It took more than three quarters for Hillsdale to find the end zone against Northern Michigan on Saturday. But on a day the offense struggled, the Chargers defense stepped up and made some key stops down the stretch to give Hillsdale the victory, 13-10.
“They all made some really big plays,” offensive lineman redshirt junior Justice Karmie said about the Chargers defense. “Seeing those guys step up was really big.”
The offense carried the load in Hillsdale’s first two games of the season, scoring a combined 86 points in those games. The defense took over on Saturday.
“It was really awesome seeing our defense rallying up because I know they’ve been a little bit upset with themselves the first couple of weeks,” Karmie added. “They really did a great job on Saturday so it’s exciting for us as an offense but it was kind of a challenge to us as well. We weren’t putting up points on the board.”
The offense knows what they need to do to improve.
“You’ve just got to play better. That’s what it comes down to. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot with not getting ahead of the chains in downs and distance,” head coach Keith Otterbein said about his offense. “We had almost 50 plays in the first half so it wasn’t like we weren’t playing offense, but we just kept getting in situations where our drives would stop.”
For much of the first half, the Chargers were able to move the ball down the field, but the Wildcats held their ground on their side of the field, which resulted in a missed 52-yard field goal, a failed fourth down conversion attempt, and several punts which pinned Northern Michigan deep in their own territory. This left the Wildcats with almost the full length of the field to go throughout the first half, helping the defense.
“Field position, especially early, was key,” coach Otterbein said. “We were making them drive the long field. That always has significant influence on the game and how the game unfolds.”
Northern Michigan struck first with a 28-yard field goal with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Chargers answered almost immediately.
Just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, quarterback Mark LaPrairie found wide receiver redshirt sophomore Ryan Portrykus streaking down the sideline past the defense for a 52-yard touchdown and put Hillsdale ahead 7-3. The Chargers stayed ahead for the rest of the game.
“We had a great play call on the first touchdown,” LaPrairie said. “It was a great route, and I was looking at it the whole time.”
Hillsdale tacked on another touchdown with 10:34 remaining in the contest, but kicker Steven Mette’s extra point attempt was blocked, making the score 13-3. That one missed extra point almost came back to haunt the Chargers.
Northern Michigan stormed back with a 94-yard touchdown drive to pull within a field goal following an interception by their defense. The Wildcats defense then came up big again, picking off LaPrairie for a second time.
“Credit goes to Northern. They did a great job,” LaPrairie said. “They came after us, they played really hard, they stuffed the run.”
The two interceptions set up a possible game-winning drive for the Wildcats. But the Chargers defense held on.
Northern Michigan drove down to the Hillsdale 16 yard line, but the defense came up with a stop to force the Wildcats to try for a game-tying field goal. Freshman kicker Ryan Laberge missed, allowing the Chargers to walk off the field 13-10 winners.
Hillsdale hits the road again on Saturday, travelling to Indiana to face the University of Indianapolis.
The Greyhounds will provide the toughest test of the year yet for the Chargers.
“They’ve got strong players,” coach Otterbein said. “I coached with their head coach at Ball State so I know they’re very fundamentally sound, well coached, well-disciplined in all phases and [will provide] a very big challenge for us.”
The Greyhounds started off the season ranked in the top 25 but a tough loss a couple weeks ago kicked them off the rankings
Hillsdale will have to play well in all facets of the game to steal the win on the road.
“To do what we did Saturday and go scoreless for three quarters, that’s not what we’re looking for,” coach Otterbein said. “You’ve got to hold the ball but you’ve also got to put it in the end zone. It’s a combination of those two things.”