INDIANAPOLIS – The overall season champion was determined in a jam-packed Week 10 slate of action as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week awards were announced on Monday morning.
No. 25 Hillsdale ran the table in the conference schedule to officially be crowned Great Midwest champion on Saturday with a win over No. 15 Tiffin. The Chargers (9-1, 8-0 G-MAC) handed the Dragons (9-1, 6-1 G-MAC) their first loss of the season and extended their win streak to eight straight games.
Hillsdale left no doubt with the final outcome in this one, outscoring Tiffin 48-26, while having a 31-7 edge in the second half alone.
QB/WR combo Chance Stewart and Trey Brock were locked in for three scoring passing plays and the defense really stepped up as HC trailed 19-17 going into halftime. Stewart also had a one-yard touchdown run towards the end of regulation to cap the scoring and start the celebration.
It was a matchup that lived up to the hype with almost 900 yards of offense combined. QB’s Stewart and TU’s Nick Watson each put up impressive total offensive yardage numbers directing their respective team’s offense. The Chargers scored all 17 points in the third quarter to sustain precious momentum in the second half.
Hillsdale is the conference’s third official team champ after Alderson Broaddus (2016) and Ohio Dominican (2017) won previous league titles. The Chargers will close out the regular season with a Week 11 clash against nationally-ranked UIndy.
Hillsdale, Tiffin and Ohio Dominican, were all in the NCAA Super Region 1 rankings last week and the conference is looking for representation in the playoffs for the championship bracket.
Winning teams lit up the scoreboard around the league in Week as Ohio Dominican and Findlay each scored 60+ points on their opponents. Walsh came out on top of a high-scoring affair against Alderson Broaddus while Lake Erie fell against Thomas More (KY) in non-conference action.
The final week of the season will see Findlay appear in the DII National Showcase for the second time this year as the Oilers go up against Tiffin. Playoff implications will certainly be on the line for the Dragons as they look to close out a 10-win regular season in their first year as a league member.
Offensive Player of the Week
Brian Benson
Findlay
Running Back
Sophomore
Mansfield, OH (Senior HS)
Benson is evoking memories of former star tailback Daouda Sylla, who churned out 200-yard games on the ground with what seemed like relative ease during the Oilers’ playoff run in 2017.
The big play, game-breaking ability from Benson is packed into a diminutive 5-7 frame as he erupted for another monster performance in the backfield.
The current Great Midwest rushing leader is just 27 yards away from a 1,000-yard season following 221 more picked up on the ground in a rout against Malone in Week 10. Benson carried the ball 25 times and scored four touchdowns to tie a single-game conference record.
It is now back-to-back 200-plus yard games for the sophomore after he ripped through Walsh for 233 on 40 carries in Week 9.
All of Benson’s rushing touchdowns came in the first half against the Pioneers defense as he found the end zone from 14, 11 and 3 yards out, with an additional one-yard plunge.
He averaged 8.8 yards per carry vs. Malone and the 221 yards is ranked for the sixth most in a single game in league history.
Benson is now averaging 7.4 yards per carry while rushing for 963 yards on 130 attempts. He has played nine games for the Oilers this season.
Defensive Player of the Week
Kyle Parran
Hillsdale
Defensive Lineman
Freshman
Petersburg, MI (Ida HS)
Parran put up one of the best single-game performances from a defensive player in conference history to help deliver the conference championship trophy to Hillsdale.
Parran harassed the Dragons into four tackles for a loss, three sacks and seven total stops altogether. He also forced a fumble to give the Chargers offense the ball back.
The rookie lineman tied the single-game conference sacks record and was just a half tackle shy of equaling the single-game tackles for loss record of 4.5.
In the third quarter, he forced Nick Watson to cough up the ball around midfield, stalling what had turned out to be a lengthy Tiffin drive. The Chargers capitalized with a score off the turnover as Joe Philipp made one of his two field goals on the day.
His third sack of the day came on Tiffin’s final drive of 12 plays to help set up the victory formation and championship celebration for the Chargers.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Joe Philipp
Hilllsdale
Kicker
Sophomore
Hillsdale, MI (Hillsdale HS)
Philipp is now a two-time recipient of conference special teams weekly honors after he accounted for 12 points in the kicking game to help Hillsdale become the conference champion.
Philipp tied for the second-most points recorded by a placekicker with 6 PAT’s made and a pair of field goals, the longest coming from 31 yards.
He is the league’s top scoring kicker with 69 points and is tied for the league lead in field goals made with 10. Philipp has made 39 of his 41 PAT tries.
His new point total has him seventh overall in the conference in scoring.