Today’s GLIAC matchup featured two of the most powerful offenses in league as the Hillsdale College Chargers defeated the Huskies of Michigan Tech 37-35.

The win today was a milestone for head coach Keith Otterbein, picking up his 100th career victory as a head coach.

The Chargers are now 1-0 in the GLIAC while the Huskies fall to 0-1.

Michigan Tech took advantage of their first possession, moving the ball 69 yards on 11 plays. Quarterback Steve Short found Bobby Slowik in the end zone on a 29-yard pass for the first score of the game.

The Charger offense, picking up where it left off last week, opened the day with a scoring drive of their own. Senior Vinnie Pannizi gave the Chargers strong starting field position returning the Michigan Tech kick to the 40-yard line.

Weatherhead found Senior AJ Kegg on third down of the opening series for a 19-yard gain to extend the drive. After a seven yard rush by Panizzi and a 12 yard reception by Junior Mike Blanchard to move the ball down field, Weatherhead found Andre Holmes in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Hillsdale picked up a 20-yard field goal thanks to the leg of Mark Petro, before the Chargers and Huskies traded touchdowns to make the score 17-14.

Petro added a second field goal, this time from 24-yards, to close out the half.

Neither teams offense would slow during the second half, but Hillsdale never relinquished the lead.

The Chargers opened the scoring in the third quarter with a 38-yard pass from Weatherhead to Blanchard. The offense used only three plays and 1:16 off the clock to pick up the score.

After a Michigan Tech touchdown to start the 4th quarter, the Chargers found themselves ahead by only two, and Michigan Tech holding the ball with 4:55 left in the game. On third down, Sophomore David Bakker took down the Michigan Tech quarterback for a five-yard loss to force the punt from the Huskies.

On the next possession, the Chargers faced 1st and 20 after a holding call when Weatherhead launched a 53 yard completion down the sideline to Holmes. To finish the drive, Vinnie Panizzi picked up his fourth touchdown of the season with a 15-yard run up the middle.

With 1:34 left on the clock the Huskies quickly marched down the field to make the score 37-35. The Huskies attempted the onside kick, but the ball was collected by Kegg, giving the Chargers the opportunity to run out the clock.

Holmes led all receivers in yards with 153 on seven catches, while Kegg picked up nine catches for 88 yards. Senior Matt Patillo had four catches for 33 yards with one score. Panizzi finished with 96 yards on 21 carries.

Weatherhead, who completed his first ten passes of the game, finished the day 24-32 with 324 yards passing and 3 TD’s.

The Charger defense was able to hold the dynamic Michigan Tech running back Phil Milbrath to just 75 yards for the game. Quarterback Steve Short finished 16-29 with 178 yards passing and 64 yards on the ground.

The Chargers will travel to Northwood next Saturday to battle the Timberwolves. Kickoff is at noon.

Click below for the boxscore

Chargers 37, Michigan Tech 35