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