The Hillsdale College football team capped another strong finish to a season with a dominant defensive effort on the road on Saturday, stonewalling host Ohio Dominican 28-6 for their fifth straight victory to finish the 2024 campaign.

The Chargers didn't give up a first down to the Panthers until midway through the second quarter and conceded just seven in the game, holding ODU to just 120 total yards of offense and one touchdown in arguably their best performance in a season of notable defensive efforts.

With the defense dominating the competition, Hillsdale's offense took full advantage to build an unassailable lead. The Chargers used a 55 yard return by Shea Ruddy on the opening kickoff to set up a three-yard touchdown run by Kyle Riffel to give Hillsdale a 7-0 lead it would never relinquish, starting a trend of the Chargers consistently cashing in on excellent field position throughout the contest to pull away. 

The Chargers added a second touchdown before the half, as quarterback Colin McKernan connected with Ruddy on a 38-yard pass and with tight end Andrew Konieczny on a 13-yard pass to set up his own 1-yard rushing touchdown on a quarterback keeper. 

After ODU scored late in the half to make it a one-possession game, Hillsdale shut the door on the Panthers to start the third quarter. ODU went backwards on their first possession of the half, setting up a short punt that gave the Chargers the ball inside the ODU 40. Hillsdale milked the clock with a 12-play drive that McKernan finished with a four-yard touchdown pass to Ruddy that gave the Chargers breathing room. Riffel sealed the victory early in the fourth quarter with his second touchdown from six yards out to put the game away.

Hillsdale's defense wreaked havoc on ODU, sacking quarterback Drew Gallehue five times and holding the Panthers to 0.9 yards per carry on the ground. Linebacker Jacob Vance, fully healthy after missing two games earlier in the year with an injury, was a force, leading the Chargers with eight tackles and 2.5 sacks. Evan Bienick and Hunter Sperling each recorded a sack as well for Hillsdale, and Carson Ingram added four tackles and a half-sack.

Offensively, senior Logan VanEnkevort finished his career with his fourth-straight 100-plus yard rushing game, putting up 118 yards on 29 carries. Ruddy added 24 yards on seven carries and also led the Chargers in receiving with 42 yards on two catches, including the touchdown. McKernan was 7 for 14 for 86 yards passing as Hillsdale overcame three interceptions in the contest.

With the victory, Hillsdale finished 6-5 for the second straight season, 6-3 in the G-MAC, overcoming 0-4 starts by winning six of their final seven games in both campaigns. In total, the Chargers have finished .500 or better in eight of the last nine campaigns, and will look to build off this finish and contend for a G-MAC title next season. Hillsdale's three G-MAC losses came by a combined 11 points, with two in the final seconds. While the Chargers will have to work hard to replace their 17 graduating seniors, including several key contributors, Hillsdale has a strong core slated to return on both sides of the ball to build around, and exciting young talent to work with, in the 2025 season.