Game notes - Sept. 19, 2009

University of Indianapolis football webpage



Sept. 16, 2009 - The lights will be on at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium this weekend, as the Hillsdale College football team welcomes its GLIAC rivals, the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds for a 7 p.m. Saturday kickoff.

The game is the first night start at Hillsdale since Sept. 23, 2006,
a span of nearly three years. In that contest, the Chargers edged Ferris State 29-27 in a game played three days after the passing of Frank "Muddy" Waters.

This game features the top two passing attacks in the conference, and matches up two teams looking to rebound from tough losses last week.

Hillsdale (2-1 overall, 1-1 GLIAC) lost a 38-37 heartbreaker to Northwood University on Sept. 12. Although it was the fourth game in a row the Chargers have scored exactly 37 points, the Timberwolves got a couple of key defensive stops late in the game that helped them escape with the victory. In that game, Hillsdale’s off ense generated 30 first downs and 455 yards of total off ense, but it was not enough to wrap up a win.

Indianapolis is coming off a 27-23 loss at home to Wayne State University last week. In that contest, the Greyhounds held a 17-12 lead at halftime, but were victimized by a Joique Bell touchdown run and a 90-yard kickoff return for a score by Josh Renel in the third quarter that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

In short, both teams believe they should be coming off wins instead of losses, making this game carry a little extra importance, not that this rivalry needed any more spice.

The Chargers and Greyhounds have had some memorable clashes on the gridiron in recent years, and one of them was a night start at Hillsdale five years ago.

In that game, the two teams combined to set several records and create a lot of memories in a 49-43 Chargers win on Aug. 28, 2004. That game went on for four overtimes and was the signature win in Hillsdale College head coach Keith Otterbein’s first three seasons as coach of the Chargers.

The teams have played some more classic games since then. In the 2006 Homecoming game at Hillsdale, then-freshman quarterback Brad Otterbein led the team down the fi eld in the final two minutes of a 14-13 Charger win.

The very next year, the Greyhounds returned the favor to Hillsdale. The Chargers led Indy 30-14 entering the fourth quarter of their 2007 game. The Greyhounds put 20 unanswered points on the board in the game’s final 15 minutes to pull out a 34-30 win over a Hillsdale team that would finish 8-3 that season.

No team has won two straight meetings in this series since 2002-03. These teams rank 1-2 in the GLIAC in passing off ense. Chargers quarterback Troy Weatherhead has thrown for more than 300 yards in back-to-back games, and leads the GLIAC in total offense through three weeks. His favorite targets, wide receivers Andre Holmes and A.J. Kegg, are tied for first in the GLIAC with 24 receptions apiece. No other receiver in the conference has more than 18 catches this season.

The Hillsdale off ense has been nothing if not consistent this season. The Chargers have scored 37 points in each of their first three games of the season, and that streak actually stands at four games, since Hillsdale closed out the 2008 season with a 37-36 win on the road vs. Tiffin.

But just because the Charger passing game has put up big numbers doesn’t mean it will have a cakewalk vs. the Greyhounds. Indianapolis comes into the game with the GLIAC’s second-best pass defense, averaging just 143 yards given up through the air this season, and that includes a 26-10 loss to No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State. Indy also leads the GLIAC in punt return average, an important stat that can greatly affect games by giving teams better field position to start drives.

Greyhounds coach Joe Polizzi is one of the longest-tenured coaches in the conference, with 2009 being his 15th season leading the program. Prior to his appointment at Indianapolis, Polizzi was a Hillsdale Charger, having played football at the school from 1973-76, and later being Hillsdale’s head baseball coach and assistant football coach.