The Hillsdale College football team has turned things around quickly after an 0-3 start, capturing their third straight win this past Saturday against Walsh to get back to .500.
A critical part of the Chargers' success in recent weeks has come from an often-overlooked phase of the game: special teams.
That phase got its proper due from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference office on Monday afternoon, as the G-MAC announced that Hillsdale's junior linebacker, Nick Goerss, had earned Special Teams Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 4-11. It's Goerss' first Player of the Week award and the third for the Chargers this season.
Against the Cavaliers, Goerss made a critical play for the Chargers in a 20-3 victory. Midway through the third quarter, with Hillsdale clinging to a 7-3 lead over Walsh, the Charger defense forced a punt. On that play, Goerss drove a Walsh blocker into Cavalier punter Trey Crockett's punt, blocking the punt and sending it careening right into the path of teammate Bart Bixler who returned it for an eight-yard touchdown. That score put Hillsdale up 13-3 and gave the Chargers a double-digit cushion.
It's the second blocked punt of the year for the Chargers, who also used a punt block to set up the game-winning touchdown in a 38-31 win over Missouri S&T. Along with excellent performances from kicker Julian Lee and punter Jack Shannon so far, Hillsdale's punt coverage teams are a major part of what makes the Chargers special teams unit one of the top squads in the G-MAC this season and over the past several years in general.
Goerss and the Chargers will go for a fourth straight win this weekend at home against Lake Erie at 1 p.m.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22