The Hillsdale football team opened its season with a home loss against the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds on Saturday night in a 42-16 final score at Muddy Waters Stadium.

After some offensive struggles in the first half for the Chargers, the 16th-ranked Greyhounds took a 28-7 lead into halftime and never looked back.

A new Charger offensive squad under head coach Nate Shreffler saw issues early in the first half, failing to reach the first down marker on four of their first five drives, and fumbling the ball on the second offensive drive of the game. 

“Obviously, we got punched in the mouth,” senior wide receiver Logan VanEnkevort said. “They’re a great team that came out ready to go. We came out a bit too soft. They surprised us.”

VanEnkevort, who suffered a shoulder injury during the game, rushed for nine total yards on Saturday. Senior running back Kyle Riffel handled most of the ground game for the Chargers, ending the game with 42 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.

Sophomore transfer quarterback Cole Canter started his first game in a Charger uniform, throwing for 260 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, two of which came on the last two offensive drives for Hillsdale.

“Even with the loss it felt good to be here,” Canter said. “The crowd was great and it helped to have them behind us.”

The Chargers saw some offensive success in the second quarter when Canter hit sophomore wide receiver Shea Ruddy for a 61-yard touchdown to cut the Greyhounds lead to 14 points before halftime. Riffel scored the other touchdown for the Chargers on a two yard rush in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore wide receiver Johnathan Metzger contributed to the Charger passing game with two receptions for 64 yards, including a 39-yard catch from Canter at the beginning of the fourth quarter while the Chargers faced third down and 28. 

After the first half, the Charger defense came out strong and held the Greyhounds scoreless in the third quarter. They also scored two points when junior defensive lineman Hunter Sperling stopped the Greyhounds running back in the end zone for a safety. 

Junior linebacker Jacob Vance, who led the Chargers in tackles last season, totaled eight tackles against the Greyhounds, including three tackles for a loss.

“It’s more about the process than anything,” Vance said. “Obviously we never want to lose, but we’re still going to do the same thing and the same routine as we’ve been doing. We definitely could work on our communication, but I think we’ll be just fine.”

The Chargers play Sept. 14 at Michigan Technological University in Houghton. Hillsdale has lost five straight games against Michigan Tech. 

“I think if we can fix smaller mistakes, we can have a much better start to the year than last season,” VanEnkevort said. “Obviously we have a tough schedule to start the year, but we want to kick it into gear this year earlier than last year, and I have no doubt we can accomplish that.”