HOUGHTON -- Courtesy: MTU
Just a week after a heartbreaking 44-41 overtime loss vs. Saginaw Valley State, the Michigan Tech football team was involved in another contest down to the wire. This one was much more defense oriented, however. Visiting Hillsdale defeated the Huskies 13-7 today as the teams combined for fewer than 500 yards of total offense.
“Today was very similar to last week in that I thought we played hard but made too many mistakes against a good, solid football team,” said head coach Tom Kearly. “(Hillsdale) capitalized on a couple things, and we hurt ourselves with five offside penalties. Two or three of those would have gotten (the defense) off the field.”
Tech’s defense bent but didn’t break in the first half. Chet White made a touchdown-saving tackle on a 73-yard run by HC quarterback Anthony Mifsud, knocking him out of bounds at the three. The Huskies then held the Chargers to a 19-yard field goal by Colin McGreevy at the 13:09 mark of the second quarter.
Aaron Allen muffed the ensuing kickoff reception, and Hillsdale fell on the ball, leading to a 27-yard McGreevy field goal and a 6-0 HC advantage with 9:06 remaining in the half.
Michigan Tech safety Ben Foelker intercepted a Mifsud pass at midfield with 2:40 left in the half, but the Huskies were unable to move the ball.
The score at half was 6-0.
Hillsdale blocked a punt late in the third quarter at the Tech 26. Six plays later, Joe Glendening took a pitch and sprinted inside the right pylon. That left the score 13-0 with 3:33 showing in the third.
Tech finally showed some offensive spark in the fourth quarter. Third-string tailback Charlie Leffingwell rushed eight times for 41 yards and Tyler Scarlett completed three passes for 35 yards during an 80-yard drive. Scarlett had the scoring play with a two-yard quarterback keeper that pulled the Huskies within 13-7 with 6:49 to play.
The Black and Gold defense held the Chargers to a three-and-out on their next possession, and Huskies started their final drive on their own 44-yard line with 5:18 to play.
Scarlett hit Worthy for a 23-yard completion down to the Hillsdale 33 on the first play of the drive and things looked promising. But the Chargers held firm, forcing a turnover on downs.
HC would not relinquish possession again. The Chargers erased the final 2:44 of clock by picking up two first downs.
Hillsdale, which gained 294 total yards, became the first team to out-possess the football over Tech. The Chargers racked up 32:41 in time of possession including more than 20 minutes of the first half.
Glendening (108 yards) and Mifsud (98) helped the visitors amass 211 rushing yards.
Michigan Tech finished with 167 yards of total offense—just 69 of those on the ground. Scarlett, who entered with a 71 percent completion rate, was 10-for-21 in strong winds at Sherman Field.
Senior linebacker Ian Coughlin posted a team season-high 15 tackles in the contest including one for loss. Jesse Vandenberg, Todd Storm and Drew Vanderlin all had sacks in the game.
Mifsud was 10-of-23 on the day for 83 yards and an interception. At least three other passes could have been picked off by Tech defenders.
Michigan Tech will play its next two games on the road starting next Saturday (Oct. 22) at Northwood. Kickoff in Midland, Mich., is set for noon.
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