The Hillsdale College football team went into halftime with a shot of knocking off host Ashland and holding on to the Traveling Trophy for another year, but couldn't overcome their own mistakes in the second half of a 38-14 loss to the Eagles.
The Chargers committed four turnovers, three in the second half, allowing Ashland to blow open a game that had been tied at seven with under a minute to play in the second quarter. The Eagles generated 17 points off of those four turnovers, part of a run of 38 consecutive points by Ashland, 24 in the second half, to put the game out of reach.
Hillsdale got the game off to an excellent start. A gutsy call for an onside kick on the opening kickoff paid off for the Chargers, as kicker Julian Lee caught the Ashland specials teams unit napping and was able to jump on his own onside kick and steal a possession for Hillsdale to start the game.
The Chargers went down the field in five plays on that opening drive, with senior quarterback Garrit Aissen connecting with freshman wideout Sam Lee on a 51-yard deep ball to get Hillsdale in the red zone. Aissen then found the 6-foot-6 Lee again in the corner of the end zone, and Lee made a one-handed grab over an Ashland defender for a five yard touchdown to give Hillsdale a 7-0 lead just two and a half minutes into the contest.
Hillsdale was unable to keep up that momentum offensively, but their defense kept them in the game. Ashland answered back with a long scoring drive late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7, but Hillsdale turned away another long Eagles drive to start the second quarter thanks to a fourth and six stop in Hillsdale territory where Riley Tolsma pressured Ashland quarterback Trevor Bycznski into an incompletion, then chained together back-to-back three and outs
Still tied with 56 seconds to go in the half, Hillsdale got the ball back with a chance to take the lead into halftime, but Ashland picked off a deflected Hillsdale pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead instead.
With the momentum coming out of halftime, Ashland jumped on Hillsdale to start the third quarter, taking advantage of back-to-back fumbles by the Chargers to stretch the lead to double digits, then going on a long scoring drive to take a 24-7 edge. A strip-sack by the Eagles early in the fourth quarter led to another Ashland touchdown, making it 31-7 Eagles and putting the game out of reach.
With 2:45 to play, Hillsdale was able to take advantage of a short field created by an Ashland punting miscue, with Aissen completing a pass to Logan VanEnkenvort for a 22-yard completion to get Hillsdale inside the Ashland 10, and tailback Michael Herzog finishing off the drive with a five yard touchdown run. But, trailing 38-14 with just over a minute to go, the score wasn't enough to get the Chargers back in the game.
Herzog rushed for 76 yards on 22 carries and the touchdown, stretching his streak of consecutive games with a rushing touchdown to four, while Lee was the Chargers' top receiver, reeling in five catches for 93 yards and the first quarter touchdown. Aissen finished 11 of 22 passing for 160 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but was unable to be effective under constant pressure from Ashland's front seven. The senior was sacked seven times, hampering Hillsdale's ability to sustain drives throughout the contest.
Defensively, sophomore Matt Soderdahl led the Chargers with six tackles and also blocked an Ashland field goal try to save three points for Hillsdale in the third quarter. Riley Tolsma and Carson Ingram each added five tackles and a tackle for loss as well for Hillsdale, while Zac Tokie and Daniel Southerington each chipped in two tackles for loss.
The Chargers fall to 0-3, 0-1 in G-MAC play, with the loss. Hillsdale will look to regroup after a rough start that included three difficult games on the road, and try to pull out an upset victory in its first home contest of the season next Saturday. The Chargers welcome rival Findlay on Sept. 23 for a 4 p.m. contest that's also Homecoming weekend for Hillsdale, with many alumni-focused festivities scheduled.
Photo by Emma Purdy