The Hillsdale College football team scored more than 50 points for the first time since 2009 in its 51-24 homecoming rout of the Michigan Tech Huskies on Saturday afternoon. The Chargers’ offense stole the show, but the defense showed the potential Hillsdale must sustain to remain a top team in the GLIAC throughout this season.
The final defensive numbers weren’t great — the Chargers gave up 425 yards of total offense and allowed the Huskies to convert seven of their 14 third-down tries. In the second quarter, the Chargers gave up three consecutive scoring drives to the Huskies that took up 12:46 of game time. But in the second half, the Chargers forced four turnovers and held the Huskies to a touchdown.
Hillsdale’s defensive adjustments from the first half to the second half allowed the offense to score 24 unanswered points, turning a tight game into a laugher.
“If you play scared, if you play timid, people are going to take advantage of it,” head coach Keith Otterbein said. “As the game progressed they gained confidence and that’s really what a performance like this does. It gives tremendous confidence.”
After a slow first quarter, the Huskies burned Hillsdale’s defense in the second. Michigan Tech scored 17 points in the second quarter alone and converted six of their nine third downs in the first half. Hillsdale’s 17-3 second-quarter lead shrunk to 27-24 with 5:06 remaining in the third quarter. Junior linebacker Jay Rose said the Chargers were doing well against the run but struggling to break up pass windows.
“They were getting long third downs by just dropping it right in between us,” Rose said.
One of Hillsdale’s halftime adjustments was to drop deeper and be more aggressive on pass plays. After pulling within a field goal, Michigan Tech’s final five drives ended with two punts, two interceptions, and a fumble.
“We just had to make sure everyone was doing their job in the right way,” Rose said. “Guys just needed to fix their drops a little bit and once we did it worked out.”
As Hillsdale’s defense forced turnovers to give the ball back to an offense which couldn’t stop scoring, confidence built.
“It helped our momentum, but it also killed their offense’s momentum and put our offense in a great spot to score. Any time you can turn a team over four times, there’s a really good chance you’re going to win,” Rose said. “If we can get more turnovers like that we’ll have a hard time losing.”
Rose said the offense’s great play gave the defense a “boost,” and the offense recognized the importance of the defense’s adjustments. Sophomore quarterback Chance Stewart threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more, and sophomore tailback Joe Reverman picked up 133 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 22 carries.
“It was huge for us that our defense forced four turnovers in the second half,” Reverman said. “We played really well in all three phases of the game.”
Now the challenge for the Chargers will be to sustain that defensive success on the road. The Chargers are 3-0 at home this season and 0-1 away from home. In their first road game against the Tiffin Dragons, the Chargers gave up 37 points, 458 yards, and allowed the Dragons to convert 10 of 15 third downs. On Saturday, the Chargers will face the Wayne State Warriors, who are coming off a 35-21 victory over the Dragons.
“They’re very similar to Tech in that they really like to establish the run and they like power and they’re very physical,” Otterbein said.
Rose said the Warriors are one of the most physical teams the Chargers will play this season.
“We’ve got to be really aggressive,” Rose said. “We’re going to have to be ready to take it to them.”
The Warriors feature an outstanding running back, the 5-11, 248-pound junior Romello Brown. On Saturday against Tiffin, Brown rushed for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 26 carries.
The Chargers have had success shutting down opposing team’s run games this season, but Brown will provide their toughest challenge yet.
“The biggest thing is stopping their run,” Rose said. “They’ve got a great running back and a great offensive line, so if we can stop their run and make them rely on the pass we should be in good shape.”