St Cloud Times: Huskies face potent Hillsdale

By Andy Rennecke • arennecke@stcloudtimes.com • November 19, 2010

Hillsdale College has one of the more potent offenses in all of Division II football.

The Chargers (9-2), who are ranked No. 10 in the nation coming into their first-round playoff game at No. 15 St. Cloud State at noon Saturday, have the top-rated passer in the country, the No. 7 leading rusher and one of the top receivers in all of D-II.

The Chargers will present the Huskies (9-2) with one of their toughest challenges of the season on defense.

“They’re a team that tries to grind it out and runs a lot of play-action,” SCSU defensive coordinator Jim Louis said. “We’re trying to keep it fairly simple for our guys. We just can’t let them have big chunks of yardage. Our game plan is very similar to what we did with Duluth. We have to get them to third down.

“We had Duluth to third down 15 different times and I think they converted 12 or 13 of those attempts. We have to be better with that this week. Our philosophy this week is to get them to third down as much as possible and get them off the field.”

Hillsdale is led by 6-foot-3, 223-pound senior quarterback Troy Weatherhead, who is one of 24 D-II players who is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy. The trophy is annually awarded to the top football player in all of D-II.

Weatherhead is the No. 1-ranked passer in the country with a 173.97 efficiency rating. He’s thrown for 2,815 yards along with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.

But Weatherhead knows he’s going up against an opportunistic defense in St. Cloud State. The Huskies are third in the nation in turnover margin at plus-18.

“I’m very impressed with St. Cloud,” Weatherhead said. “They’re big and tough and have fast players who can make plays. I have to stay within myself and play solid in every facet of the game to come out with a win. They’re a great football team.

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