It’s been three decades since the ’85 Hillsdale College football team brought home the Chargers’ first NAIA championship title. But when they returned to Hillsdale this past weekend for homecoming, the members of that historic team were able to turn back the clock.
“During our team picture one of the guys huddled us up and recited from memory the team prayer that coach Lowry gave us before every game,” said Jeff Lantis ’86, who played wide receiver for the championship team. “Another group sat in the old locker rooms that they swore still smelled the same as they did in 1985.”
The 40-plus men who gathered to be honored before last weekend’s homecoming game were once a force to be reckoned with. That year, the Chargers went 11-1-1 in the regular season, winning their last regular season game against Northwood University in dramatic fashion to make the NAIA playoffs.
“We played in about four inches of snow and beat Northwood 30-0 on their field to secure the GLIAC championship,” said Mark Baker, the team’s kicker.
The early ‘80s were a golden age for Chargers football: the ’82 team had finished with a 12-1 record—the best in team history—only to be disappointed in the NAIA playoffs.
But while the ’82 team might have been Hillsdale’s most talented ever, the ’85 team excelled in another category: pure grit.
“We were behind in many of the games we won, but we never got down on ourselves or believed we would be beaten,” Baker said. “We were quietly very confident in each other.”
This grit served them well in the NAIA playoffs. In the semifinal game, the Chargers went up against Mesa State, the same team that had unseated the ’82 team three years before. After three quarters, the Chargers were down 21-0 and seemingly headed for another disappointment. As it turned out, however, they had plenty of fight left in them.
“Then, as he did all season, quarterback Mike Gatt took over, and like a bolt of lightning the Chargers had tied the game, sending it into overtime,” the Collegian reported at the time.
Hillsdale’s defense would go on to stop Mesa short on a goal line stand and win 24-21 in double overtime. In the title game on Dec. 20, they played Central Arkansas to a 10-10 tie to carry home a share in the national championship.
The players of the ’85 team are the first to credit their success to Lowry, who coached the Chargers from 1980 until 1996.
“He was an amazing coach,” Lantis said. “He was smart, always had us prepared, trusted his players and coaches, and created a team culture where respect and being respected were vitally important.”
“He was always true and fair,” Baker said. “He talked the talk and walked the walk. What more could anyone ask?”
The members of the mighty ’85 team have long since moved onto other things in their lives. Their paths have largely diverged. They’re career men now, at Pepsico, or Mechanical Products Company, or even (in Lantis’ case) Hillsdale College itself. But the bonds they formed on the field have proven durable, even after thirty years.
“What I remember most is the deep friendships I formed with my teammates,” Lantis said. “It really is amazing to me how many of us have stayed connected over the years.”
And in the end, those bonds were what made the homecoming of the ’85 Chargers so memorable.
“It was great to see a bunch of the guys again, even though we are all showing what time does to our bodies,” Baker said. “It’s funny what happens in 30 years, but, just for a few hours, we were all 21 again.”
