In its home and season opener on Saturday, the Hillsdale College football team made things interesting in the second half against #16 UIndy, but ultimately couldn't keep pace with the Greyhounds' high-powered offense in a 42-16 defeat.

UIndy took a lead it would never relinquish on its first drive of the game, and built a 28-7 lead by halftime. With the Greyhounds coming out of the locker room threatening to run away with the contest, Hillsdale put together its best quarter of the game in the third, stopping UIndy on four straight drives. 

On the last of those four UIndy possessions, Hillsdale's defense put some points on the board, as the Chargers backed the Greyhounds up deep and defensive tackle Hunter Sperling brought down UIndy's Jaden Schlabach in the end zone for a safety with 22 seconds left in the period.

Not only did the safety cut into UIndy's lead, it also set up Hillsdale's best drive of the contest. Chargers quarterback Cole Canter, playing in his debut game for Hillsdale, hooked up with sophomore receiver Jonathan Metzger on pass plays of 39 and 25 yards to set up Hillsdale in the red zone, and junior tailback Kyle Riffel capped off the nine play, 66 yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run. That score cut UIndy's lead to 28-16 with 11:34 to play, and gave the Chargers some hope there was still time to rally in the fourth quarter.

That hope was cut short by the Greyhounds, who responded with a six play, 78 yard drive of their own in just over three minutes to pull back ahead 35-16. Hillsdale moved the ball on its final two possessions of the game but both ended in turnovers, and UIndy got another late insurance touchdown to put the game out of reach.

Hillsdale had some success against UIndy through the air, passing for 260 yards to the Greyhounds' 265. Sophomore Shea Ruddy led the Chargers with 126 yards on four catches, including a 61-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter that got Hillsdale on the board before halftime. Metzger added his two catches for 64 yards, and tight end Andrew Konieczny chipped in 17 yards on two catches as well.

Canter was 14 of 32 through the air for 260 yards and the touchdown to Ruddy for Hillsdale. 

While Chargers made plays in the passing game, Hillsdale never got it going on the ground, rushing for just 24 yards on 35 carries. Riffel finished with 39 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to lead the Chargers, but Hillsdale was sacked four times for a loss of 34 yards. UIndy, meanwhile, was able to stay balanced, supplementing its passing performance with 213 yards on the ground. The Chargers also struggled with turnovers, throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble. 

Jacob Vance led the Charger defense with eight tackles, including three for loss, and Vince Francescone added six tackles as Hillsdale had its moments but gave up too many chunk plays to keep UIndy in check. Drake Badger added two tackles for loss and a strip sack for Hillsdale, while Evan Bienick also finished with a sack as well.

True freshman Braeden Chiles hit both extra point opportunities he was presented with in his debut for the Chargers.

Hillsdale (0-1) will look to bounce back quickly with a tough road trip next week to Michigan Tech (1-1). The Chargers are looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Huskies and build some momentum heading into G-MAC play.

Photo by Kenneth Gaudet