Owners of a three-game winning streak heading into this Saturday's action, the Hilsdale College football team is one of the hottest teams in the G-MAC and one of three teams tied for the conference lead six games into the season. The Chargers will look to continue to build on that momentum with a home contest against Lake Erie on Saturday.
Along with the football game, the Chargers are also Lacing Up 4 Pediatric Cancer to support the Go4theGoal Foundation this weekend. Beginning in 2011, professional, college and youth teams have participated in raising funds and awareness to help combat pediatric cancer, the #1 disease killer of children. The Charger are among the over half a million athletes who have supported this cause since its inception, wearing yellow shoelaces during this weekend's game. $4 from every pair of laces worn today and 100% of all donations directly benefit kids and families in the state where the funds are raised. To find out more info, please visit Go4theGoal.org.
Schedule
Lake Erie (3-3, 0-2 G-MAC) at Hillsdale College (3-3, 2-0 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 16 | Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium | Hillsdale, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Lake Erie Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Lake Erie Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings | Game Notes
Last Game
The Chargers picked up their third straight victory with a 20-3 home win over Walsh. Hillsdale's defense forced the Cavaliers into five turnovers, including three interceptions by Jackson Gillock, and the Chargers returned a blocked punt for a touchdown as well. Although Hillsdale was heavily outgained in total yards by Walsh, quarterback Garrit Aissen threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Evan Shafer and ran in a second score himself to help the Chargers pull away.
Scouting the Opposition
Lake Erie and Hillsdale enter Saturday's contest as two teams heading in opposite directions. While Hillsdale is riding a three-game winning streak after opening the season with three consecutive losses, the Storm have lost their last three contests after opening the season with three straight victories.
The Storm have struggled defensively the last three weeks – giving up more points in each of their last three losses than in any of their first three wins. Lake Erie has struggled to consistently pressure the quarterback or generate takeaways in each of the last three games, and that's made getting stops when it counts tough.
Lake Erie returns two third-team All-G-MAC players in the secondary in Abdullah Yaseen and Jayme Vicente-Colon, and leading tackler Cameren Grodhaus also plays at safety. The Storm will lean on those strong athletes in the secondary as it tries to get back to the unit that looked so solid in the team's three opening wins.
Offensively, the Storm are dangerous despite recent struggles. Junior quarterback Gerald Gardner is an experienced and talented signal-caller who's completed 60.8% of his passes this year and is capable of big plays.
Gardner can lean on an experienced receiving corps, with playmakers in Peyton Brown and Nate Dantley as well as tight end Josh Hufstetler. While passing hasn't been an issue, the Storm have struggled to run the ball so far this season, averaging just 97.3 yards per game. Finding more balance offensively will be key against a Hillsdale defense that's looked increasingly stout in the last three weeks.
Kicker Justin Smith, who's 4 for 4 on the year in field goals with a long of 34, leads a solid Storm special teams unit. Punter Hamady Diallo averages 39.7 yards per punt as well.
Lake Erie is coached by Reilly Murphy, who is 6-14 and in his third season leading the Storm. Murphy came to Lake Erie after a long career as an assistant coach, most recently at Fayetteville State in 2018 but also including stops at Dixie State, Western New Mexico, Bethel, Notre Dame College and Grossmont College.
The Series
The Chargers have never lost to Lake Erie in eight meetings dating back to both teams' membership in the GLIAC, and Hillsdale has outscored the Storm 348-164 in those eight contests. Hillsdale has won by double digits in each of the last five meeting with Lake Erie, including a 34-14 win in 2019 in the two teams' most recent meeting.
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.
- With three interceptions against Walsh on Saturday, redshirt freshman cornerback Jackson Gillock joined an exclusive club of just nine Chargers with three or more interceptions in a single game, most recently Drake Temple against Tiffin in 2019. Gillock's performance also tied Temple and two other G-MAC players for a conference record for most interceptions in a game. With five interceptions on the year, the Rockwall, Texas native is tied for the NCAA DII lead in the stat. Tim Mustapha has the Charger single game school record with four interceptions against Wayne State on Oct. 14, 2000.
- 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, is second in the G-MAC in tackles (63), and is tied for ninth in all of Division II in the stat. Anschutz is not the only Charger defender standing out – Zach Herzog, his teammate, is eighth in the G-MAC with 46 total tackles.
- By scoring and total yardage, Hillsdale's defense is middle-of-the-pack in the G-MAC – fourth in scoring defense (23.7) and seventh in yardage (388.5). But the Chargers are dominating in two critical areas – turnovers and pressure. Hillsdale leads the G-MAC with 11 interceptions, and along with Gillock's five, Joe Schneider also is in the top three individually in the conference in the stat. Hillsdale's 16 sacks also tie for the G-MAC lead, with both Nate Chambers (five sacks) and Kyle Parran (3.5 sacks) in the top five individually as well.
- 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 119 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.