Mlive.com Quick turnaround sparks Hillsdale to big win

Quick turnaround sparks Hillsdale in big victory
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Citizen Patriot staff reports

The Hillsdale College football team erased a 10-point, second-quarter deficit quickly Saturday afternoon and defeated Northern Michigan 49-25 at Frank ``Muddy'' Waters Stadium.

Hillsdale, 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, scored 21 points in a span of 2 minutes, 27 seconds between the end of the second quarter and the first play of the third.

The flurry began with a 59-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Troy Weatherhead to Andre Holmes. The Chargers took the lead just before halftime when Weatherhead threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Kegg.

On the first play of the second half, Vinnie Panizzi ran 71 yards for a touchdown. Panizzi finished with a career-best 175 yards on 22 carries, and he tied his career high with three touchdown runs.

Holmes added a 4-yard touchdown pass from Weatherhead in the fourth quarter for the first two-touchdown game of his career. Holmes caught five passes for 99 yards, and Weatherhead was 20-for-29 for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

Hillsdale backup quarterback Brad Otterbein, a graduate of Hillsdale High School and son of coach Keith Otterbein, scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 3-yard run to complete the scoring.