For the first time since 1960, the Hillsdale College football team is going bowling -- and getting a rare chance at redemption as well.
The Chargers played one of their worst halves of the season in a Sept. 18 contest at Truman St., falling behind 31-3 to the host Bulldogs by halftime. Hillsdale outscored Truman 21-7 in the second half, but the lead was too big to overcome.
Hillsdale will get another shot at Truman St. this Saturday in the second edition of the America's Crossroads Bowl, held in Hobart, Indiana. Hillsdale, the runner-up in the G-MAC, meets the Bulldogs, the GLVC representative in another battle between the two neighboring conferences, which also hold a crossover series in the regular season.
Full information on Saturday's game and how to follow along is below.
Schedule
Truman St. (8-3, 4-3 GLVC) at Hillsdale College (6-5, 5-2 G-MAC) | 1 p.m. CT Saturday, Dec. 4 | Brickyard Stadium | Hobart, IN
Follow/Watch
Live Stats | Webcast | Tickets | Parking Map | Game will also be broadcast on Comcast 900 in Michigan and Comcast/Xfinity 81 in Indiana
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Truman Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 Truman Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings | GLVC Standings | Game Notes
Last Game
The Chargers rallied from a 17-7 deficit with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio Dominican on Senior Day on Nov. 13, with senior Konnor Maloney catching the game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds to play. Maloney caught all three touchdown passes on the day for the Chargers, who were outgained 435 to 231 in total offense but committed zero turnovers and made several crucial defensive stops to secure the victory and clinch their fifth straight .500 or better season, as well as second place in the G-MAC and a berth to the America's Crossroads Bowl.
Scouting the Opposition
For just the second time in post-WWII Hillsdale College football history, the Chargers will get a rematch with an opponent they played earlier in the season, this time in their first bowl game in 61 years.
Hillsdale lost the first contest to Truman on Sept. 18 on the road, 38-24, unable to dig themselves out of a 38-3 hole despite a furious late comeback attempt.
The Chargers' main failure in that contest was being unable to slow down the linchpin of the Bulldogs' offense, sophomore tailback Cody Schrader, who rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown on 12.3 yards per carry.
Forced to stack the box to slow down Schrader, who enters Saturday's bowl game with an NCAA DII best 1,855 rushing yards, Hillsdale's defense was light against the pass, and Truman St. redshirt freshman Nolan Hair took advantage with one of his best games of the season, going 16 of 23 through the air for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
The Chargers will look to do a better job against the run on Saturday. They were missing starting middle linebacker Kyle Kudla with an illness the first time the two teams played, and Kudla will be back for Saturday's game, giving the Charger defense a critical reinforcement.
While Hair was excellent against a defense tuned to stop the run the first time around, he's struggled in each of Truman's three losses. If Hillsdale can force the Bulldogs into more third and longs, a strong Charger defensive line will have more opportunities to pressure Hair and force him into mistakes. But that's a big if against Schrader, who's been held under 100 yards rushing just once this season.
Defensively against Hillsdale the first time around, Truman took advantage of a Charger quarterback making the first game appearance of his career in sophomore Jake Burger, sacking him four times and building a big lead before Burger could settle into the position.
An injury to Burger and opening day starter Luke Keller have forced Hillsdale to go with sophomore Garrit Aissen as the starter. Aissen has one key advantage against the Bulldogs over Burger on Sept. 18, and that's the fact that he's got seven starts under his belt and has had time to take command of the offense, with a 5-2 record as a starter, 13 passing touchdowns to 6 interceptions and a 52.6 completion percentage.
The Chargers will have to deal with a stingy Truman defense that's at or near the top of the GLVC in several categories. A particular challenge is the Bulldogs' pass rush, which features eight players with two or more sacks on the season and is led by five sacks from defensive tackle Michael Neisler.
Linebacker Isaiah Estes has a team-high 85 tackles on the year for Truman, while safety Ben Watson has 80. Cornerbacks Ben Thomas and Ryan Olivas each have three interceptions and 12 pass breakups apiece to lead the Truman secondary.
Truman has a solid special teams unit. Kicker Josh Scheiderer is erratic, making just 7 of his 13 field goal opportunities, but has a strong leg, with a long of 46, and has been accurate on kicks of 40-49 yards, making 4 of 6 tries. Punter Taylor Cornish averages 40.38 yards per punt with seven punts over 50 yards and 18 inside the 20. Kick returner Jaylen Jefferson is one of the best in the GLVC, with two returns for touchdowns and a 33.73 average.
The Series
Prior to this season, the Chargers and Bulldogs had met exactly once, back in 1966, though at that time Truman State had a different name, Northeast Missouri State. In a mid-October contest played at Hillsdale, the Bulldogs took a 26-13 victory, part of a 3-1 start, but it would be the final game the Bulldogs won as Truman went 0-5 the rest of the way to finish 3-6 overall. The Chargers finished a similar 3-5-1 overall. Including this season's results, Truman has a 2-0 edge in the series.
Other Notes
- The last time the Chargers played in a true postseason bowl game was on Nov. 26, 1960, in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, when Hillsdale beat Iowa State Teachers College (now Northern Iowa) 17-6 to win the Mineral Water Bowl. Jim Drake returned a punt for a touchdown and Bill Knapp ran for a 61-yard score to give the Chargers the victory. Hillsdale is 1-2 all-time in bowl games, falling to host Evansville in 22-7 in the Refrigerator Bowl on Dec. 3, 1949, and falling to eventual small-school national champion Pittsburg St. 27-26 in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 21, 1957 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- The Charger defense has been one of the best in terms of takeaways all season long. Hillsdale led all of NCAA Division II in regular season interceptions with 20 on the year, six more than any other G-MAC team. Along with six fumble recoveries, Hillsdale's defense has 28 total takeaways this year, in the top 10 in Division II. Redshirt freshman Jackson Gillock led the Chargers with five interceptions in the regular season, one of nine different Chargers to intercept a pass this season.
- Senior defensive tackle Nate Chambers is having a beastly season in his final go-around with Hillsdale this season. Chambers had 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss in his first three seasons combined entering the year, but in 11 games entering the bowl he's added 6.5 more sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss to those totals, both marks that are in the top five in the G-MAC and place him inside the top 50 nationally in Division II in both stats. Chambers earned first-team All-G-MAC honors for the second-straight season after his performance this year.
- A standout for the previous three seasons for the Chargers, Alex Anschutz is making his final season his best yet. A STAR (linebacker/safety hybrid) for Hillsdale and a first-team All-G-MAC honoree. finished the regular season second in the G-MAC in tackles (106), and is tied for 12th in all of Division II in the stat.
- Junior safety Zach Herzog also had a monster year for the Chargers with 98 tackles, finishing sixth in the G-MAC and in the top 30 nationally in the stat. He also earned first-team All-G-MAC honors for the third straight year, joining Trey Brock, Brett Pasche, Joe Glendening, Tom Korte and Tim Mustapha in an exclusive group of just six Charger players since 1960 to earn first-team All-Conference honors three straight seasons.
- Charger specialists have had an excellent season so far, helping Hillsdale to a huge edge in the third phase of the game. Senior Jack Shannon is currently third in NCAA Division II in average yards per punt with 44.75 and a long of 69, while kicker Julian Lee has made 7 of 8 field goals with a long of 43, tied for the fifth-best percentage in the country. The Chargers also have a kick return touchdown, a total of eight blocked kicks and punts, and three fumble recoveries on special teams as well this season.
- Discipline and execution are always important for winning football games, and the Chargers have been one of the least penalized teams in the country this year. Their 39 penalties in 10 games is the lowest in the G-MAC and fourth lowest in the nation in Division II. Two of the four teams ahead of the Chargers in the stat have also played fewer games than Hillsdale has this season.
- 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. Two of those players, Johnson and Anschutz, have been named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District team for the fall and have a chance to become the first two-time Academic All-Americans in program history. Senior safety Joe Schneider also earned Academic All-District honors this fall as well.
- 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) 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 Affholter and Benjamin Affholter (Quincy, MI/Reading) 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 122 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.