This weekend is a big one for Hillsdale College and for its football team.
The Chargers are celebrating homecoming with an afternoon contest, hosting Missouri S&T in a game that wraps up the first-ever official G-MAC/GLVC crossover.
As a part of homecoming festivities, Hillsdale College will be honoring the 1980 GLIAC Championship football team in a pre-game ceremony, and also crowning this year's Homecoming King and Queen at halftime.
The game is also Hillsdale's 11th annual Coach To Cure MD game. The Chargers are partnering with Parent Project MD to help raise awareness and money for the fight against Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and are asking any fan who's willing and able to visit parentprojectmd.org and find out how to make a donation to help combat this terrible disorder.
Schedule
Missouri S&T (2-1, 0-0 GLVC) at Hillsdale College (0-3, 0-0 G-MAC) | 4 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 25 | Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium | Hillsdale, MI
Follow/Watch
Live Stats | Webcast | Tickets
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | S&T Roster | 2021 Hillsdale Stats | 2021 S&T Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings | Game Notes
Last Game
Playing without multiple starters, the Chargers fell into a deep 38-3 third quarter hole on the road at undefeated Truman St. Making the first start of his career, sophomore quarterback Jake Burger overcame a slow start to lead a spirited fourth quarter comeback, leading long scoring drives that led to touchdown passes to Isaac TeSlaa and Michael Harding in the final period. An interception return for a touchdown by defensive end Ryan Sellars got the Chargers within two touchdowns. Hillsdale had the ball with under three minutes to play and a chance to cut the Bulldogs' lead to a single possession before a turnover ended the Chargers' comeback bid and sealed a 38-24 defeat.
Scouting the Opposition
The Miners enter Saturday's game with one of the highest-powered offenses in the country, averaging a GLVC-leading 51 points and 555.3 yards per game through three weeks.
Brennan Sims is the listed starter but injuries and other necessities have seen S&T use three quarterbacks this season, all effectively. Luke Hertzler was the starter for the Miners last week and was 21 for 35 for 361 yards, four touchdowns and no interception in a 51-45 overtime victory over Wayne St., while Sims started the season opener and was 22 of 41 for 317 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in a 34-31 loss to South Dakota Mines. Max Conard has also seen time at QB for the Miners, with 147 yards and three touchdowns in a 71-0 win over Arkansas Baptist in Week 2.
The Miners also have a variety of weapons surrounding their quarterbacks. Aaron Moya is the team's leading rusher with 248 yards, four touchdowns and a 6.9 ypc, but Josh Sanders, Gideon Niboh and Payton McAlister all have over 100 yards on the ground and a combined four touchdowns as well. Breon Michel is S&T's clear top receiver with 411 yards and seven touchdowns on 17 catches, averaging 137 receiving yards a game.
Defensively, with the exception of a shut-out of first-year NAIA program Arkansas Baptist in Week 2, S&T has had trouble getting stops, conceding at least 34 points in regulation in each of their contests against NCAA Division II foes. Playing out of a base 3-4 defense, the Miners do have playmakers. Linebacker Ben Straatman leads S&T in tackles with 26, safety Justin Onwugbufor has 20 tackles, and cornerback Cameron Clemons has 14 tackles, an interception and six pass break ups.
The Miners have seven sacks on the year, but five came in the blow-out victory over Arkansas Baptist. Generating more consistent pressure is a priority for an S&T front seven that's looking to tighten up to provide support for an offense that could be good enough to put the Miners in contention for the program's first playoff berth in its history.
S&T is solid in special teams. Kicker Zack Glaess is 5 of 7 on the year on field goals with two misses inside 40 yards but a long of 52, and Chase Cole is averaging 40.4 yards per punt. Niboh has a kickoff return for a touchdown already this season.
The Miners are coached by Todd Drury, who is now in his third year with the program and has led S&T to back-to-back winning seasons. Drury was named head coach in 2019 after six years with the program as an assistant, including three as the defensive coordinator. A graduate of Evangel University who played for the Crusaders, Drury was also a coach at Evangel and at Midland University in Nebraska before arriving at S&T in 2015.
The Series
The Chargers and Bulldogs have met exactly once, back in 1968, though at that time Missouri S&T was known as Missouri-Rolla. On Oct. 5 in a contest played in Rolla, Missouri, Hillsdale took a 24-16 victory. The Miners would go on to finish 4-6 and win two games in the MIAA that year for the first time since 1963, while the Chargers would go 6-3, finishing the year on a four-game winning streak.
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 (36) and tackles per game (12), and is currently ranked fifth nationally among all of Division II in the stat. Anschutz is not the only Charger defender standing out – Zach Herzog, his teammate, is close behind in the G-MAC with 31 total tackles and is also tied for 15th nationally.
- Isaac TeSlaa has been a breakout star for the Chargers in the last two weeks, accounting for 166 receiving yards and a touchdown against Indianapolis, then adding 90 receiving yards and another score against Truman last weekend. The son of former Charger receiver Mark TeSlaa, who led Hillsdale in receiving yards in 1996, TeSlaa's 256 receiving yards in two games are the most by a Charger receiver since teammate Konnor Maloney had 260 receiving yards against Indianapolis and Lake Erie in back-to-back weeks in September of 2019.
- Sophomore quarterback Jake Burger's 213 passing yards in his first start at Truman last Saturday were the most by a Charger quarterback in his debut as a starter since Chance Stewart's 294 yards in a 34-29 loss to Ohio Dominican on Oct. 10, 2015.
- 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 116 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.