A week off could not have come at a better time for the Hillsdale College football team. After a physical 41-30 loss to the Wayne State Warriors on Saturday, the Chargers are using their bye week to heal and prepare for a tough final stretch of the 2016 season.
Halfway through the season, Hillsdale is 3-2 overall and 2-2 in GLIAC play. While 3-0 at home, the Chargers fell to 0-2 on the road with their defeat at Wayne State. The Warriors powered past the Chargers with 250 rushing yards and 514 total yards of offense.
“They’re a big, strong, physical football team. We knew going in that’s what it was,” head coach Keith Otterbein said. “They had a lot of yards after contact and if we tackle better we’d have had a better chance.”
Wayne State ran the ball 44 times and threw the ball just 20 times. Warriors running back Romello Brown ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns on just 23 carries.
“They just executed a lot better than us. We knew if we couldn’t stop the run we didn’t have a good chance of winning,” junior linebacker Jay Rose said. “We didn’t really force them to pass the ball, so that’s where we went wrong.”
Hillsdale fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter. Playing from behind, the Chargers ran 53 pass plays to just 22 run plays. Overall, the Chargers ran 11 more plays than the Warriors but were outgained by 124 yards. Wayne State’s propensity for big plays shut down Hillsdale’s best chance to steal momentum.
With 4:48 remaining in the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Chance Stewart connected with sophomore wide receiver Trey Brock for a 47-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 14-10. The Chargers recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but turned the ball over on downs at Wayne State’s 34-yard line. Two plays later, the Warriors scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 21-10.
“To come up on the short end there was a dramatic swing,” Otterbein said. “If you go up at that point, it’s a whole different game.”
Wayne State’s lead ballooned to 41-10 early in the fourth quarter before the Chargers finished the game with 20 unanswered points. Otterbein was proud of his players for giving their best until the end.
“The good news is our kids don’t quit. They keep battling,” Otterbein said. “But the bad news is we were in that situation. We don’t want to get ourselves dug into those holes.”
Stewart finished the game with 307 passing yards and three touchdowns on 31 completions. Sophomore tailback Joe Reverman ran for 87 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries. Brock added to his stellar season with 146 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 10 catches. Brock ranks third in the NCAA Division II with 134.0 receiving yards per game.
“I think people around the league are figuring out if you try to go single coverage on Trey Brock that might not be a very good idea,” Otterbein said.
Reverman hurt his knee in the second quarter on Saturday, and finished the game wearing a knee brace. He was on crutches earlier this week and had an MRI on Monday, but hopes to be ready to go on Oct. 15 when the Chargers return to action.
Several other Chargers are nursing injuries. Four true freshmen have played this season because of injuries on defense and special teams. With an extra week to prepare for their next game, the Chargers took Tuesday and Wednesday off from practice and will take Saturday and Sunday off as well.
“We’ve got a lot of guys banged up, so hopefully we recuperate this week and then come back and just finish strong in these last five games,” Reverman said.
The Chargers will play two of their final five games against top-15 ranked teams in NCAA Division II.
“The other side of the break isn’t exactly a walk in the park, so to be fresh going into that, it feels pretty good,” Otterbein said.
Halfway through the season, Otterbein said he’s seen “some very good stuff” from his team so far.
“Our football team has great character. I think they’re very close. I think they play hard,” Otterbein said. “Overall, we’re just looking to continue to improve and get better and try to stay healthy down the stretch as well so we don’t have those peaks and valleys of experience on the field and then youth on the field.”
Through five games last season, the Chargers were 1-4. While happy with their improvement, the Chargers want to be better.
“We’re above .500. It’s not where we want to be but we’ve got to accept it,” Rose said. “We’re just trying to go 5-0 to finish out the season and just take it one week at a time.”
The Chargers will return to action on Oct. 15 at Findlay. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.
