The Hillsdale College football team did just enough to hold off Walsh on the road on Saturday, surviving a fourth-quarter flurry from the favored Cavaliers to pull a 23-20 upset.

The Chargers controlled play and held the lead on the scoreboard for much of the contest, taking a 23-10 advantage on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Colin McKernan to Tutt Carrico with 7:11 to play in the third quarter. The scoring play was McKernan's third touchdown pass of the day in a strong showing for the sophomore quarterback, who also connected with tight end Andrew Konieczny on a clutch fourth-down pass from two yards out to get Hillsdale on the board in the first quarter, and who found Shea Ruddy on a 24 yard passing touchdown to help give the Chargers a 16-10 edge at the half.

Desperate not to lose on its home field, Walsh made a spirited late charge to try and steal the victory from Hillsdale. The Cavaliers got to or past the Hillsdale 25 on three of their final four drives, but the Chargers defense stood tall when it mattered. Ryan Niksa and Jack Trachet each broke up potential drive extending or scoring passes that forced Walsh to settle for two field goals, and the second, a 42-yarder that would have tied the game with 1:42 to play, failed to clear the uprights as Hillsdale clung to a 23-20 lead.

Following that miss by Walsh, Hillsdale's offense ran out the final 102 seconds to seal the victory.

Hillsdale's offense had a solid day through the air thanks to one of the best performances of McKernan's career, as the sophomore completed 82% of his passes for 242 yards and those three critical touchdowns. Ruddy caught 10 passes for 102 yards and a score to lead the Chargers receivers, while Carrico added 72 yards on four catches and Ryan Skura hauled in two catches for 30 yards as well.

The Chargers' success through the air allowed Hillsdale to avoid Walsh's strength defensively, a stout front seven against the run. Freshman Ben Ngishu was the top rushes for the Chargers with 32 yards on nine carries, and Eli Boyce added 26 yards on four carries.

Jacob Vance and Hudson Jones each finished with a sack to lead Hillsdale defensively, while Colin Morrow finished with a team-high eight tackles, 1.5 for loss, and Luke Penola added seven.

Freshman Dylan DeDario missed an extra point on Hillsdale's first drive, but redeemed himself in a big way in the second quarter with a clutch field goal from 24 yards out that ended up providing the winning margin for the Chargers. 

Hillsdale improves to 5-5 with the victory, 4-4 in the G-MAC and keeps hope of a winning season alive entering the final game of the 2025 regular season. The Chargers host Ohio Dominican at 1 p.m. next Saturday looking for their third straight season above .500, and also to send the program's 19 seniors out on a high note while building momentum towards the 2026 campaign.