The Hillsdale College football team has faced a lot of adversity this season, and senior wide receiver Konnor Maloney is no exception.
Maloney is in the top 10 in career catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns in Hillsdale history, but a series of injuries limited him to just four appearances in 10 games and three total catches in his senior season leading into Saturday's season finale at home against Ohio Dominican.
But, mirroring the Chargers as a whole, Maloney kept battling through adversity and saved his best for last.
In his final home game wearing the Charger blue, Maloney was the difference as Hillsdale rallied for a 21-17 win over the visiting Panthers to lock up a share of second place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The senior finished with eight catches for 108 yards and all three Charger touchdowns, including a deep fade to the left corner of the end zone that gave Hillsdale the game-winning score with 43 seconds to play.
The Chargers trailed 17-7 entering the fourth quarter and were outgained by Ohio Dominican 435-231 in total yardage, but stunned the Panthers by forcing ODU to come up empty on multiple long drives, and making the most of their chances offensively.
Hillsdale began the comeback with 14:39 to play, going on a 10 play, 73 yard drive that took 5:35 off the clock. The Chargers took advantage of a pass interference call in the end zone to set up a three yard pass from sophomore quarterback Garrit Aissen to Maloney to cut the ODU lead to 17-14.
On the ensuing ODU drive, the Charger defense stepped up to force a three and out. Senior safety Joe Schneider broke up a potential first down completion, with fellow seniors Kyle Parran and Nate Chambers putting pressure on Panthers quarterback Evan Ernst to force an errant throw.
Hillsdale got the ball back with 7:21 to play down three and worked the ensuing game-winning drive to perfection, taking six minutes and thirty-eight seconds off the clock on a 17 play, 86 yard possession. On 2nd and 7 with just 43 seconds to play, Aissen threw it up for Maloney in the corner of the end zone, and the senior receiver was able to drag a toe to secure the game-winning touchdown catch.
ODU attempted to mount a game-winning drive with 43 seconds to play, reaching the Hillsdale 46, but safety Zach Herzog broke up a Panther Hail Mary to seal the victory.
That the Chargers were even in a position to pull out the victory was itself a minor miracle that involved several crucial defensive and special teams plays. ODU was dominant early on, outgaining the Chargers 136 to 18 and scoring 10 quick points, and looked to be on the way to a decisive victory.
But Hillsdale came through with big stops in the second quarter, forcing a missed field goal on ODU's first drive of the period, and later getting an interception from Matt Harding that set up the Chargers at the ODU 26 and led to an 11 yard passing touchdown from Aissen to Maloney to get the Charger on the board.
Although every metric said that the Panthers were dominating the contest, that meant Hillsdale went into the half at just a 10-7 deficit -- opening the door for the Chargers' late comeback.
Aissen finished the game 15 for 28 passing for 158 yards, three touchdowns and zero turnovers, and Jack Robinson and Austen Williams each rushed for 29 yards on the ground to lead the Charger rushing attack.
Defensively, Hillsdale got stops when it needed to, thanks in part to a combined eight tackles for loss as a team. Senior Alex Anschutz led the Chargers with 12 tackles, 1.5 for loss, junior Kyle Kudla chipped in nine tackles, and sophomore Zach Urda added eight tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
Hillsdale's defensive line had a big game, combining for 4.5 tackles for loss. Chambers led the unit with seven tackles, two for loss, and Joe Royer added 1.5 tackles for loss as well.
Last, but not least, senior Jack Shannon had another outstanding day, averaging 46.7 yards per punt on seven punts to just barely outduel ODU's Jed Quackenbush, who finished with 45.8 yards per punt, in a battle of two of the nation's best punters. That had a huge impact on field position and helped keep ODU from running away with the game early.
The Chargers finish the regular season at 6-5, guaranteeing themselves a .500 or better record for the sixth-straight season and a tie for second place in the G-MAC with Tiffin, behind champion Findlay, who won 26-21 over the Dragons on Saturday.
Depending on how things shake out on Sunday, there's a chance that Hillsdale's season might not be over. If Findlay gets into the NCAA Division II playoffs, Hillsdale would receive the conference's bid to the America's Crossroads Bowl in Hobart, Indiana on Dec. 4, as the Chargers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Tiffin and would be the highest finishing team in the conference not in the playoffs. That would set up a potential rematch with Indianapolis, who finished second in the GLVC and won a 35-31 game against the Chargers on Sept. 11.
The NCAA Playoff pairings will be announced at 5 p.m. on Sunday, with the announcement of the Bowl matchup to follow shortly after.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22
