KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - For the third time in 13 games dating back to last season, the Truman Bulldogs will see the Hillsdale Chargers as the opposition when the two teams meet on Saturday in Hillsdale, Michigan. Truman is 1-1 on the young season after a 27-20 win over South Dakota Mines while Hillsdale is 2-0 with victories over Lake Erie (Pa.) 35-31 and Walsh (Ohio) 35-17.
The Bulldogs and Chargers met last September 18th at Stokes Stadium and Truman jumped out to a 21-3 first quarter lead. They would extend their lead out to 38-3 before Hillsdale added three fourth quarter touchdowns to make the final margin 38-24.
It was a little bit tighter in December when the teams met at the America's Crossroads Bowl in Hobart, Indiana. Three field goals accounted for the first half scoring with Truman leading 6-3. Hillsdale took the lead on a 56-yard pass from Garrit Aissen to Isaac TeSlaa early in the third quarter but the Bulldogs responded with a one-yard run by Cody Schrader, a three-yard TD reception by Matt Hall and a 23-yard TD scamper by Schrader to take control 27-10. Schrader would cap off his day and his Truman career with a 44-yard touchdown run with 2:38 left to play to make the final score 34-17.
In the two games last season, the Bulldogs outgained the Chargers 951-563 with 519 yards on the ground. Schrader rushed for four touchdowns and Nolan Hair tossed four additional TDs for the Bulldogs.
This game is part of the two-week, GLVC/GMAC Challenge that pits the two conferences against each other through their scheduling alliance. Last year, the leagues split the 16 games played with only Truman and Missouri S&T winning both their games on the GLVC side and only Ohio Dominican sweeping both their games on the GMAC side.
Game Recap: Truman State 27, South Dakota Mines 20
The Bulldogs first venture into the Mountain Time Zone was a success. Nolan Hair tossed two touchdown passes to Chris Kerr and another to Tate Crane while graduate transfer Shamar Griffith rushed his first Bulldog score in the win. Hair targeted both Crane and Kerr nine times on Saturday with Kerr hauling in five balls for 90 yards and Crane nabbing six for 68.
After forcing a three and out to start the game, Hair engineered a seven-play, 73-yard drive that was capped off on a 10-yard pass to Crane in the endzone. The Bulldogs faced second and 19 and third and 12 from their own 25 before Hair flipped the field with his longest Bulldog rush of 35 yards to the Hardrockers 40. Crane snared a 23-yard pass on third and three then scored on the next play to put Truman up 7-0.
Ben Watson forced and recovered a fumble on the next SDM play from scrimmage and Hair struck Kerr on the next play for a quick 13-0 lead.
It was 13-6 after one.
Kerr hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass midway through the second to extend Truman's lead to 20-6.
Griffith got his first Truman score in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 27-6.
SD Mines would add two touchdowns with under four minutes to play until Noah Copeland secured the victory by recovering the onside kick attempt with 37 seconds left to play.
The Bulldogs produced a clean sheet in terms of turnovers while the defense forced three Hardrocker turnovers with Watson recovering the fumble for a score and picking off a pass and Ryan Olivas intercepting a pass to stall a drive.
Ben Thomas led Truman with nine total tackles. Zach Rouland and Jack Weltha each had a quarterback sack.
The defense held the Hardrockers to 408 yards of total offense, down from their week one output of 534 yards and 443 yards passing against Missouri S&T.
Truman Tidbits:
Truman went 12-4 in 16 games played during the 2021 calendar year and 9-3 during the traditional fall season. The Bulldogs had the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year in Cody Schrader, who led Division II in rushing yards with 2,075 and touchdowns with 25 before entering the transfer portal and signing with the University of Missouri-Columbia. Robert Greco and Ben Watson, both defensive players are returning 2021 first-team all-GLVC members. In total, the Bulldogs had 178 players selected to the all-league list and will return 60 letter winners and 23 starters from 2021.
The Bulldogs were picked second in the GLVC Preseason Coaches poll behind perennial champion Indianapolis and ahead of McKendree, Southwest Baptist, Missouri S&T, Quincy and William Jewell.
Head Coach Gregg Nesbitt is in his 13th season on the sidelines of Truman State, the second most by any previous coach in school history. The team has gone 29-9 in there last 38 games with two America's Crossroads Bowl championships.
Punter Taylor Cornish is quickly moving up the Bulldog career punting charts this season. Cornish is now seventh in punt yards with 4,926 yards and is eighth in punt attempts as a Bulldog with 128. In those boots, Cornish has a career average of 39.7, the fourth career best of any Bulldog punter to date.
Offensive coordinator Jason Killday's squad was first in the GLVC last season in scoring offense and averaged 6.27 yards per play, the second most in school history.
Defensive coordinator Kellen Nesbitt has been by his dad's side for all 13 seasons and has held opponents to an average of 22.3 points per game. Last season, the defense held the opposition to 19.3 points and only 77.3 yards on the ground per game.
Since 2018, Truman has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns and three punts for scores. The last opponent to score on a kickoff was 2016 by William Jewell.
Up Next:
Round two of the GLVC/GMAC scheduling alliance will have a rematch from one of the most dramatic victories in Bulldog history. Tiffin (Ohio) will roll into Kirksville and Stokes Stadium looking to avenge the Bulldogs 38-35 win last season. Truman trailed 35-24 until Nolan Hair found Dante Ruffin on a two-yard pass with 3:29 to play. Jacob Morris would recover the onside kick and nine plays and 50 yards later, Cody Schrader powered into the endzone with 26 seconds left to give Truman their only lead of the afternoon.
Kickoff from Stokes Stadium for Family Day is scheduled for 2 p.m.
