Week 2 :: Hillsdale Travels to Findlay

This Week's Games:

Hillsdale at Findlay, 7 PM

Northwood at Wayne St., noon
Indianapolis at Michigan Tech, 1 PM
Ashland at Ferris St., 7 PM
Gannon at Grand Valley, 7 PM
Mercyhurst at Northern Michigan, 7 PM

The 2005 Hillsdale College football did not get off to a good start last week at Indianapolis as the Chargers dropped the opener 29-21. The 8 point spread was closer than the game on the field thanks exceptional work on special teams and from a re-vamped defensive line that after one week leads the GLIAC in quarterback sacks with 5. Unfortunately, the Chargers are forced to share that honor with Indianapolis who also got to Aaron Scholl behind the line of scrimmage 5 times themselves.

Indy controlled the football and the tempo last week and that is something the Chargers must do this week as they take on the Oilers of Findlay University. Findlay had their way on Saturday with Tiffin, winning 31-10 and placing among the league's top 5 in most major categories.

PASS OFFENSE #5 193.0 yards
RUSHING OFFENSE #5 214.0 yards
TOTAL OFFENSE #4 214 yards rushing 193 yards passing 407 total yards 3 TD
PASS DEFENSE #3 7-18 2 Int. 38.9% 105 yards 0 TD 105.0
RUSHING DEFENSE #4 39 rushes 113 yards 2.9 yards per carry 1TD
TOTAL DEFENSE #3 113 yards rushing 105 yards passing 218 total yards

The Oilers also had some great individual efforts in the win, despite being without the nation's 10th leading rusher last season Michael Simpson who is reportedly injured. Sophomore Marcus Crawford will be the main target for the Charger defense as he peeled off 138 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. Findlay also proved the Oilers can throw the ball when needed.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING #4 Marcus Crawford 29 carries 138 yards 4.8 ypc 1 TD
INDIVIDUAL PASSING #4 Mike Leach 16-23 0 INT 69.6% 170 yards 1TD
RECEIVING #1 Darren Paige 8 catches 110 yards 0 TD 13.8 yards per catch

With those types of numbers and the fact the game is on the road for a second straight week, the Chargers will definitely have their hands full. But the beauty of college football is that every Saturday, there is a great opportunity to do something great.

What do we really know about any of these teams at this point in the season anyway? How good is that Indianapolis team Hillsdale still had a chance to beat late in the game? They finished last season by winning 4 of 5 and must have been feeling pretty good about themselves. Sure, they graduated super-qb Matt Kohn but plugged in D1 Ball St. transfer Casey Gillin and hardly missed a stride. All reports out of the Dale indicated that the Chargers were pretty confident going into that one. A 23-7 halftime defecit sobered Hillsdale enough to send them roaring back in the second half. On the other side of the coin this week, you have to wonder how strong of an opponent was Tiffin? We know they beat Hillsdale last season, but also lost a 4 year starting quarterback and all world receiver Nate Washington who signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. We could sit here and play these games on paper all day, but that is for the guys who set the betting lines for the 702 area code. Come 7 PM on Saturday night, the real contest will be decided. Let's hope last Saturday's opener was an anomoly, and in November we'll be shaking our heads saying, "What the heck happened at Indy?" as this season does pan out to be as successful as the Charger faithful expect it to be.

A few other notes:
Senior linebacker Matt Britton was sorely missed last week. No word on the reason or when we can expect him back. Linebackers True Freshman Mark Wade and Sophomore Austin Niemiec showed they have the potential to be a long time forces on the Charger defense. Let's hope Britton returns soon and that Wade and Niemiec and, as the great D-Line coach Bill Karpinski would say, "ain't just a flash in the pan". Junior Mark Scott continued to demonstrate an ability to find the football, leading the team with 12 tackles, including 1 1/2 for loss.

Great effort last week out of the Charger defensive line. As mentioned before, the unit sits atop the GLIAC stats with 5 sacks last week. Andy Dion was exceptional as were Aaron Hoekje and Andrew Daugherty. Daugherty had 11 stops.

New Sports Information Director Brad Monastiere is working hard to restore the live radio feed from WCSR to the Hillsdale Athletics website. Last Spring the entire athletics site was disassembled and in the transition, the feed was not re-established. The Geeks in Hillsdale's Tech Service Dept. tell Brad all will be well by game time. I will post a link as soon as it is available with an alternate link to the Findlay broadcast.

Next week is homecoming as the Chargers christen the new turf at Muddy Waters Stadium. The Hillsdale alumni site has all of the details.