HILSDALE, Mich. - The No. 15 Saginaw Valley State University football dropped a tough road contest at Hillsdale College today (Oct. 20), 34-17.
After a Cardinal miscue on a punt return, Hillsdale put the first points of the contest on the board on a run by Joe Glendening with just under six minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Cardinal offense responded with a 6-play 73-yard drive that was capped off by a 38-yard strike from Jonathon Jennings (Columbus, Ohio/Westerville South HS) to Jeff Janis (Tawas, Mich.) that evened the score at 7-7.
Hilldale connected on a 36-yard field goal to start the second quarter and give the Chargers the lead back at 10-7. The Cardinals and kicker Scott Stanford (Novi, Mich.) tacked on a 44-yard field goal to once again knot the score, 10-10.
After forcing the Cardinals to punt to start the second half, the Chargers found the endzone on a pass from Anothy Mifsud to Andrew Mott to put Hillsdale up 17-10 with 12:21 to play in the third quarter.
Jennings and the Cardinal offense once again answer back, this time with a 7-play, 75-yard drive that Jennings finished off with a 2-yard run into the endzone to tie the game at 17-17.
Hilldale took a 24-17 lead after the Cardinals committed two personal foul penalties on a punt to give the Chargers the ball at the Saginaw Valley 25-yard line.
The Chargers used a field goal and touchdown to extend their lead to 34-17 and go on to the victory.
Jennings finished the day 22-of-32 passing for 195 yards and a touchdown through the air and 10 carries for 45 yards and a score on the ground. Mark Thrash (Wyoming, Mich.) hauled in nine passes for 83 yards to earn Meijer "Player of the Game" honors, while Janis finished the game with seven catches for 72 yards and touchdown.
The defense was lead by Grant Caserta (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa HS) who finished the game with 13 tackles. Brian Jonhson (Muskegon, Mich./Catholic Central HS) chipped in eight, while DeAngelo Parris (Clinton Twp. Mich./Warren De La Salle HS) finished with seven stops.
The Cardinals fall to 6-2 overall on the season and 5-2 in the GLIAC, while the Chargers improve to 6-2 overall and 6-1 in the GLIAC.
SVSU will return to action on Saturday (Oct.27) when they host Michigan Tech at 1:00 PM at Wickes Stadium.