Northern Michigan University was zeroing in on its first touchdown of the game early in the third quarter.
Their quarterback threw the ball into the end zone from the seven-yard line directly to Ben Karaba who tipped it up in the air to teammate Nick Galvan for an interception.
The Chargers defeated the Wildcats 44-6 in Saturday’s home game. The Chargers are now 4-0 in the GLIAC and 4-1 overall.
The Chargers held a huge time of possession advantage over the Wildcats, especially in the first quarter. Hillsdale’s first drive took up half of the first quarter and ended in a dive into the end zone from quarterback Anthony Mifsud.
“That’s one of his skills,” head coach Keith Otterbein said. “We have created some plays to allow him to get on the edge. It creates pressure on the defense when a quarterback can do that.”
Senior running back Joe Glendening also contributed two touchdowns in the first half and rushed for 106 yards in the game.
To open the second quarter, Mifsud launched a long pass to junior wide receiver Andrew Mott in the end zone. The Wildcats responded with a field goal. The Charger defense only allowed one additional field goal later in the third quarter.
“Everything was clicking,” Galvan said. “We kept them out of the end zone and didn’t give up big plays.”
The first of NMU’s field goals came from a 76-yard kick return, which put the Wildcats in good field position.
“We didn’t execute what we were trying to do,” Otterbein said. “We had guys getting close to tackles but not getting tackles.”
Mifsud threw a 75-yard pass into the end zone to sophomore Evan Bach in the third quarter for a touchdown. Mifsud went 14-for-17 for 223 yards and connected with Evan Bach three times for 98 yards.
The Wildcats opened the fourth quarter with their first interception of the game. Their drive down the field was halted with a second interception from Galvan.
“It’s always nice to get the ball on defense,” Galvan said. “And when you do you want to capitalize.”
The Chargers closed out the game with another interception from Butch Herzog and drove down the field to put three more points up on the board with a field goal.
Hillsdale will face Wayne State University in an away game on Saturday, Oct. 6. Wayne State sits at sixth in the North Division, behind Hillsdale, ranked No. 2.
“Wayne State is very well-coached and physical,” Otterbein said. “We have to get the most out of every snap we can.”
