At 0-4 entering Saturday's home contest against Northwood, the Hillsdale College football team had its back against the wall against the Timberwolves, trying to get back on track before it's too late in the season.
And in desperate need of a win, the Chargers played like it throughout a 40-18 romp over Northwood, landing haymaker after haymaker to turn a competitive game in the third quarter into a rout for their first win of 2023.
Hillsdale made a statement of intent early, getting a stop on Northwood's opening drive and then taking the the ball 77 yards on their first possession and punching it in the end zone on a 10 yard touchdown run by Logan VanEnkevort. It was an impressive drive helmed by senior quarterback Jake Burger, who got the start in place of the injured Garrit Aissen and made several plays in the opening stanza, including a 30 yard scramble on second and 20 at the 50 yard line to help set up VanEnkevort's touchdown run.
Northwood tied the game up late in the first quarter, taking advantage of a short field after stopping the Chargers on downs to punch in a 19-yard rushing score, but the Chargers retook the lead in the second quarter, as senior tailback Michael Herzog capped a 60-yard drive with a rushing touchdown from two yards out to put Hillsdale up 14-7 with 7:03 to play in the half. The Chargers added to their lead right before halftime, turning an interception on a batted ball at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Zachary Tokie into a 27-yard field goal by Julian Lee to take a 17-7 edge into the break.
Hillsdale began to pull away for good in the third quarter, answering a chip-shot field goal by the Timberwolves with a 65-yard rushing touchdown by true freshman Shea Ruddy, who got the ball on a jet sweep and eluded multiple pursuers on his way to the end zone to give Hillsdale a 24-10 lead. The Chargers nearly added another touchdown on their next possession, but were stopped on downs at the Northwood three-yard line. Hillsdale didn't come up empty-handed in the end, however, as Chargers defensive tackle Riley Tolsma brought down Northwood's quarterback in the end zone after a bad snap to secure a safety and a 26-10 edge for the Chargers.
The Chargers built on a commanding second-half lead with two passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Burger connected with reshirt freshman tight end Josh Lee on a seven yard touchdown pass for Lee's first receiving TD of his career and Burger's first touchdown since 2021, giving Hillsdale a 33-10 lead with 6:05 to play, and after Northwood responded with a passing touchdown of their own to keep hope alive, backup quarterback Gordie LaFontaine connected with Ruddy on a 21-yard receiving touchdown in the back right corner of the end zone with 40 seconds to play to end any hope of a comeback.
After turnovers cost Hillsdale dearly in each of their four losses to start the season, Hillsdale played a flawless game on that front against the Timberwolves, finishing the contest with zero lost fumbles or intercepted passes while forcing three Northwood turnovers. Burger was controlled and managed the game well in his first start since 2021, going 6 of 19 for 107 yards but avoiding dangerous throws and also keeping the chains moving with his feet with 55 yards on 13 carries.
Herzog stretched his streak of games with a rushing touchdown to seven dating back to last year and also led the Chargers with 104 yards on 27 carries, while VanEnkevort chipped in 29 yards and a touchdown on four carries on the ground, and three catches for 48 yards as well. Ruddy followed up his 100-plus yard receiving performance against Findlay last week by scoring a rushing and a receiving touchdown on his only two touches of the game for the Chargers.
Defensively, Tolsma put up a dominant performance on the line for Hillsdale, finishing with 11 tackles, including three for loss, two sacks and the safety. Redshirt freshman linebacker Jacob Vance had 12 tackles and safety Nolan Strake nine for the Chargers, Carson Ingram picked off a pass that was deflected by Jack Trachet and Ryan Niksa, and Drew Ransom recovered a fumble as well for Hillsdale.
On special teams, Lee was perfect on the day with a 27 yard field goal and four extra points, while freshman Evan Mick also converted an extra point in his first-ever game action for the Chargers.
The victory is Hillsdale's ninth straight over Northwood, as the Chargers have won every meeting against the Timberwolves since 2009. Hillsdale (1-4, 1-2 G-MAC) will look to ride the momentum of today's win into perhaps the toughest contest remaining on the Chargers' schedule, a road showdown at undefeated and G-MAC leading Tiffin at noon next Saturday. The Chargers will look to play spoiler and introduce some chaos into the G-MAC title race with an upset of the high-flying Dragons.
Photo by Hope Canlas