Hillsdale College fell to the California University of Pennsylvania 30-22 last Thursday, Aug. 30, ending the season-opening game on the Vulcan one-yard-line after a last-attempt pass was batted down in the end zone.
Head coach Keith Otterbein said that despite the loss, it was a good way to open the season.
“There was a great deal of confidence in a frenzied situation,” he said. “We kept playing throughout the football game.”
Senior quarterback Anthony Mifsud agreed.
“We all did a real good job of keeping our cool and ex- ecuting plays,” he said. “When we had to pass with little time on the clock, we did well.”
The Chargers started out the game strong with an intercep- tion from junior cornerback Ben Karaba, which they turned into a touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
After the Vulcans tied the game at 7-7, the Chargers drove down the field, as senior quarterback Anthony Mifsud completed a 44-yard pass to running back Joe Glendening. At the one-yard-line, senior H-back Cam White rushed the ball into the end zone to regain the lead, 14-7.
“We have to be executing for things to go well,” Mifsud
said. “We were able to do that well at the beginning. But we have to be making sure we play a full game.”
Mifsud passed for 266 yards in the game and completed 23 of 37 passes. Glendening had 23 carries for 136 yards.
The Chargers lost their momentum, however, and the Vulcans scored 20 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. A fumble in the open- ing minutes of the second half also hurt the Chargers.
“We gave one away,” Otter- bein said. “We basically gave them the touchdown.”
The offense had sev- eral false start penalties in the fourth quarter, continuing the team’s self-inflicted difficul- ties.
“Most of that stuff is just fo- cus,” Mifsud said. “If one guy has a small penalty, we can’t have each guy take their turn at that penalty.”
Overall, the Chargers had nine penalties in the game, which cost them 79 yards.
“We had some tough calls against us, and a few pre-snap situations,” Otterbein said. “But we didn’t let it affect us during the game.”
The Charger defense had several big stops on third down in the third and fourth quar- ters. Junior linebackers Steven Embry, Devin Moynihan, and Brett Pasche collectively made 22 tackles. Pasche led the team with nine.
“It helped that we knew what they were doing towards
the end of the game,” Pas- che said. “It wasn’t that we changed a whole lot. In the moment, the adrenaline gets going.”
Embry, Moynihan, and Pasche are all returning starters this year.
“The linebacker core is strong, and we have strong, solid backups,” Pasche said. “That confidence helps us.”
After the Chargers stopped the Vulcans on a fourth-and- one, they moved down the field to the one-yard-line. But the Chargers could not capitalize on the opportunity, and the score remained at 30-22 to end the game.
“We had opportunities to win. We need to play better to beat good football teams,” Ot- terbein said. “But it was a good test for us. We made some cor- rectable mistakes.”
Otterbein said the team will continue to focus on putting more pressure on the quarter- back, tightening up on false start errors, and improving their kicking game.
“In such a close ball game,” he said, “it can all make a dif- ference.”
Mifsud said that Cal was comparable to some of the top teams in the GLIAC, which helps them prepare for the games ahead.
“The bottom line is we just got beat. They outplayed us,” he said. “We’ll just have to bring the same kind of effort and make more plays.”
The Chargers will face Ohio Dominican University in their first home game at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8.
“We’ve been pretty good at home,” Otterbein said. “[Home
games] have grown here in recent years with our success. There is a camaraderie our kids appreciate.”
