Schedule
McKendree (0-1, 0-0 GLVC) at Hillsdale College (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) | Noon ET Saturday, Sept. 5 | Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium | Hillsdale, MI
 
Follow/Watch
Live Stats | Webcast | Tickets
 
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | McKendree Roster | 2025 Hillsdale Stats | 2026 McKendree Stats | G-MAC Schedule | G-MAC Standings

 
Last Season
Close contests were the story of the season for Hillsdale in 2025, as wins by 4 points or less over McKendree in the season opener and Walsh helped propel the Chargers to a third-straight winning season, but one-score losses on the road at Tiffin and nationally-ranked Findlay helped keep the Chargers from contending in the G-MAC. After opening the season at 2-5 overall, Hillsdale once again finished with a flurry, winning four straight games to secure a 6-5 finish and a berth in the Albanese Candy Bowl. The Chargers were competitive in a bowl game fight with a strong Upper Iowa team, before eventually coming up short in a 37-28 loss. Hillsdale got a great season from consensus All-American Shea Ruddy, who led all divisions of football with 960 kickoff return yards and was the only NCAA DII football player with a passing, rushing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown in 2025. Linebacker Jacob Vance led the team in tackles for the third consecutive season to earn All-G-MAC honors, and tailback Ben Ngishu was named G-MAC Freshman of the Year after a stellar first season with the Chargers.

 
Scouting the Opposition
Hillsdale meets McKendree in its season and home opener on Saturday, in a rematch of a thrilling 2025 contest that the Chargers pulled out in the final two minutes of the game for a 22-17 victory.

Since joining the GLVC in 2012, McKendree has been a competitive program usually occupying the middle of the pack in that conference, including last year, when the Bearcats rallied from a 0-3 start to finish at .500 in league play and 4-7 overall. McKendree enters the weekend already having a game under their belt, facing off against Saginaw Valley State in a 48-24 loss on August 27.

Although coach Jason Rejfek returns for his third season, McKendree will have a very different look on both sides of the ball after heavy graduation losses from the 2025 campaign.

On offense, the Bearcats have a new quarterback with the graduation of multi-year starter Ty Michael. Replacing him is sophomore quarterback Kendrick Lyons, who had a strong first outing against the Cardinals on the 27^th, going 19 of 34 for 259 yards and three touchdowns. McKendree does have experienced targets for Lyons to work with, returning All-GLVC honorable mention wideouts Quincy Hall Jr. and Daryle Jones Jr., while freshman Kendric Johnson and grad transfer Aiden Jones also had solid games against SVSU.

One of the biggest losses from McKendree's 2025 squad is star tailback Eddie Clark, a multi-year starter and All-GLVC player for the Bearcats. In his absence, McKendree used three tailbacks against SVSU – freshman Izaias Primus and veterans Jerry Richardson and Philip Shaw – but finished with 58 yards rushing on 2.6 yards per carry. Getting the run game going against the Chargers will be a priority for the Bearcats. On the offensive line, McKendree returns two starters from 2025, led by stalwart left tackle Nick Pederson.

On the defensive side of the ball, McKendree will have to overcome key graduation losses, especially to its pass rush, but will lean heavily on veteran players who do return, headlined by second-team All-GLVC linebacker Nick Bova, who was second on the team in tackles in 2025. He's backed by key veteran players in the secondary in All-GLVC honorees Cyris Davis at safety and Mylan Nettles at cornerback. All three players were leaders for McKendree's defense against SVSU.

One key area of focus for McKendree against Hillsdale will be generating more pressure on the quarterback. With star edge rushers Dameion Hatten and Tanner Hollerich no longer on the roster, the Bearcats were unable to put heat on SVSU quarterback Connor Wolf, who lit up the Bearcats defense with three passing touchdowns in a 48-point night for the Cardinals offense. Ends Keaton Fort and Joel Codjoe-DePluzer, along with linebackers Bova and Josiah Houston, will look to prevent a similar performance by Hillsdale this week.

Another major loss for McKendree was specialist Chase Reeves, who was one of the GLVC's top kickers and punters in 2025. Freshman Truman Carmine looked solid as his replacement at kicker, making all three extra points and a 29-yard field goal against SVSU, while junior Jake Miller averaged 34.5 yards on four punts. Quincy Hall is a dangerous return man on both kicks and punts for the Bearcats.

McKendree is coached by Rejfek, a former All-Conference linebacker at McKendree who served as the Bearcats' defensive coordinator from 2018-2023 before becoming the head coach in 2024.
 

The Series
This is the third meeting between the Chargers and Bearcats, with both prior games having been tight, back-and-forth contests. McKendree won the first meeting in Hillsdale on Sept. 16, 2017, pulling ahead late in the third quarter for a 24-21 victory. Hillsdale got revenge in the season opener at McKendree in 2025, taking a 22-17 victory after a 50-yard touchdown catch by Tutt Carrico put them ahead with 1:09 to play, and a late drive to try and retake the lead by McKendree ended in a game-sealing interception for the Chargers.

 
Other Notes

• Hillsdale College athletics will once again stream on FloCollege for the 2026-27 season as the Great Midwest Athletic Conference continues with a media rights deal with FloSports. All 11 Hillsdale College football contests in 2026 will stream with FloSports as a part of its FloCollege brand. FloSports is a subscription-based livestreaming service that hosts 40,000 contests and has deals with over 20 conferences in the NCAA. You can find out more information and sign up to watch the Chargers at this link.
• On Saturday, Hillsdale will host its annual Victory Day celebration, welcoming community members with special needs to run out with the team and participate in a fun halftime activity with help from football players from nearby Hillsdale and Reading High School. Victory Day was founded in 2010 by Aaron Segedi, a native of Riverview, who strongly believes that building character holds equal importance to teaching his students, and is designed to give individuals with special needs the chance to have a full football experience.
• Hillsdale head coach Nate Shreffler is entering his third 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 winning records in Shreffler's first two seasons in charge, and he was the first Hillsdale coach to finish above .500 in his debut season since Hillsdale Hall of Famer Dick Lowry in 1980.
• The Chargers return one of the most dynamic players in the country in senior  Shea Ruddy, who became the first Hillsdale College player in the NCAA DII era to be named both a consensus All-American and a first-team Academic All-American in the same season. An electric player in the return game, Ruddy led all of college football in 2025 with 960 kickoff return yards and three kick return touchdowns. He's also a versatile weapon for the Chargers, leading Hillsdale in receiving yards (695) and tying for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (7) while becoming the only NCAA DII player in the nation to finish with a rushing, passing, receiving and kickoff return touchdown in 2025. He was named to DIIFootball.com's Elite 100 preseason watch list for the second straight season entering 2026, and will be a key weapon for the Chargers.
• Ruddy is up for several major awards entering the 2026 campaign. He's been selected as a finalist for the 2026 Allstate AFCA Good Works team, representing college football players who make a major impact through community service and volunteering, and he's also a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded annually by the National Football Foundation to the college football player who represents excellence in on-field performance, academics, leadership and community service.
• Fifth year linebacker Jacob Vance is another Charger who made the DIIFootball.com Elite 100 preseason watch list and has been a difference-maker for Hillsdale as the team's leading tackler in each of the last three seasons. Vance was named to the All-Super Region 1 team in 2024 and earned first team All-G-MAC honors each of the last two seasons. He was the Chargers' Team MVP in 2025 as well as a team captain, and has a chance to become the first player in program history to be named the team's linebacker of the year in four straight seasons.
• Along with Ruddy, Hillsdale's young receiving talent broke out in a big way in 2025, and carries a lot of excitement into 2026. Junior Tutt Carrico had a breakout campaign as a sophomore, finishing in the top 10 in the G-MAC in receiving yards and tying Ruddy for the team lead with seven receiving touchdowns. Tight end Andrew Konieczny was an All-Conference performer for the second straight year as well, and Ryan Skura also made important contributions for the Chargers in 2025. The receiving room should be a major strength for the Chargers in 2026.
• Hillsdale should have a formidable pass rush in 2026, with every Chargers player responsible for a sack in 2025 set to return, led by senior defensive end Drake Badger, whose 10 sacks last year were the most by a Hillsdale player in a single season since 2009. Talented sophomore Jayden Njoroge also returns after a four-sack season, as do defensive line stalwart Neal Likens and Evan Bienick, and linebacker standouts Vance and Luke Penola.
• Sophomore tailback Ben Ngishu enters the 2026 season looking to build off a stellar freshman campaign that saw him earn G-MAC Freshman of the Year honors and finish with the most rushing yards by a true freshman in over a decade. Ngishu finished third in the G-MAC in rushing yards on the season with 794 in 2025, averaging 5 yards a carry, and will be a critical weapon for the Chargers in 2026.
• Fifth-year senior Ryan Niksa had a stellar 2025 campaign, finishing second in NCAA DII and leading the G-MAC with 16 pass breakups to play a major role for the Chargers defense. A starter at cornerback for Hillsdale, Niksa will look to lead a veteran secondary unit that also includes decorated fifth-year safety Colin Morrow and is aiming for major improvement in 2026.
• Hillsdale has selected four captains for the 2026 campaign: Jacob Vance, who will serve as a captain for the second straight season, along with Ruddy, fifth-year offensive lineman Jesse Mendoza and junior linebacker Luke Penola.
• The Charger football program continued to shine academically this past season, with eight players earning College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, including returners Ruddy, Penola, Carrico and senior safety Jonah Jensne. In addition to making the All-District team, Ruddy went a step further, becoming the first football player in Hillsdale College history to be named a CSC Academic All-American two years in a row. In addition, 53 Hillsdale football players received Academic All-G-MAC honors for posting a 3.3 or better cumulative GPA through the spring 2024 semester, and the Chargers led NCAA DII with 17 graduating players earning a spot on the NFF Hampshire Honor Society for their achievements in the classroom.