One week after an epic offensive performance to open the season, the Hillsdale College football team did one better on both sides of the ball in a 49-0 victory over Wayne State on Saturday.

The Chargers rolled up 621 yards of total offense, just shy of the school record of 659 set in 2017 against Kentucky Wesleyan, while also pitching the program's 86th shutout and just its seventh in the last decade in a comprehensive victory all around.

Hillsdale showed great balance offensively. The Chargers never punted, rushing for 351 yards on the ground against the Warriors and adding another 270 through the air while averaging 8.5 yards per play. Hillsdale's quarterback rotation was especially effective, with senior Colin McKernan going 9 of 13 for 126 yards and a touchdown, and junior Eli Boyce also going 8 for 10 with 139 yards and two scores.

All three touchdown passes went to junior Tutt Carrico, who had a huge day with scores of 24, 48 and 15 yards through the air and finished with five catches for 111 yards while adding another 47 on the ground for Hillsdale. 

The Chargers rushing attack was balanced and varied, with no player going over 56 yards rushing but 11 different Chargers recording multiple carries for positive yardage. Starter Ben Ngishu had a short but effective day, scoring Hillsdale's first two touchdowns on 13 and eight yard carries in the first quarter to give the Chargers a 14-0 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

With Hillsdale up big, Ngishu gave way to a variety of different runners as the Chargers got reps for several different players in the contest. Avery Holt, Hillsdale's third quarterback of the day, rushed for 56 yards on six carries, including a three yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Connor Vermeulen added five carries for 49 yards and freshman Hawk Hasselman scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career with a three-yard scamper in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring for the Chargers.

Luke Stanton caught two passes for 43 yards, Andrew Konieczny added two catches for 38 yards, and Ryan Skura finished with four catches for 34 yards as well for the Chargers.

On defense, Hillsdale was rampant, holding Wayne State to 194 yards of total offense and recording seven sacks, just one shy of the program record of eight last achieved in 2005. Sophomore Jayden Njoroge was a force up front, recording 3.5 sacks, a career high and the most by a Charger player in a single game in over 15 years. Njoroge also forced a fumble, recovered by Jacob Vance, that helped snuff out a potential Warriors scoring drive.
 
Luke Penola added four tackles and one and a half sacks, and Colin Morrow also finished with four tackles, 1.5 for loss, and a half-sack as well. Ryan Niksa added a forced fumble for the Chargers defense and two pass breakups, Leighton Scott picked off a Wayne State pass, and Connor VanBeek, Neal Likens and Isaiah Coolman each shared a half-sack as well for Hillsdale in a dominant performance at all levels of the defense.

Combined with last week's 55-point performance in a win over McKendree, Hillsdale now has scored 104 points in its first two games, the best two game start for the Chargers offense in the 134 year history of the program. Now 2-0 overall, Hillsdale will look to carry the momentum from its fast start into a critical conference opener at Northwood next week.

The Timberwolves, also 2-0, won 10 games last season, including a 48-19 victory over Hillsdale in Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium that snapped a 10-game winning streak in the series by the Chargers. While it's just the start of conference play, the victor in next Saturday's contest, played at noon in Midland, Michigan, will get a huge leg up in the G-MAC title race. It's also a rivalry game, as the two programs will battle for the Riepma Cup, named in honor of legendary Hillsdale quarterback and Northwood coach and athletic director Pat Riepma.