Week 5 Notes
Great Midwest Records
INDIANAPOLIS – It’s time to turn the page to Week 5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference football schedule with all nine teams in action for this coming Saturday on the gridiron.
The co-leaders in the league standings through the first four weeks of competition are Tiffin (4-0, 2-0 G-MAC) and Hillsdale (3-1, 2-0 G-MAC).
Defense is a common denominator in both Keith Otterbein and Gary Goff’s successes for their respective programs so far. The Chargers are the league’s top scoring defense by nearly a full touchdown and the best at stifling opponents in the red zone while the Dragons are tops in total defense.
Tiffin will face Wayne State in a non-conference showdown while Hillsdale has a chance to move into the driver’s seat take a half-game lead in the standings if it was to win against Malone (1-2, 1-1 G-MAC) in Canton.
The Dragons just find ways to win. The margin of victory has been seven points or less in three of Tiffin’s four wins, but the first-year Great Midwest program is balanced on both sides of the ball ranking first in total defense and second in total offense.
Sophomore QB Nick Watson is the league’s current leader in both passing yards and TD’s. The triumvirate of Charles Holland, Victor Talley and Tyler Denton, are top-10 leaders in receiving yards while combining to account for all of Watson’s eight passing scores.
Hillsdale’s offense took a little time to get synchronized against Lake Erie with just a 10-point cushion at halftime but pulled away in the second half as all-conference receiver Trey Brock set a milestone by becoming the school’s all-time leader in yardage.
On paper, Kentucky Wesleyan (2-2, 1-1 G-MAC) has as good of a chance as anyone to extend its win streak to three straight against Walsh (0-3, 0-1 G-MAC) as the Cavaliers still seek their first victory of the fall. The Panthers engaged in a shootout against Malone last week and after beating Kentucky State and the Pioneers, have gathered some sizeable momentum.
KWC hasn’t won three straight games since 2015, a stretch when the Panthers put up 157 combined points on the scoreboard against Louisiana College, Alfred State and UNC-Pembroke.
Ohio Dominican (3-1, 1-1 G-MAC) emerged as a Week 4 winner against Findlay in a game that could still ultimately impact how to final standings shake out. The Panthers will be on full alert against an Alderson Broaddus (1-3, 0-1 G-MAC) program that could easily be 2-1 with a pair of outcomes decided by a touchdown or less.
The Battlers put the hammer down on Glenville State last week with 45 points in an I-79 Barrel Classic rout. Gunslinger Joe Czelusniak has the offense clicking and is starting to develop a rapport with a great corps of receivers that include Zack Lake, Dante Waugh and Maurice Thomas.
ODU LB Ross Thompson became the league’s first two-time winner of weekly awards with 14 tackles in the effort against Findlay. And credit redshirt freshman Evan Ernst in his first career start behind center by displaying poise and marksmanship in a rivalry game. Ernst was pretty much flawless with over 300 yards passing, two TD’s and completing 21 of his 218 attempts.
Findlay moved the ball on the ground well against its archnemesis Ohio Dominican as Boston College transfer RB Richard Wilson’s bowling ball style churned out 159 yards on the ground. Wilson is now second in the conference in rushing yards behind ODU’s EJ Colson.
Malone still put up gaudy offensive numbers in the loss against KWC as WR Ashton Dulin scored on a kickoff return and had two more receiving TD’s. His effort though, was matched by KWC’s Derek Barnes, who had a 100-yard return and 142 yards in the passing game.