Fresh off a thrilling Homecoming victory, the Hillsdale College football team faces another stiff test this coming Saturday.
The Chargers travel to Tiffin to take on the 24th-ranked Dragons, the two-time defending G-MAC champions and the current favorite to win a third straight title.
At 1-3 overall, the Chargers are underdogs, but an upset could be just the springboard Hillsdale needs to set up a big run in G-MAC play for the rest of the season.
Hillsdale College (1-3, 0-0 G-MAC) at #24 Tiffin (3-1, 0-0 G-MAC) | 4 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 2 | Frost-Kalnow Stadium | Tiffin, OH
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Additional Info:
Hillsdale Roster | Tiffin Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Tiffin Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings | Game Notes
Last Game:
Hillsdale earned a wild win on Homecoming over visiting Missouri S&T, rallying from a 24-7 second quarter deficit for a 38-31 victory. After the 10:05 mark in the second quarter, the Chargers outscored the Miners 31-7 the rest of the way, and held Missouri S&T to just 89 second-half yards. Thrust into action in the third quarter, third-string quarterback Garrit Aissen led two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter and completed a 12-yard pass to Michael Harding for the game-winning touchdown, after a critical blocked punt by Bart Bixler gave the Chargers the ball deep in S&T territory.
Scouting the Opposition:
After a brutal non-conference schedule, the road doesn't get any easier for the Chargers as they begin G-MAC play on the road against the two-time defending champions.
Hillsdale's ability to upset Tiffin depends in no small part on their ability to slow down senior quarterback Nick Watson. The defending G-MAC Player of the Year has nine touchdowns in three previous contests against the Chargers, and his dual-threat ability has made him arguably the G-MAC's top quarterback in each of the last two seasons.
Watson's ability to scramble makes a solid rushing attack utilizing tailbacks Darius Pinnix and Baden Pinson even more dangerous. The Dragons also have two of the G-MAC's top receivers in Jalen Thomas and Anthony Lowe, who've combined for over 600 yards and seven touchdowns in four contests. Three returning All-G-MAC players anchor a strong offensive line for Tiffin, led by senior center Trent Clark.
Defensively, the Dragons have been even more impressive so far in 2021, led by a ferocious pass rush from defensive ends Charlie Cleveland and Latrell Robinson, both first-team All-G-MAC players in the spring season. Senior Brandon Burks anchors a tough linebacking corps, and starting safety Jesse Johnson is tied for the conference lead with two interceptions as well.
Tiffin has an excellent special teams unit led by first team All-G-MAC kicker David Orlando, who is also the team's punter and second in the G-MAC in average yards per punt.
The Dragons are coached by Cris Reisert, who is in his third season as head coach at Tiffin and has led the Dragons to back-to-back G-MAC titles in his first two campaigns. Prior to taking the job with Tiffin, Reisert was the offensive coordinator at Ohio Dominican, where he helped the Panthers win the 2017 G-MAC title, and he also spent time as an assistant at Elon and Ball State University.
The Series:
Hillsdale holds an 8-6 lead in the series with Tiffin across games in both the G-MAC and GLIAC eras for the two schools, but Tiffin has a 3-1 edge in recent years, including a 28-7 win over the Chargers this past spring. The two teams first met on Oct. 23, 2004, in a 15-13 Tiffin victory. Hillsdale's most recent victory over the Dragons came on Nov. 3, 2018, when Hillsdale finished off an undefeated G-MAC season and clinched the outright conference crown with a 48-26 win at home.
Other Notes:
- Hillsdale returns 18 starters from the Spring 2021 season, as well as its kicker and punter, giving the team an exciting amount of experience to draw on. All three of Hillsdale's first team All-G-MAC honorees are back – offensive lineman Cole Johnson, defensive tackle Nate Chambers, and safety Zach Herzog – as well as 10 of the Chargers' 11 All-Conference players overall.
- A standout for the previous three seasons for the Chargers, Alex Anschutz is making his final season his best yet. Hillsdale's STAR, a linebacker/safety hybrid position, currently leads the entire G-MAC in tackles (42), and is tied for 10th in all of Division II in the stat. Anschutz is not the only Charger defender standing out – Zach Herzog, his teammate, is fifth in the G-MAC with 34 total tackles and is also in the top 50 nationally.
- Redshirt freshman kicker Julian Lee was recognized as the G-MAC Special Teams Player of the Week after the win over Missouri S&T, where he hit a 30-yard field goal and all five PATs he attempted. Lee is 4 for 4 on field goals so far this season, one of just eight players nationally to be perfect on multiple attempts, and has yet to miss a kick in his career at Hillsdale, with 24 straight made PATs and six straight made field goals in eight games.
- After three games with less that 100 yards rushing, Hillsdale broke out as a team against Missouri S&T, rushing for 196 yards in the victory. That performance plus a strong defensive effort in the second half helped the Chargers dominate time of possession, holding the ball for 36 minutes and 50 seconds – the biggest advantage for Hillsdale in that stat since the Chargers had the ball for 40 minutes and 30 seconds in a 37-30 win over Northwood on Oct. 12, 2019.
- Matt Harding's 89-yard interception return against Missouri S&T came up a yard short of the second pick-six of the senior's career, but it is the second-longest interception return by a G-MAC player this season, behind Preston Hodges' 97-yard return for Walsh against West Liberty. It's also the longest interception return by a Hillsdale College player since Tim Mustapha's 95-yard touchdown return against Ashland on Sept. 11, 1999, over 22 years ago.
- The Charger football program brought home an impressive and historic award haul this summer. For the first time in program history, Hillsdale had three players earn CoSIDA Academic All-American honors – Johnson, senior safety Alex Anschutz and senior wide receiver Konnor Maloney, becoming just the sixth, seventh and eighth players in program history to receive the prestigious honor. All three return this fall. Additionally, 2021 graduate Joey Brenner was named the program's first G-MAC Scholar Athlete of the Year as well, and 79 of Hillsdale's 103 players posted a 3.0 or better GPA for the 2020-21 school year.
- The Charger football program has long been known for its strong family tradition, and that continues in 2021 with two sets of brothers in the starting lineup. Senior cornerback Matt Harding and sophomore tight end Michael Harding (Livonia, MI/Detroit Catholic Central) will start on opposite sides of the ball, following in the footsteps of older brother Steve Harding, who graduated from Hillsdale in 2014. On the offensive line, twin brothers Nick and Ben Affholter (Quincy, MI/Reading) will hold down the two guard spots. Both are the sons of Brad Affholter, a multi-year starter on the Charger offensive line in the mid-90s. There are two more sets of brothers on the team – Zach Herzog and his brother, Mike, a tailback, and Konnor Maloney and his brother Jacob, a defensive back. Additionally, H-back Calvin McNellie is joined by his brother, Carson, a student manager for the team in 2021.
- With 117 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.