Schedule
Upper Iowa (8-3, 6-2 GLVC) vs Hillsdale College (6-5, 5-4 G-MAC) | 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 6 | Brickyard Stadium | Hobart, IN
 
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Webcast | Tickets
 
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | UIU Roster | Hillsdale Stats | UIU Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings
 
Last Game
The Chargers rolled to a fourth-straight victory to close out the regular season, shredding Ohio Dominican 31-14 at home in a battle to determine the G-MAC's Albanese Candy Bowl representative. Hillsdale threw for a season-best 329 passing yards, as quarterbacks Colin McKernan and Eli Boyce combined to complete 75% of their passes for three touchdowns as the Chargers scored 21 unanswered in the second half to pull away. McKernan added another touchdown on the ground and connected with G-MAC Offensive Player of the Week Shea Ruddy for two touchdowns, including an 80-yarder in the fourth quarter to seal the game, while Tutt Carrico also caught a seven yard scoring pass from Boyce. Jonah Jensen finished with eight tackles, Drake Badger added 1.5 sacks and Ryan Niksa broke up three passes, including deflecting an interception to Nolan Strake, to lead the Chargers defense.
 
Scouting the Opposition
Hillsdale's Albanese Candy Bowl opponent is a tricky one. The Chargers face off against an Upper Iowa squad that just missed the NCAA DII Playoffs after a hard-fought 28-21 loss to Indianapolis in the season finale, and whose eight wins are the most by a Peacock team in 59 years, with a chance to become the first nine-win team in the 121-year history of Upper Iowa football.
 
The Peacocks have made history this season thanks to an explosive offense that averages over 30 points a game. The conductor is senior quarterback Darryl Overstreet, a three-year starter who has had a career year in 2025, completing an impressive 71.4% of his passes for 2,467 yards and 21 touchdowns. While Overstreet is more of a passer than a runner, he still poses a real danger with his legs, with 332 yards and five touchdowns on the ground, and he pairs well with a strong one-two punch at tailback for the Peacocks in redshirt freshmen Jayden Gordon and Damon Head Jr., who have combined for over 1,000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns.
 
Overstreet has a real connection with senior receiver Mante Morrow, who posted one of the top seasons in the GLVC with 52 catches for 900 yards and 12 touchdowns. Tight end Eddie Burgess is also a huge part of the passing game for UIU, with 584 yards and five touchdowns, and Angelo Butts and Lonny Melvin, Jr. also provide solid secondary targets.
 
Protecting this attack is a solid offensive line led by Senior and multi-year starter Klay Seehase at left tackle. Right guard Connor Andresen, right tackle Nick Perry and center Ryan McDonough also earned all-GLVC honors up front for the Peacocks.
 
While Upper Iowa's offense has gotten the headlines, the Peacocks' defense has quietly played a huge role in the team's success as well, holding opponents to just 19 points per game. A ferocious pass rush led by ends Shaquille Roman and Demontay Mack has kept opposing teams off balance, with the pair combining for 14 sacks on the season. Eddy Latanauskas is another impact player up front as a defensive tackle.
 
The Peacocks' back seven also is  tough. Linebacker Evan Dorn is the team's leading tackler with 86, and safety Tade Parsons added 66 tackles and a team-high three interceptions on the way to first-team All-GLVC honors. Fellow safeties Avery Dixon and Yashua Pettis-Taylor each earned All-GLVC honors as well in a decorated defensive backfield, and corners Darrell Matchem and Brycen Hendrix combined for 14 pass breakups.
 
Upper Iowa has one of the GLVC's top specialists in Nathan Behne, the co-GLVC Special Teams Player of the Year. Behne averaged 43.3 yards per punt and was 8 of 11 on field goals, going 5 for 5 from kicks of over 40 yards with a season-long of 51. Koda Gates-Bridges, Gordon and Melvin Jr. handle returns for the Peacocks.
 
The Series
Saturday is the first-ever meeting on the gridiron between the two programs, though both teams have a combined 254 years of football history between them in a tradition-rich matchup.
 
Other Notes

• Saturday marks the sixth bowl appearance in program history for Hillsdale, and the second time the Chargers have played in this G-MAC/GLVC matchup. Hillsdale fell 34-17 to Truman State in the previous incarnation of this bowl game, the America's Crossroads Bowl, in 2021 in a contest also played in the Brickyard Stadium in Hobart, Indiana. The GLVC has won four of the five previous contests in the bowl game, first held in 2019. Albanese Candy became the title sponsor of the bowl game for this 2025 edition.
• Hilllsdale head coach Nate Shreffler is in his second season as the man in charge, and the veteran coach is no stranger to the sport and to Hillsdale. Shreffler is entering his 27^th season as a coach for the Chargers, including successful stints as the team's offensive line coach (1999-2009) and offensive coordinator (2010-2023). Hillsdale's all-time leading passer, rusher and receiver all played in offenses led by Shreffler, and he was the position coach of Hillsdale's most recent NFL draft pick, Jared Veldheer. A 1993 graduate of Hillsdale College, Shreffler was a three-year starter on the offensive line and an important part of the team's 1992 conference title. The Chargers finished with a 6-5 record in Shreffler's first season in charge, making him the first Hillsdale coach to finish above .500 in his debut season since Hillsdale Hall of Famer Dick Lowry in 1980.
• With 1.5 sacks in the season finale against Ohio Dominican on Nov. 15, Drake Badger finished the regular season with 10 sacks. He's the first Charger lineman since Drew Berube finished with 13 sacks in 2009 to put up double-digits sacks in a single campaign. Badger, who earned first-team All-G-MAC honors for his play this season, also ranks ninth all-time in Hillsdale history in career sacks with 19 and 10th in program history with 29 tackles for loss, numbers he'll hope to add to on Saturday.
• In junior Shea Ruddy, the Chargers have one of the most versatile weapons in the country. Ruddy joined an exclusive club in 2025 by finishing the season with a passing, rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown, becoming just the 30th player in college football to accomplish that feat since 1977. As Hillsdale's leading receiver and a weapon in the return game, the two-time G-MAC Special Teams Player of the Year and 2024 All-American is one to watch this weekend.
• True freshman tailback Ben Ngishu has been one of the biggest and most pleasant surprises for the Chargers in 2025, seizing the starting job just two months into his time at Hillsdale and earning first team All-G-MAC honors with 716 rushing yards. A native of Wylie, Texas, just outside of Houston, Ngishu had back-to-back 100 yards games against Ashland and Kentucky Wesleyan. Ngishu is Hillsdale's first conference Freshman of the Year honoree since fellow tailback Joe Reverman in 2015.
• Junior Jacob Vance was recognized as the Team MVP at the program's banquet on Nov. 16, and earned his second first team All-G-MAC honor after leading the Chargers in tackles for the third-straight season with a career-high 64 in 2025. A 2024 first team All-G-MAC and All-Super Region 1 linebacker, Vance was a preseason All-American to D2Football.com and is one of Hillsdale's leaders as a team captain.
• Junior Colin Morrow was slowed by injuries in each of his first two seasons but has taken off in 2025 with better health. He currently is second on the Chargers with 62 tackles while playing the STAR position, a hybrid linebacker/safety, and has added three interceptions, a forced fumble and fumble recovery for a touchdown.
• Along with Ngishu, Hillsdale's gotten breakout seasons so far from a variety of sophomore receivers. Tutt Carrico is second to Ruddy with 35 catches and 580 receiving yards and leads the Chargers with seven receiving touchdowns earning second team All-G-MAC honors. Fellow sophomore Ryan Skura has 261 yards and two scores, and tight end Andrew Konieczny adds 248 yards and four touchdowns as well. The trio have combined to catch 13 touchdown passes, helping fuel a career year to date from another important sophomore, quarterback Colin McKernan, who's now in his second season as the starter and finished with career-bests across the board, with a 60.8 completion percentage, 18 passing touchdowns and 1,914 passing yards.
• Junior cornerback Ryan Niksa was a busy player for the Chargers, getting tested by opponents often and holding up well. Niksa led the G-MAC and is tied for seventh in NCAA DII with 15 passes defensed. He'll likely get his number called on frequently again on Saturday with marquee matchups against a talented Peacocks receiving corps.
• Hillsdale enters the Albanese Candy Bowl with a chance to repeat as the nation's leader in kickoff return average. After topping NCAA DII in the stat in 2024, Hillsdale has an average of 30.56 yards per return in 2025 -- .01 behind national leader Lenoir-Rhyne, whose season is over. The Chargers will be looking to for a big return to help them leapfrog the Bears in the final tally on Saturday.
• Defensive lineman Hunter Sperling was honored as Hillsdale's nominee for the William V. Campbell trophy, awarded by the National Football Foundation. Considered the "Academic Heisman", the award goes to a senior college football player who makes major contributions on and off the field while also excelling in the classroom. Sperling, an active volunteer in several charitable endeavors and an Economics major with a 3.86 GPA, is also a team captain in his third year as a starter, with 83 career tackles, 13.5 for loss, and 7.5 sacks in 35 games played at defensive tackle.
• Hillsdale has another major award nominee in senior wide receiver Connor Pratt, who is a contender for a spot on the Allstate Good Works team. Pratt, who started and was one of the team's most productive targets as a junior, has been active in a wide variety of community service projects, including Hillsdale's Victory Day, Guys With Ties, and Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry drive fundraisers, as well as several solo volunteer efforts.
• Hillsdale has selected three captains for the 2025 campaign – Vance, Sperling and Carter Cushman, a three-year starter at right tackle for Hillsdale. All three captains are veteran players with significant contributions on the field and as leaders of the program.
• The Charger football program continued to shine academically this past season, with six players earning College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, including returners Sperling and Ruddy. In addition to making the All-District team, Ruddy went a step further, becoming just the ninth football player in Hillsdale College history to be named a CSC Academic All-American as a special teams player. In addition, 40 Hillsdale football players received Academic All-G-MAC honors for posting a 3.3 or better cumulative GPA through the spring 2024 semester.