Eagles Show No Spark Against Chargers
September 21, 2002

The leaves are beginning to turn in Hillsdale, MI. For one night, so did the fortunes of the Hillsdale College Chargers.

Entering Saturday night’s (Sept. 21) game with Ashland, both the Chargers and Eagles were still searching for their first win. In front of a Hall of Fame night crowd, the Chargers (1-2/1-1 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) gave head coach Keith Otterbein his first victory on the HC sideline, leading from start to finish in a 37-7 stampede over the Eagles.

For the Eagles, this game followed an all-too-familiar script. Ashland fell behind early and would need a bulldozer to dig its way out of the hole it was in. The Chargers led 20-0 after one quarter and 27-0 at the intermission.

“We’ve had a tendency to fall behind,” admitted AU head coach Gary Keller, who saw his team drop to 0-4, 0-3 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. “That’s been our Achilles’ heel.”

The Eagles have been outscored, 55-13 in the first quarter this season. Saturday, HC took the opening kickoff and marched 56 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead just 1:01 into the game. Tailback Kevin Clive ended the drive with a 6-yard scoring run. Clive rushed for 136 yards on 27 carries and had rushing touchdowns of 6, 18, 2 and 1 yards. The only other opponent to ever rush for four touchdowns against the Eagles was Stan Mitchell of Eastern Kentucky in 1975.

Clive’s second TD came with 10:26 left in the first quarter. Ashland’s first possession was aborted when sophomore quarterback John Szabo was sacked by linebacker Jim Barr at the HC 46. On the way to the ground, Szabo was stripped of the football and the Chargers’ Matt Britton recovered at the HC 38. Hillsdale then took eight plays to cover 62 yards, Clive scoring on an 18-yard run. Even though the Chargers missed the PAT, they enjoyed a 13-0 lead.

Szabo fumbled the ball away on AU’s second possession, this time at the AU26. Hillsdale drove 26 yards in eight plays, Clive scoring on a 2-yard run. Matt Menchinger’s PAT made it 20-0. That spread grew to 27-0 with 7:21 to go in the first half when quarterback Bill Skelton found John Daugherty with a 5-yard scoring pass.

Although no one with the Eagles would come out and say it, Szabo was trying to battle through a thumb injury he suffered against Northwood. The sophomore completed 15 of 28 passes for 122 yards before giving way to junior Matt McCullough late in the fourth quarter.

“He didn’t get the reps through the week,” said Keller. “It’s very difficult for a young man to come out and play on Saturday when you don’t get the reps through the week.”

The AU defense got plenty of reps. Ashland lost two of four fumbles and had one interception. The Chargers ran 81 plays compared to 60 for AU. Hillsdale outgained the Eagles, 385-217. On the ground, the Chargers enjoyed a 186-95 advantage. AU’s senior tailback J.R. McCoy was limited to 49 yards on 15 carries. That’s his lowest output since he had 35 yards on 18 trips against Grand Valley State on Sept. 22, 2001.

The lone AU score came from McCoy’s backup, freshman tailback William Block. He scored on a 1-yard run with 12:34 left in the contest. That closed the Hillsdale lead to 34-7. Menchinger’s 27-yard field goal with 5:33 left to play extended the lead back to 37-7.

Most of the highlights offensively belonged to sophomore wideout Michael Hull, who had eight catches for 64 yards. Hull’s caught 11 passes in the last two games.

Defensively, junior strong safety Aaron O’Reilly and sophomore linebacker Chris Campbell had busy nights. O’Reilly had a team-high 16 tackles (six solo) and knocked down a pair of passes. That’s his career high in tackles. Campbell had 13 stops (12 solo) and two tackles for loss (10 yards). He also had a pass breakup.

It won’t get any easier for the Eagles next week. Ashland will play at home this coming Saturday (Sept. 28, 1 p.m.) against a Saginaw Valley State team that’s ranked in the Top 10 in the country, NCAA Division II. The Cardinals will come to town with one of the league’s most prolific offenses. Saturday, SVSU stopped Mercyhurst, 51-7.

“We have to take what we have and find a way to succeed,” answered Keller, when asked what the Eagles can do to break out of a four-game slide. “We won’t change our luck unless we start executing better in every phase of the game.”