UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team suffered a heartbreaking homecoming loss to Hillsdale College Chargers, 38-35 tonight (Oct. 1).
The Cardinals marched down the field to open up the scoring when sophomore quarterback Jonathon Jennings (Columbs, Ohio / Westerville South HS) found the endzone on a one-yard run to go up 7-0 over the Chargers. Jennings would end the night 20-for-28 for 183 yards with two touchdowns through the air. Hillsdale would waste no time answering back, scoring on a three-yard run by Joe Glendening to tie the score at 7-7 to end the first quarter.
Saginaw Valley regained the lead just six minutes into the second quarter when Meijer "Player of the Game" Nick Gallina (Troy, Mich.) scored on a 12-yard pass from Jennings. Gallina ended the night with 25 yards receiving and 57 yards rushing.
The Chargers tied the score at 14-14 when Glendening scored his second touchdown of the night on a 41-yard run at the 5:45 mark in the second quarter.
The Cardinals found pay dirt when Jennings completed a 19-yard pass to sophomore Jeff Janis (Tawas City, Mich.) to take a 21-14 advantage. Hillsdale would come within three on a 31-yard field goal from Colin McGreevy as the Cardinals went into the locker room at halftime with a 21-17 advantage.
The Chargers would take their first lead of the game when Glendening found the endzone on a one-yard run to go up 24-21 over Saginaw Valley. The Cardinals would rebound quickly as running back Ronnie Lark (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic HS) scored on a one-yard dash to take a 28-24 lead entering the fourth quarter. Lark ended the night with 76 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
Hillsdale reclaimed the lead from the Cardinals just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter when quarterback Anthony Mifsud scored on a nine-yard run, to take a 31-28 lead.
Saginaw Valley took their final lead of the game when Gallina scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on a 10-yard end-around, going up 35-31 over the Chargers.
Hillsdale's Anthony Mifsud connected on an eight-yard pass to Nick Hixson with 1:18 left on the clock putting the Chargers on-top for the 38-35 victory over the Cardinals.
The Cardinal defense was led by Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich. / West Ottawa HS) who ended the night with 17 tackles, while Dex Teen (Grosse Ile, Mich.) added 14 tackles.
With the loss Saginaw Valley falls to 3-1 overall on the season, and 3-1 in the GLIAC, while Hillsdale improves to 4-1 overall on the season, and 4-1 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals will be back in action on Saturday (Oct. 8) when they travel to Michigan Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
