The Hillsdale Chargers’ football team toppled the nationally No.6 ranked Ashland Eagles in a 36-20 home win, ending the Eagle’s perfect season.
The upset once again pushes the Chargers’ over .500, and marks the program’s first win over a top-10 ranked team since taking down Grand Valley State in 2011.
“At the beginning of the season, we were watching the full game footage of Grand Valley, and we were like ‘that’s a crazy game,’ I wonder if we can do that,” senior running back Michael Herzog said. “And we ended up doing it so now we’re hoping that kids can watch our game and be like ‘yeah, we can do that someday.’”
After the performance, fifth-year senior quarterback Luke Keller earned the conference’s offensive POTW award, while sophomore defensive back Jackson Gillock won the defensive award.
Keller threw for 223 yards and had two total touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground. Gillock collected eight total tackles, two pass breakups, and returned the game’s only interception 17 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.Ash
“Everything was clicking, I had a good understanding of what they were going to do defensively, so I just trusted my instincts and played football,” Keller said. “We had nothing to lose, so I just did my best to play with a lot of confidence and passion.”
Sophomore wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa also posted an excellent individual performance, using 116 yards on six catches to become only the sixth Charger in program history to pass 1,000 yards receiving in a single season. His 1,031 yards and 11 touchdowns put him fifth place in the nation, in both categories.
With two games remaining on the team’s schedule for the regular season, TeSlaa sits 391 yards behind Trey Brok (‘19) for the program’s single-season record.
“I remember coming in to Hillsdale right as Trey Brock was leaving, I came to a game my junior year of highschool, just watching him do his thing, I was like ‘man, I’d love to be out there doing that someday,’ and now to be up there on that list my sophomore year is cool,” TeSlaa said.
TeSlaa’s impact on the game was nearly instant, catching a 38-year bomb from Keller with one hand to set up a touchdown on the team’s first drive. Keller finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to tie the score at seven.
When Ashland took the lead again on a field goal in the second quarter, the Chargers again responded with a one-yard touchdown run set up by a long Keller-TeSlaa connection, this time for 41 yards. This time Herzog was the one to punch it in, giving the Chargers their first lead of the game with under a minute to go before halftime.
“It’s a very satisfying feeling to put together a plan and have it executed the way our kids did,” head coach Keith Otterbein said. “We made some unbelievable plays, Isaac had three catches that were just out of this world, Michael ran hard, but we blocked him well.”
The Eagles slimmed the Chargers’ lead to one with another field goal in the third quarter, but Hillsdale was quick to respond. The Chargers’ went 68 yards in 2:31 thanks to a 42-yard catch-and-run touchdown by sophomore Ty Williams that extended the team’s lead to nine.
Ashland wouldn’t go without a fight, and responded with a 55-yard touchdown bomb that cut the Chargers’ lead to two in a drive that lasted under a minute. After forcing a Hillsdale punt, the Eagles offense again had the ball, this time with a chance to take the lead.
Gillock, however, stepped in front of an Ashland pass, returning it 17 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth.
“Our defensive line was pressuring him, they almost got a safety, so he was scrambling, and then he just made a bad decision and passed it to my guy and I was right there, so it worked out pretty well,” Gillock said.
The pick-six once again gave Hillsdale a two-possession lead, 29-20, with just over 12 minutes left to play.
“All of a sudden Gilly picks it off and takes it to the endzone, the whole sideline was pandemonium, everyone in the stands was going crazy,” TeSlaa said. “I just felt like that moment put us over the edge.”
Now with their backs against the wall, the Eagles drove it down to Hillsdale’s redzone before the Chargers created another turnover. A fumble, forced by senior defensive back Julius Graber and recovered by sophomore defensive end Riley Tolsma, gave the Chargers the ball with under 10 minutes to play.
Now in kill-clock mode, the Chargers offense burned nearly six minutes off the clock before Herzog punched in his second touchdown of the game. It marked Herzog’s third multi-score game of the year. The senior is second in the G-MAC in total rushing yards in his first season playing since 2019.
“It means a lot, it’s pretty crazy to think about because I haven’t played in two years, and I feel like I’m getting better with each game,” Herzog said. “Just like it is for the team, I feel like it’s going to be a building block for me as well, going into these next few games and even next season.”
One more defensive stop — forcing a turnover on downs — sealed the game, giving the Chargers a 36-20 win and moving them into fifth place in the G-MAC.
“I think a lot of guys in the locker room knew that we were capable of beating these guys and we knew that we hadn’t played our best football yet,” Herzog said. “Throughout the game, there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win.”
This Saturday the Chargers will face their final non-conference opponent in the team’s last home game of the season. Hillsdale will face off against Michigan Tech Huskies Hillsdale’s Senior Day, and they will honor the team’s 12 graduating seniors prior to the game.
“The seniors really stepped up this year,” TeSlaa said. “I was a little worried coming into this year because we lost a lot of seniors who were leaders, so it was going to be a test of who’s going to step up, and there’s been some guys who have really stepped up and been great leaders.”
