Hillsdale College ranked #16 by American Football Coaches Association

As posted at GLIAC.org

2010 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll – August 30, 2010
Rank	School (1st votes)	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.	Last Week	Next Game
1.	Northwest Missouri St. (23)	0-0	643	1	Idle	Sept. 2 vs. No. 14 Texas A&M-Kingsville
2.	Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (1)	0-0	619	2	Idle	Sept. 2 vs. No. 8 West Texas A&M
3.	Minnesota-Duluth (1)	1-0	581	4	D. No. 5 Central Washington, 35-10	Sept. 11 at Upper Iowa
4.	North Alabama (1)	0-0	564	3	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. Henderson St. (Ark.)
5.	California (Pa.)	0-0	524	6	Idle	Sept. 4 at No. 11 Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)
6.	Abilene Christian (Texas)	0-0	467	7	Idle	Sept. 4 at No. 9 Washburn (Kan.)
7.	West Liberty (W.Va.)	0-0	451	8	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. Edinboro (Pa.)
8.	West Texas A&M	0-0	417	11	Idle	Sept. 2 at No. 2 Grand Valley St. (Mich.)
9.	Washburn (Kan.)	1-0	408	10	D. Colorado School of Mines, 34-29	Sept. 4 vs. No. 6 Abilene Christian (Tex.)
10.	West Alabama	1-0	344	12	D. Shorter (Ga.), 37-7	Sept. 2 at Arkansas-Monticello
11.	Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)	0-0	332	14	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. No. 5 California (Pa.)
12.	Nebraska-Omaha	0-0	305	15	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. Nebraska-Kearney
13.	Central Washington	0-1	277	5	Lost to No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth, 35-10	Sept. 4 at Dixie St. (Utah)
14.	Texas A&M-Kingsville	0-0	274	16	Idle	Sept. 2 at No. 1 Northwest Missouri St.
15.	Tuskegee (Ala.)	0-0	258	17	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. Benedict (S.C.)
16.	Hillsdale (Mich.)	0-0	242	18	Idle	Sept. 3 vs. Ferris St. (Mich.)
17.	Midwestern St. (Texas)	0-0	235	19	Idle	Sept. 2 at New Mexico Highlands
18.	Minnesota St.-Mankato	0-0	188	21	Idle	Sept. 2 vs. Northern Michigan
19.	Missouri Western St.	0-0	169	20	Idle	Sept. 2 vs. Mesa St. (Colo.)
20.	Carson-Newman (Tenn.)	0-1	133	9	Lost to Winona St. (Minn.), 24-21	Sept. 2 vs. Bentley (Mass.)
21.	West Chester (Pa.)	0-0	126	22	Idle	Sept. 2 at Delaware
22.	Delta St. (Miss.)	0-0	115	24	Idle	Sept. 4 at Jackson St. (Miss.)
23.	North Carolina-Pembroke	0-0	108	23	Idle	Sept. 4 vs. Fayetteville St. (N.C.)
24.	Winona St. (Minn.)	1-0	84	NR	D. No. 9 Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 24-21	Sept. 11 vs. Minnesota St.-Moorhead
25.	Wayne St. (Neb.)	1-0	72	NR	D. No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney, 24-17 OT	Sept. 11 vs. Minnesota-Crookston

Charger Parents selling $5 lanyards at the tailgate

From Nick DeMiro Sr. and the Hillsdale College football parents' group:

Hillsdale Charger Football Families and Fans, we will be selling a Hillsdale Charger Football Lanyard with a clip and a 4x6 inch plastic pocket that will hold a copy of the roster of players and their parents.

The cost is $5. We will be selling them prior to the game at the Parents Tailgate. Every fan is welcome to purchase one, but we want to take care of the parents first.

Official Ferris State Bulldog Blog: Ferris defense to face very balanced, tough Hillsdale offense

Ferris to face very balanced, tough Hillsdale offense

by Sandy Gholston

Ferris State University is in for a tough contest when it heads down to Hillsdale College to play the Chargers in this season-opening contest scheduled for 7 p.m. at Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium on Friday evening.

Hillsdale brings a balanced attack to the field (on the offensive side of the football). The Chargers suffered some graduation losses, but don't think this team is not stacked enough to cause a lot of teams a lot of problems.

Lets take a look at Hillsdale on the offensive side of the football (borrowed from the preview I wrote for the GLIAC):

Offensively, quarterback Troy Weatherhead, a junior, is back and with a valuable year of experience under his belt. Andre Holmes, a senior receiver, could be ready for a breakthrough campaign after leading the GLIAC in yards last season. Mike Blanchard returns as a senior, too. He is a solid possession-type receiver while Holmes is more of the game-breaker type. In the offensive backfield, Joe Glendening could be the man Weatherhead hands the ball to quite a bit to keep defenses honest with a solid running attack. The offensive line should be anchored by Phil Doerfler, a senior. Last season, the Chargers had a powerful offensive unit led by standout all-everything lineman Jared Veldheer, receiver A.J. Kegg and workhorse running back Vinnie Panizzi.

What makes Hillsdale tough is the balanced aspect of its offensive attack. You have to like that the Chargers have an experienced quarterback (Weatherhead), a game breaker at receiver (Holmes), a possession-type receiver (Blanchard) and a solid running back (Glendening).

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Hillsdale.edu: Chargers open 2010 season under the lights against Ferris State

Official Release, Hillsdale College

August 31, 2010 - Football is back.

After a season that saw the Hillsdale College football team achieve an unprecedented level of success at the NCAA Division II level, Charger players, coaches and fans can finally see their long wait for the 2010 season to end, as Friday night, the Chargers host Ferris State University in the season-opening contest starting at 7 p.m.

This is a non-league game between these two longtime GLIAC rivals. They have met each season since 1970, but since neither team appeared on the GLIAC schedule rotation for 2010, the teams agreed to meet in week one in the form of a non-league game. The two teams also played one another outside of league play to open the 2003 season.

Hillsdale is coming off a 10-3 season in 2009, making it to the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. As with every college team, the challenge for the Chargers has been to replace graduated seniors from that team. But there is enough talent back on both sides of the ball for the team to justify its high hopes for the upcoming season.

Hillsdale is ranked 16th in the nation according to the 2010 Preseason AFCA Division II Top 25 poll, moving up two spots from its preseason ranking of 18th. This is the first time the Chargers have appeared in a top 25 poll this early in the season since 1993.

Saturday, Hillsdale will take on a Ferris State team that is coming off a 1-10 season in 2009. The Bulldogs are a proud program, who has been a contender in the GLIAC for much of the past two decades, making last year's struggles all the more frustrating for the team.

The Chargers have won four of their last five meetings against the Bulldogs, including last year's 59-14 decision. The final scores of the last two meetings between these teams at Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium have ended in identical results: 34-14 wins by Hillsdale in 2005 and 2008.

Full Release

Jackson Citizen Patriot Profiles 1950's Hillsdale Captain and coaching great Dave Driscoll

Peek through time: Dave Driscoll was a mentor to many during his years coaching football

Published: Friday, August 27, 2010, 10:50 PM Updated: Friday, August 27, 2010, 10:56 PM

Leanne Smith, Jackson Citizen Patriot (Citizen Patriot photo)

Dave Driscoll wanted to play football. His Albion High School coaches around 1950 didn't agree.

Driscoll was speedy, but he weighed only about 135 pounds, and they feared he'd just get hurt.

"They wanted me to be the team manager, and I didn't want that," said Driscoll, now 74 and living in Jackson. "Muddy Waters was my salvation."

The late Frank "Muddy" Waters, most noted for coaching football at Hillsdale College and Michigan State University, coached at Albion High in Driscoll's senior year.

"He let me play football," Driscoll said.

And that changed his life.

Driscoll became a successful college football player with Waters in Hillsdale, had many glory years of coaching high school football in Jackson, led the effort to better high school football throughout Michigan and eventually coached with Waters at MSU.

"The Lord helps you, even when you don't realize it," Driscoll said.

Full Article

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 1

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 2

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 3

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 4

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 5

WCSR: Hillsdale Collge Chargers Roundtable 2010, Part 6

Hillsdale fighting the injury bug

With a lot of spots to fill throughout the lineup, the last thing Hillsdale College needs this football season is guys dinged up in the preseason.

After a great season a year ago as a true freshman, defensive back Nick Galvan will spend this one rehabbing a season ending knee injury. As tough as that is for any player to take, Galvan will be eligible for a medical redshirt and still be able to get in 4 years of playing time.

A guy that Charger fans have been waiting to see on the field ever since he committed is Anthony Mifsud. Mifsud has spent the last couple of seasons as Troy Weatherhead's backup at QB, but the Charger staff has been looking for a way to get his athleticism on the field. After a nice spring practice at wide receiver, Mifsud is in the mix for the third wide receiver position with RS-Freshman Lou Cangelosi. Unfortunately, a broken hand is going to set him back until at least the 2nd week of the season.

A handful of other injuries are hampering the Chargers' depth as the race to solidify the starting lineup heatens. Hopefully trainer Lynne Neukom can get these guys patched up as the season opener approaches next Friday against Ferris State.

Don't plan to visit the George Roche Sports Complex though and expect to find Charger head coach Keith Otterbein with his head in his hands.

"Turn on Sportscenter," he told me this morning. "Everybody is unhappy that they have people hurt. One of the things that has contributed to the consistency of success over the past couple of seasons is our kids' ability to face adversity and overcome it."

"Our school motto," he continued, "is 'Strength rejoices in the challenge.' and our kids live that. We know we are always going to lose people through graduation or injury. When that happens a new guy has to be ready to carry the load. That is what we are finding out right now."

Andre Holmes named 2nd team D2football.com All American

After leading the GLIAC in receiving yards last season, Hillsdale College senior Andre Holmes is officially no longer under anybody's radar that follows the league or NCAA Division II football for that matter.

The Chicago area product was tabbed as a 2nd team All American by D2football.com, the premier authority on the D2 national scene.

Like Holmes, his quarterback Troy Weatherhead also returns for his senior season and the pair will be looking for even bigger success than what they hooked up for last year.

D2football.com All American Team.

Chargers Ranked #22 by D2football.com

When I look at preseason Division II polls, the only publication that garners much of my attention is D2football.com's list. Sure, the AFCA coaches' poll has some credence, but Brandon Misener and his staff know D2 football better than any body of knowledge in the country.

Hillsdale is coming off an 8-3 season and finds itself ranked in the preseason for the first time in at least a decade.

Rank	Team	2009 Record
1	Northwest Missouri	14-1
2	Grand Valley	13-2
3	North Alabama	11-2
4	Abilene Christian	9-4
5	Central Washington	12-1
6	Minnesota-Duluth	11-2
7	California	11-4
8	West Liberty	11-2
9	Washburn	8-3
10	Nebraska-Kearney	11-2
11	West Texas A&M	7-5
12	Saginaw Valley	9-3
13	Texas A&M-Kingsville	9-3
14	Missouri Western	9-3
15	Carson-Newman	11-3
16	East Stroudsburg	8-4
17	Midwestern State	9-3
18	Tarleton State	10-3
19	Tuskegee	10-2
20	Nebraska-Omaha	7-5
21	Delta State	5-5
22	Hillsdale	10-3
23	Valdosta State	6-4
24	UNC Pembroke	9-2
25	West Alabama	8-5