The Hillsdale College football team capped a successful 2026 season with a historic beatdown of Ohio Dominican on the road on Saturday, rolling to a 65-9 victory to clinch an 8-3 finish.

Hillsdale's 65 points in the victory are the most scored by a Chargers team in 56 years, since a 67-0 win over Detroit Mercy on Sept. 18, 1970, and represent the most points scored against and the largest margin of victory over an Ohio Dominican squad in its program's 22-year history.

The Chargers were dominant from the opening whistle, taking the ball to start and needing just three plays for senior Cole Canter to find Shea Ruddy deep for a 57-yard passing touchdown to go up 7-0 less than a minute into the game.

That was the first salvo in a virtuoso performance, as Hillsdale scored on nine of its first 10 drives to take a 37-3 lead into halftime and a 62-point third quarter lead. The Chargers totaled 514 yards of total offense, 295 through the air and 219 on the ground in a balanced effort, and repeatedly paid off short fields created by the Hillsdale defense with scores.

Canter, in his final game as a Charger, had a career-best effort, going 15 of 21 through the air for a career-high 274 yards and three touchdown passes. Along with the deep pass to Ruddy, Canter also connected with the prolific senior for a 31-yard score and hit senior tight end Andrew Konieczny for a two-yard touchdown pass as well. Canter also added a one-yard rushing touchdown on a four-score day.

Fellow senior quarterback Colin McKernan also made his return late from a concussion that had held him out the past two weeks, completing his only pass of the day to freshman Louis Raffin for a 21-yard touchdown, Raffin's first of his career. 

Hillsdale also had a great day on the ground. Sophomore Ben Ngishu ran for 85 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns, of one and 24 yards, as well.

The game was a fitting capper to the storied career of Ruddy, who graduates as one of Hillsdale's all-time greats. The senior caught six passes for a career-high 188 yards and the two scores while also hauling in a 74-yard pass on a slant route to set up another score. Ruddy showcased his trademark versatility, rushing for 64 yards and a 28-yard rushing touchdown. Thanks to a strong final game, Ruddy graduates fourth in Hillsdale College history in career receiving yards, tied for sixth in career receptions, second in career receiving touchdowns and sixth in total touchdowns.

While the offense deserves credit, Hillsdale's defense, one of the top units in the nation all season, played a major role in the outcome as well. The Chargers defense forced three turnovers and got on the board as a unit themselves thanks to a 55-yard interception return for touchdown by PJ O'Brien. Thanks to those takeaways, Hillsdale's offense consistently started with short fields throughout the contest, helping the Chargers pull away early in the game.

Senior Colin Morrow picked off a pass as well for Hillsdale, while Luke Penola forced and recovered a fumble and added eight tackles as well. In the final game of a storied career for the Chargers, linebacker Jacob Vance led with nine tackles and shared a sack with Brayden Smith, while senior Jonah Jensen added six tackles and Vince Carrico chipped in two tackles for loss as well.

On special teams, sophomore kicker Dylan DeDario hit a 33-yard field goal for the Chargers and combined with senior Ian Woodyard to go 8 of 8 on extra points.

Hillsdale finishes the season at 8-3 overall, and third in the G-MAC at 6-3 in conference play. It's Hillsdale's best record since a 10-3 mark in 2018. The Chargers had significant success in 2026 thanks to strong senior leadership from an impressive class of 27 graduates that will be tough to replace, but the Chargers do still have significant talent returning, headlined by junior captain Luke Penola at linebacker among many others, as Hillsdale looks to build off this season's success in 2027.