a career-high 159 yards on 23 carries and scored the Chargers' first three offensive touchdowns to give Hillsdale a lead it would never relinquish.
Behind a great performance from the Chargers' offensive line, Herzog was able to build up momentum and proved to be tough to bring down, breaking and spinning out of tackles on several long gains. The senior rushed for touchdowns of five yards and one yard in the first half to help Hillsdale take a 13-0 lead.
When Northwood closed the first half with its only touchdown drive of the game to go into halftime down just 13-7, Herzog also helped Hillsdale put together the perfect response to break the game wide open. Coming out of the half, Hillsdale put together a six play, 65 yard drive, with four of those six plays designed as runs for Herzog. The senior repaid his coaches' faith with 58 of Hillsdale's 65 yards on the drive, including a two-yard run for his third touchdown of the game that was his third of the contest, and gave Hillsdale a 20-7 lead that sucked any remaining momentum out of Northwood's sails.
It's the first three-touchdown game for a Charger running back since David Graham scored four against Kentucky Wesleyan in 2019, and keeps Herzog in the hunt to be Hillsdale's first 1,000 yard back since Graham did it that year.
While Hillsdale's run game was a huge story on the day for the Chargers, it was only as effective as it was because it was paired to an effective passing game as well. Hillsdale threw for 223 yards through the air behind a composed, efficient performance from senior quarterback Luke Keller, who was 16 of 23 for 214 yards and connected on two second-half touchdowns -- a three-yard pass to the back of the end zone to tight end Michael Harding, and a 25-yard strike to Isaac TeSlaa, that both helped Hillsdale pull away.
TeSlaa finished with seven catches for 96 yards to lead the Charger receivers, but thanks to improved health in Hillsdale's receiving corps, the Chargers were able to get several players involved. Nine different players had catches for the Chargers in the contest, the most this season, including three catches for 30 yards by Tim Boyd, and a 24-yard catch by sophomore Austen Williams, his first of the season as he works his way back into the lineup after injury trouble in the first six games.
In his first full drive of the season, backup quarterback Garrit Aissen also led the Chargers to a late touchdown, capping a 12 play drive with a one-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper as well.
All told, Hillsdale finished with 496 yards of total offense, its best mark this season, and never punted or turned the ball over. Not to be outdone, the defense also had one of Hillsdale's best performances in 2022, holding Northwood to just 202 yards of total offense.
Senior linebacker Kyle Kudla had another big outing for the Chargers, with eight tackles and a sack, while sophomore defensive end Riley Tolsma was disruptive in multiple ways, finishing with four tackles, three for loss, a sack, and an interception when he plucked a batted ball at the line out of the air to end a promising Northwood drive.
Defensive ends Brant Carter and Trevor DeGroote each added a sack as well for the Chargers, and Josh Peroni chipped in six tackles and a pass breakup to aid a dominant performance by Hillsdale's defense.
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Chargers and gets Hillsdale back above .500 at 4-3 overall, 3-2 in G-MAC play. Hillsdale has a huge game coming up next week against arch-rival Findlay at home, as the Chargers look to maintain momentum with a tough closing stretch looming. Kickoff against the Oilers is at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan