Courtesy: Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Hillsdale College football team suffered its first loss of the season, 34-21, in its home opener against the Michigan Tech Huskies Sept. 13, moving them to 1-1 on the season.
Head coach Nate Shreffler said despite the loss, there were still positives to take from the game.
“We kept fighting until the end,” Shreffler said. “Defensively, we had a big 4th down stop on one drive and a goal line stand on another that created a turnover late in the game.”
The Chargers scored on their opening drive when sophomore quarterback Colin McKernan found sophomore receiver Andrew Konieczny in the endzone for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
“Our first drive of the game was, in my opinion, our best drive of the season,” sophomore receiver Ryan Skura said. “Our whole offense came together, and everyone was making plays and that looked great.”
Michigan Tech responded by scoring 21 unanswered points to lead 21-7 with four minutes left in the first half.
The Chargers scored a quick touchdown on the next drive when junior receiver Shea Ruddy connected with Skura on a surprise play for a 70-yard touchdown pass. It was Ruddy’s first passing touchdown of his collegiate career.
“It was pretty cool to throw a touchdown pass,” Ruddy said. “It is something I’ve wanted to do in college since I got here so I completed that goal. I haven’t thrown in-game since high school, which made it a fun play.”
Skura said he also enjoyed the play.
“We’ve had that play since last year,” Skura said. “This week we really emphasized and ran it a couple times in practice, so I was hoping it would get called. When it did, I was excited and ready to go because I knew it would work.”
After forcing a turnover on downs from the Huskies, the Chargers marched the ball all the way to the Michigan Tech 19-yard line until a McKernan interception ended the half.
McKernan and Skura combined for a touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter, but a failed onside kick sealed the game for the Huskies.
Shreffler said the team will look to improve on both offense and defense as they head into conference play.
“The obvious thing for both sides of the ball is that we need to execute better on 3rd downs,” Shreffler said. “Michigan Tech dominated the time of possession and did a good job finishing drives. We didn’t convert 3rd downs very well on offense and we squandered a couple scoring opportunities. Pre-snap penalties were also very costly and are an area we must improve.”
Hillsdale will open conference play on the road against Ashland University Sept. 20. The teams will compete for the Traveling Trophy, an award given to the winner of the rivalry game. Hillsdale’s last win against Ashland came in the 2022 season.
