Charger football beat their Great Midwest Athletic Conference rival, the Tiffin University Dragons, in a 20-17 upset on Nov. 9 in the annual Senior Day game. A clutch touchdown thrown by sophomore quarterback Colin McKernan to junior wideout Connor Pratt lifted the Charger football team over Tiffin.
After Hillsdale was shutout in the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, McKernan led the team down the field to the Tiffin 1-yard line before fumbling the ball, giving it to the Dragons with 3:44 left in the game. The Charger defense made a stand, forcing Tiffin to punt the ball with 2:44 left.
McKernan was given excellent field position by sophomore wide receiver Shea Ruddy, who returned the Tiffin punt to the 29-yard line. On third-and-1 at the Tiffin 9-yard line, McKernan slipped coming out of a play-action pass, making it fourth-and-8 and putting the game on the line for the Chargers.
“It’s not much different going into that play than other plays,” McKernan said.“You’ve just got to trust your reads. Not much changes whether it’s first or fourth down. I just trusted my reads and found Connor in the endzone which was awesome.”
McKernan fit the ball right between two defenders for a 16-yard score to Pratt, giving Tiffin only 37 seconds to score. Instead, the Dragons were met with a pass breakup by senior defensive back Vince Francescone, effectively ending the game as the Chargers stormed the field.
The touchdown was Pratt’s only reception in the game, but his fourth touchdown of the season, and gave him second in team receiving touchdowns this season behind Ruddy.
“I think we all do a great job as a team with never letting doubt creep in during the game,” Pratt said. “Just lining up on that play at the end I had full confidence in myself and the other guys lined up with me, then Colin delivered a strike to me and it all worked out.”
McKernan finished with 122 passing yards through the air, completing 10 of his 16 pass attempts. For the first time this season, all Charger touchdowns came through the air, as McKernan threw touchdowns to Ruddy as well as senior tight end Ty Williams.
In his final home game in a Charger uniform, senior wide receiver Logan VanEnkevort finished with his third consecutive game with more than 100 rushing yards, earning a total of 102 on 25 attempts. That propelled him to fourth overall in the G-MAC, with only eight games played.
“I mean that was a storybook game,” VanEnkevort said. “Against a good Tiffin team that on paper should beat us. Stout offense and defense on their part, but we outlasted them, and it really doesn’t get better than that ending on Senior Day.”
Defensively, the Chargers held the conference-leading offense in Tiffin, who average 435 yards per game, to only 248 yards and 17 points, including a fourth-quarter shutout. The charge on defense was led by sophomore defensive lineman Drake Badger, who was awarded the G-MAC Defensive Player of the Week for his nine total tackles, including two sacks for a total loss of 15 yards.
Junior defensive lineman Neal Likens and Francescone were right behind Badger, each finishing with eight tackles, as well as two pass breakups for Francescone. The Chargers combined for eight tackles-for-loss, including three from Badger and one and a half from Likens.
The Chargers look to finish the regular season with a winning record, needing a win in a road matchup against the Ohio Dominican Panthers, who the Chargers defeated last year 35-17. With a win, the Chargers have an opportunity to be eligible for a bowl game. They face the Panthers Nov. 16 at 12 p.m.
“I’m hyper-confident right now,” VanEnkevort said. “The entire team has been scheming it up right, and the offensive line has been blocking their tails off. I feel like this team has been on a roll, and I’m fully expecting to run the ball on ODU and that we will perform well.”