Hillsdale Football great passes away

Stephen M. Roddick ranks ninth on the all-time Hillsdale College rushing list, having amassed 1,986 yards from 1976-1976. Among the many honors he earned as a Charger, he was regarded by many long-time fans as one of their favorite players in program history. After Hillsdale he went on to a long career of coaching young athletes.

Sadly, Roddick's friends, family, and teammates will be saying a final goodbye to him this weekend. Roddick died Tuesday afternoon after he was pulled from the icy St. Joseph River near South Bend, Indiana.

Visitation will be held for Roddick on Friday with the funeral on Saturday in South Bend. Full obituary and details can be found here.

Embry brings McAvoy Award back where it belongs

Hillsdale LB Steven Embry - photo: gliac.org

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Release:

Hillsdale’s Steven Embry Named Recipient of the 2013 GLIAC Jack H. McAvoy Award



BAY CITY, Mich. - Hillsdale College senior linebacker Steven Embry has been named recipient of the 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Jack H. McAvoy Award as announced by Commissioner Dell Robinson.   The award is presented annually to the GLIAC football player who best combines outstanding character and leadership on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.

    A native of Clinton, Michigan, Embry has earned a 3.6 grade point average (4.0 scale) while majoring in biology.  He has been named to the GLIAC All-Academic football team three times, and is a two-time member of the All-GLIAC Football  Honorable Mention Team. A winner of the Michigan Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete Award, the Howard “Champ” Messenger Award, and the Leonard Urbanick Award for Scholarship, Leadership and Ability. Embry leads the Charger football team’s weekly bible study group, while mentoring twin boys in Hillsdale who lost their father when they were very young. He also volunteers at Hot Rock, a mission-based basketball camp in Adrian, Mich. while also volunteering at the Hillsdale Community Health Center in operating rooms and with patient pockets.  In 2011 he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity at Spring Break in Immokalee, Fla. Embry has been a volunteer at the Hillsdale Center Youth Football Camp in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and volunteers his time to coach at his high school alma mater, Clinton High School, during two-a-days. He is a member of the Tri-Beta biology honorary, and volunteered as a teacher’s assistant in the spring of 2013 at the Biological Statistics Lab. In the 2013 Summer Session he worked as a lab assistant on campus in anatomy and physiology classes.

    This season, Embry led the GLIAC with four interceptions in the regular season, good for 79 yards and one touchdown. He was third on the team with 74 total tackles on the season, with two half tackles for losses. He also had season-high 15 total tackles in a win  over Ferris State University and had two interceptions versus the eventual Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) champion University of Indianapolis.

    “The GLIAC is proud of the accomplishments of Steven Embry,” stated Commissioner Robinson.  “He exemplifies outstanding character and embodies all of the qualities that the Jack McAvoy Award and Division II athletics represent.”

    Embry becomes the third Hillsdale athlete to win the award. Ferris State University has had the most recipients of the award (4), with Michigan Technological University, Northwood, and Saginaw Valley State University in third with two apiece.   The Award is named for former Hillsdale College director of athletics and head football coach, Jack McAvoy, who was instrumental in the founding of the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC), now known as the GLIAC.

Jack H. McAvoy Award Winners

2013 Steven Embry, Hillsdale
2012 Ryan Whittum, Northwood
2011 Josh Renel, Wayne State
2010        Phil Doerfler, Hillsdale
2009        Nick Bellanco, Ashland
2008        Jake Visser, Ferris State
2007        Mark Nicolet, Hillsdale
2006        Mike Klobucher, Ferris State
2005        Matthew Shem, Northern Michigan
2004        Neil Baumgartner, Saginaw Valley State
2003        Josh Sherko, Northern Michigan       Scott Stuible, Northwood
2002        Jason Battershell, Saginaw Valley State
2001       Chris Volz, Indianapolis
2000      Alex Kowalski, Michigan Tech
1999       Mo Harris, Ferris State
1998       Jeff Fox, Grand Valley State
1997     Matt Fishburn, Wayne State    Eric Tree, Michigan Tech
1996    Chris Pulliams, Ferris State

Happy 20th!

Happy 20th Anniversary of your first date Dean and Mrs. Petersen. I am lucky to have gotten to spend 1994 in Hillsdale with you both.

 

Signing Day 2014 is tomorrow

That little dose of College Football that helps us get through the Winter makes its annual return tomorrow as institutions may begin to officially sign next year's incoming crop of new athletes.

Through the magic of social media and with big thanks to TheDZone.com, we have been able to track the Chargers' verbally committed recruits better than ever before.

Speaking of the DZone, check out their breakdown of the ten Michigan athletes who have publicly stated they will indeed become Chargers in less than twenty-four hours.

As of right now, we have learned of 16 commits. Once the class is officially announced tomorrow, I will begin to profile a few of the athletes headed to the Dale.

Verbal Commitments:
Wyatt Batdorf - DB - Forest Hills Northern
John Brennan - LB - Howell
Andrew Callahan - OT - Chippewa Valley
James Friedl - OLB - Medina, OH, Highland H.S.
Paul Galloway - WR/S - Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
Brian Newman - WR - Houston, TX, St. Pius X HS
Seth Overla - TE - Troy, OH
David Poljan - OL - Lansing Catholic Central
Joe Reverman - RB - Grand Ledge
Jay Rose - LB/FB - Brecksville, OH
Brenden Rohlfs - QB - Chippewa Valley
Trey VanAken - RB/LB - Greenville, PA
Shea Whitmore - LB/TE - Petoskey
Andrew Wilcox - WR - Hillsdale
Charlie Yost - DE - Livonia Churchill
Alex Zimmerman - DB/WR - Holland West Ottawa