Saturday was an epic day indeed. As usual, click on the landscape images to view them larger.

We left the hotel Saturday morning for the short drive to the Minnesota State campus where players grabbed their gear bags and headed into the locker rooms.

Players get wrapped for the game.

Pre-game defense meeting.

Players don their pads and jerseys.

After leaving the main locker room the team relocated to their half-time locker room – the gym across the street from the stadium which was closer than the main locker room a couple blocks away. It made me thankful for Hillsdale’s sports facilities. The players continued to prepare themselves mentally for the tough game ahead.

A lot of Charger fans showed up to cheer their team on and made a tunnel for the players as they entered the stadium.

Minnesota State brought a tough running game, but the Charger defense worked hard to contain it.

Hillsdale brought it’s own running game, too.

The other media guy and my roommate for the trip, Andy Brown of WCSR (center window), announced the game from the media shack. “It’s like a WWII bunker up here.”

The Charger fans were awesome! Many of them rode a bus 12 hours there, cheered for their team, then left almost immediately for the 12 hour drive back. That’s dedication!

The real grass field forced players to continuously pick clots of dirt and grass out of their cleats.

At half-time the Chargers retired to the gym to rest up and listen to the coaches.

Practicing the snap and hold on the sidelines turned out to be a wise decision.

It was a very exciting game and it looked like the Chargers might hold onto their 24-17 lead, but Minnesota State was able to tie it up in the final minutes and the game went into over time. We won the coin toss and elected to start on defense. This next photo is of the tackle which caused the key turnover.

The Chargers moved the ball a little closer to the end zone and then Mark Petro kicked a field goal to win the game, 27-24! You can watch the game-winning field goal here with Andy announcing and added epic music. :)

Minnesota State head coach Todd Hoffner after shaking hands with Hillsdale head coach Keith Otterbein.

The Hillsdale Charger football team faces Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, next Saturday. I sure hope Hillsdale can pull off a second win against Grand Valley this season! Go Chargers!