The football team falls to Ashland University on the road Sept. 20
Courtesy | Ashland University Athletic Department
Senior kicker Jude Barton booted a 25-yard field goal for the first points of his college career, but the Hillsdale football team suffered a 26-9 loss against the Ashland University Eagles Sept. 20, placing the Chargers 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
“Jude has worked really hard and has come a long way since last year,” head coach Nate Shreffler said. “There is a tremendous amount of competition at that spot, so we’ll see what happens moving forward.”
Barton was recruited last year from the Hillsdale men’s club soccer team and joined the football team mid-season his junior year.
The Eagles opened the scoring with a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Hillsdale had a chance to draw even when freshman tailback Ben Ngishu scored a touchdown on a 23-yard run, but Ashland blocked Hillsdale’s extra point attempt to hold its 7-6 lead.
The Eagles capitalized on several Charger mistakes throughout the game, including a third-quarter fumble recovery that extended Ashland’s lead to 20-6.
After forcing a turnover on downs, Ashland scored a field goal with 3:20 left in the game to move the game to its final result.
The Ashland defense controlled the Chargers’ passing game, holding the team to 49 passing yards with five sacks.
Ngishu led the team with 141 rushing yards on 20 carries.
“The running game took a step in the right direction,” Shreffler said. “I expect that trend to continue, which should help the passing game.”
Sophomore receiver Andrew Konieczny said the team is ready to move on to the next game.
“We have to keep playing to our strong suits and not beat ourselves,” Konieczny said. “We can’t linger on the outcomes of previous games and take it one game at a time.”
Junior receiver Shea Ruddy said the Chargers are going to work on having the passing and running games compliment one another.
“We’re going to try and use the running game we have to open up the pass a little bit more this week,” Ruddy said. “We have good concepts. We just need to use them.”
Shreffler said he saw positives from the team on defense.
“Defensively, we did a solid job minimizing Ashland’s big plays and made it difficult for them to run the ball,” Shreffler said. “Generating turnovers and improving our defense against the quick passing game will be a point of emphasis this week.”
Konieczny expressed confidence that the team will continue to improve over the course of the season.
“We have shown glimpses of really good things, so we know what we are capable of,” Konieczny said. “If we can continue doing those good things we will be successful as a team.”
Hillsdale has finished with at least a .500 record in conference play since joining the GMAC in 2017.
The Chargers will next face Kentucky Wesleyan University during its annual Homecoming game Sept 27. with kickoff at 2 p.m.
