2025 D2Football.com Preseason Elite 100 Watch List
Football season is less than a month away, and the Hillsdale College football team has two returning stars that are earning recognition even before the first snap of the campaign.
Juniors
Shea Ruddy and
Jacob Vance were both named to the D2Football.com Preseason Elite 100 Watch List on Sunday night. The list, produced by D2Football.com staff with input from head coaches around the country and professional football scouting veteran Josh Buchanan, recognizes the top returning players in NCAA DII football and serves as an early indicator of players that have eyes on them for potential All-American honors at the end of the 2025 campaign.
Ruddy, a wide receiver, made the Elite 100 second team as an All-Purpose player, reflecting his versatility and value in a variety of different roles on the football field. Named an honorable mention All-American by the Don Hansen Football Committee after the 2024 campaign, Ruddy also was named the G-MAC Special Teams Player of the Year after setting a new G-MAC single-season record with 33.3 yards per kickoff return. He returned multiple kickoffs for touchdowns, led the G-MAC and ranked second in the country with 732 kickoff return yards, and also led the G-MAC and ranked in the top five nationally with 1,779 all-purpose yards.
Along with the threat he posed in the return game, Ruddy also was a dynamic player on offense, leading the Chargers with 680 yards receiving and eight touchdowns, and the G-MAC with 28.3 yards per catch, while also contributing in the run game for Hillsdale. Entering 2025, the Chargers will look for more ways to get the ball into Ruddy's hands, while taking advantage of the effect of the threat he poses in the return game as well.
Vance, a linebacker, earned first team All-Midwest Region and first team All-G-MAC honors in 2024, leading the Chargers in tackles despite missing two full games with an injury. Although he only played nine full contests, the rising junior finished in the top 10 in the G-MAC in tackles for loss with 10, and also added 4.5 sacks, including 2.5 sacks in Hillsdale's dominant 28-6 victory over Ohio Dominican in the 2024 season finale. He was a major part of a dominant defensive performance down the stretch by the Chargers, including holding the second-best rushing attack in the G-MAC, Tiffin, to just 1.6 yards per carry in a 20-17 upset win on Nov. 9.
It was the second-straight season that Vance has led the Chargers in tackles, and he has a chance to become the first player in program history to win the team's Linebacker of the Year award four straight seasons. He'll be a key player for a Chargers defense that looks to stand out for Hillsdale in the 2025 campaign.
The Chargers open the 2025 season on Sept. 6 with a road contest against McKendree at 1 p.m. eastern, then host Michigan Tech at 1 p.m. for their home opener the following weekend, Sept. 13.
