Football 9/15/2021 8:15:00 AM

Truman & Hillsdale To Clash At Stokes Stadium Saturday

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Make it two for two for the Bulldogs in the state of Michigan, now they will host a third school from the state when the team makes their Stokes Stadium debut on Saturday. Truman (2-0) will host Hillsdale (Mich.) College (0-2) at noon.

The Bulldogs grabbed an early 13-0 lead on Wayne State in Detroit last Saturday as the defense forced a pair of three and outs and the short field position gave the offense room to move the ball. A pair of scores that wrapped around the halftime intermission was key. Nolan Hair found Tate Crane on a long TD pass in the final minute of the half and Jaylen Jefferson scampered 92 yards on the second half opening kickoff as Truman expanded their lead out to 27-3. They would allow just a one-yard rushing touchdown in the second half for the victory.

Hillsdale has lost both their first two games by four points each. They dropped the opener to Michigan Tech 14-10 then pushed Indianapolis to the brink before falling 35-31 in Saturday night. UINDY led 28-10 but a pair of Charger scores cut the lead down to 28-25 in the fourth. The Greyhounds grinded out a 10-play drive resulting in a touchdown by Toriano Clinton to go up 35-25 while Hillsdale put their final score as time expired.

It will be the first meeting between the two programs.

The Bulldogs have won eight straight non-conference games dating back to 2018 and seven straight have been won allowing 14 points or less. On the home front, the Bulldogs are winners of their last six games played at Stokes Stadium and nine of their last 10 in front of the home crowd.

Individuals picked up more hardware with two Great Lakes Valley Conference players of the week named after the win at Wayne State. Special teams winner was Jaylen Jefferson, who has only returned two kicks in two games and both have gone for 80 or more yards. Jefferson is averaging 86.5 yards but having only two returns does not qualify him for the national Division II lead. To qualify nationally, a returner needs to have averaged 1.2 returns per game.

Jack Marth was the defensive player of the week in only his second collegiate game. Marth has stepped right in with the rich tradition of defensive linemen at Truman with seven total stops, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack with a forced fumble. Marth, Alec Devecchi, Jake McCollum and Bennett Swope account for the four sacks Truman has had in the first two games.

Truman received more votes in this week's American Football Coaches Association Division II poll but not enough to crack the top 25. The Bulldogs got 18 votes and were one of two GLVC schools listed in the poll. The University of Indianapolis remained at 12 in the poll after their win over Hillsdale on Saturday. Tiffin (Ohio), Truman's week four road opponent, is sitting at 15^th in the poll after starting 2-0. They will be at Indianapolis on Saturday in one of the marquee games of the GLVC/GMAC scheduling alliance.

This week starts the two conferences' scheduling agreement that has all eight GMAC teams travelling to GLVC schools this weekend and vice versa next week with the GLVC teams being on the road. This scheduling alliance will be in place for the 2022 season as well.

About the Bulldogs:

Let's start this week by looking at the Truman Special Teams.

Of the 25 GLVC Players of the Week Truman has had since joining the league in 2013, 15 have been Special teams players. Jaylen Jefferson joins the list and his eye-popping 86.5 yards per return this season has the Bulldogs as a team, second in the nation in kick return average at 50.5 per attempt.

On the flip side, Josh Scheiderer has the Bulldogs leading the GLVC in net kickoff average at 43.7 while the Bulldogs are fifth in the nation in kick return defense at 7.8 yards per attempt. Truman also leads the conference behind Taylor Cornish in net punting average at 38.2. Of Cornish's 12 punts, five have been fair caught and five have ended inside the opponent 20.
Scheiderer has moved into the Bulldog career top 10 in scoring with 209 points. He has 33 field goals, good for third on the career list and 108 point after conversions.

The defense has held opponents to 11.5 points per game this season and under 19 points in 43 games since the start of the 2010 season. In those games, Truman is 39-4 when holding an opponent under 20 points. They have won the last 27 games when holding an opponent under 20 points with the last loss coming in 2015 to Missouri S&T at home by a 10-7 score.

The unit has held opponents to only 53.5 yards on the ground through two games and 251 yards of total offense.

Six players have 10 tackles or more with four having the team lead with 12 tackles apiece. Ulysses Ross, Peyton Carr, Ryan Olivas and Ben Thomas are followed by Isaiah Estes and Kendall Hutchinson. The team already has 15 tackles for loss, led by three from Bennett Swope and 2.5 from Ross and Jack Marth.

Turning to the offense, they have scored touchdowns on all six trips into an opponent's redzone and have been led by running back Cody Schrader's five rushing touchdowns. Schrader is fifth in Division II and second in the GLVC in rushing yardage thus far with 297 yards (148.5/game). Schrader has seven career 100-yard or better games and with 19 career contest under his belt, 1,307 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. His single-game high is 217 yards on 35 carries in the season opener against Davenport.

Quarterback Nolan Hair improved to 5-1 as a starting quarterback and has completed 56% of his passes for 11 touchdowns and a 174.0 career game average. Hair is 25-of-47 this fall for 226 yards and has used seven different receivers. Dante Ruffin is his top target with nine catches for 76 yards with Schrader next with four for 44. Three apiece for the two tight ends Matt Hall and Jake Ellis and three for Jaylen Jefferson, two for Tate Crane and one for Zach Zerwig.

Ellis tied the Truman career record in touchdown receptions on Saturday by grabbing his 22^nd. He ties Andrew Blakely and Lloyd Henry for the mark. Ellis has 91 receptions for 1,137 yards while Ruffin has 89 catches and will go over 1000 receiving yards with eight more.

Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt passed legendary coach Don Faurot (1926-34) for second place on the Bulldog all-time wins list with his 64 coaching win on Saturday. Nesbitt is in his 12^th season on the sidelines for Truman, which moves him into second place in service time behind only the 16 seasons coached by Maurice "Red" Wade from 1951 through 1966.

This will be Nesbitt's 19 season at Truman having served as Defensive Coordinator from 1990-93. Nesbitt is the sixth Truman coach to have also played for the school as he lettered in both 1978 and 1979.

Behind Enemy Lines:
The Chargers are 30-19 in the last five years and went 2-2 in the spring and 6-5 back in 2019. They were the GMAC league champions in 2018 with a 10-3 overall record and 8-0 conference mark.
Hillsdale was picked fifth in the GMAC preseason coaches poll behind top vote getter Tiffin, Findlay, Ohio Dominican and Ashland.

In their two games this season, the Chargers have averaged 64.5 yards on the ground and 204 yards in the air while defensively they have allowed 174 yards in rushing and 207 yards passing. Quarterback Luke Keller has been the leader in both passing and running for the team. Keller has completed 50% of his passes for 409 yards and three touchdowns while throwing four interceptions. On the ground, Keller has 40 attempts for 73 yards (36.5/g). The offense has allowed 12 sacks in their first two games.

Isaac TeSlaa is the deep threat with six receptions for 155 yards and 25.8 yards per catch.

On the defensive side, Alex Anschutz and Zach Herzog average over 10 tackles in their first two games. Anschutz has 27 stopes with 13 solo with a forced fumble while Herzog has 22 tackles.

This will be the second of three GLVC teams Hillsdale will face this season. They lost last week to Indianapolis 35-31 and will host Missouri S&T next Saturday. They are 1-7 against GLVC teams. The majority of the games have been against Indianapolis (1-6) while they lost to McKendree in 2017. They were in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2018 and won a first round game over Kutztown 40-26 before being bounced out by Notre Dame (Ohio) 19-14.

Up Next:
A third tough road test awaits the Bulldogs next week when they travel to nationally-ranked Tiffin (Ohio) for a 3 p.m. (ET) kickoff. The Dragons are the two-time defending GMAC champions and were in the NCAA playoffs in 2019 a 9-1 regular season and 7-0 conference record. They will be tested on Saturday in a top 20 showdown with Indianapolis

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Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr: DB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#98 Taylor Cornish: P; 6' 4"; Junior

#88 Tate Crane: WR; 6' 3"; Freshman

#9 Alec DeVecchi: DE; 6' 2"; Junior

#83 Jake Ellis: TE; 6' 7"; Senior; National Letter of Intent

#33 Isaiah Estes: LB; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#6 Nolan Hair: QB; 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Matt Hall: TE; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#36 Kendall Hutchison: DB; 5' 7"; Freshman

#4 Jaylen Jefferson: RB; 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent

#46 Jake McCollum: LB; 6' 1"; Freshman

#8 Ryan Olivas: DB; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#17 Peyton Carr
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: DB

#98 Taylor Cornish
: 6' 4"; Junior
: P

#88 Tate Crane
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: WR

#9 Alec DeVecchi
: 6' 2"; Junior
: DE

#83 Jake Ellis
: 6' 7"; Senior; National Letter of Intent
: TE

#33 Isaiah Estes
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: LB

#6 Nolan Hair
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Freshman
: QB

#10 Matt Hall
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: TE

#36 Kendall Hutchison
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: DB

#4 Jaylen Jefferson
: 5' 9"; Senior; National Letter of Intent
: RB

#46 Jake McCollum
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: LB

#8 Ryan Olivas
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: DB