After a memorable 42-10 win over the Lake Erie Storm on Senior Day on Saturday, the Hillsdale College football team is excited heading into the offseason.
The Chargers finished the season 5-5, their best finish since 2012 — but finishing above .500 was their goal. With most of the Chargers’ impact players returning next season as Hillsdale moves from the GLIAC to the GMAC, improvement seems inevitable.
“Overall we’re disappointed. But we’ve got a lot of guys returning and we were able to send the seniors out with a win which is always good,” junior linebacker Jay Rose said. “Everyone’s really excited for next year. We’re in a new conference but we’ve still got a good team going forward.”
Sophomore wide receiver Trey Brock had 137 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns on Saturday. Brock finished the season averaging 132.2 yards receiving per game — the third-best average in the nation — and had nine games with 100 or more yards receiving. Both marks are Hillsdale records. Brock was named First-Team All-GLIAC on Tuesday.
“He had a good year. He really did,” Otterbein said. “He’s a good player and we’ll continue working hard to have more consistency in practice and the offseason. If we can get a little bit of strength to him, he can be even more of a dominant force.”
Sophomore quarterback Chance Stewart and sophomore tailback Joe Reverman also had award-winning seasons and will look to get even better in the offseason. Stewart averaged 282.9 yards passing per game and threw 19 touchdowns. Reverman ran for 89.5 yards per game and 12 touchdowns. Both Reverman and Stewart were named honorable mention All-GLIAC.
Junior offensive lineman Jake Bull, sophomore defensive back Wyatt Batdorff, senior defensive end Drew Mallery, and junior linebacker Scotty Penola also earned honorable mention All-GLIAC honors. Junior offensive lineman Danny Drummond earned Second-Team All-GLIAC honors in his first season as Hillsdale’s starting center.
“Our offensive line was very solid all year,” Otterbein said. “And we’ve got a bunch of those guys coming back.”
The 2016 season ended less than a week ago, but Otterbein and his coaching staff have already jumped into recruiting and preparing for the 2017 season. The Chargers had individual meetings on Monday and a team meeting on Tuesday. On Sunday, the team will enjoy its annual year-end banquet.
The players will get some time off before beginning winter workouts as the coaches begin to form Team 125.
The Chargers feature a young core of tight ends, and developing them will be one of several offseason priorities. Optimism is high with key contributors returning at nearly every position.
“I’m very excited about the future and what talent we’ve got,” Otterbein said. “I’m looking forward to the offseason and getting going with it.”
The only specific position the Chargers are targeting in recruiting is the offensive line. Hillsdale’s current junior offensive linemen, a group including All-GLIAC honorees Drummond and Bull, will graduate after next season. The Chargers are looking to bring in three offensive linemen in this offseason’s recruiting class to redshirt next year before the juniors graduate.
“You’ve got to replace them with this recruiting class so they learn and are not just thrown to the wolves,” Otterbein said. “We’ve got to make sure we come up with three pretty good offensive linemen in that group.”
Outside of the offensive line, Otterbein isn’t targeting any position specifically.
“At this point it’s just bringing in the best football players we can,” Otterbein said.
Like after last year’s four-game win streak to end the season, the Chargers hope to carry the momentum gained from their strong finish into the offseason.
“We definitely are super excited,” Reverman said. “Hopefully we all expect to improve and be better next year.”
The players know they are personally responsible for getting stronger and improving during the winter.
“Everyone’s got to hold themselves accountable,” Rose said. “If we do that we’ll be able to get a lot better and stronger and that should carry over into a successful season.”
The Chargers plan to prepare for their new GMAC opponents during the offseason. Besides that, this offseason won’t look much different than past ones.
“We’re very excited, very optimistic, and looking forward to the move over to the GMAC,” Otterbein said.
