Football Clashes with Hillsdale on Final Road Trip
THE MATCHUP
Saturday, November 9, 2013 • 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
Michigan Tech (4-4, 4-4 GLIAC) at Hillsdale (4-5, 4-3 GLIAC)
Radio Broadcast: WKMJ 93.5 FM (Josh Ylitalo)
Audio Webcast: Pasty.net
Live Stats: http://livestats.prestosports.com/michigantech/
Full version of game notes available in pdf.
FINAL ROAD GAME
Michigan Tech wraps up the road portion of the schedule with a GLIAC North Division game at Hillsdale. Tech is 2-2 on the road with wins at Tiffin (Sept. 14) and Northwood (Oct. 19). Both teams will be looking to break out of their two-game losing streak. The Chargers sit above Tech in the standings but have one less loss after playing on seven GLIAC games to this point.
SCARLETT BECOMES SECOND 7,000-YARD PASSER IN TECH HISTORY
Quarterback Tyler Scarlett accounted for four touchdowns last week with a season-high three passing scores and a rushing TD vs. Saginaw Valley State. The junior threw for 362 yards, completing 27-of-43 attempts for a season-high 62.8 completion percentage. Scarlett owns the GLIAC's third-best passing average of 261.9 yards per game. The three-year starter, who has the top two passing seasons in school history (2,406 as a freshman and 2,596 last year), moved over the 7,000-yard plateau for his career with 7,133. He needs 338 yards to move into first place ahead of Steve Short.
Michigan Tech Career Passing Yards Pct TDs Ints
1. Steve Short (2006-10) 7,471 .579 59 44
2. Tyler Scarlett (2011- ) 7,133 .622 57 18
3. Dave Walter (1983-86) 6,876 .505 48 59
McCONNELL'S BIG DAY
Jordan McConnell broke out for season highs in receptions and yards with eight catches for 122 yards. He averaged 15.2 yards per catch and scored a touchdown late in the first quarter and another midway through the second. The senior has three games with more than 100 yards receiving. He had 118 yards on six grabs at Walsh (Sept. 21) and 112 yards after seven catches at Northwood (Oct. 19).
SERIES VS. HILLSDALE
Michigan Tech and Hillsdale have met 24 times, dating back to 1980. Hillsdale leads the series 17-7 and won the first 11 meetings. The Huskies won last year's meeting (Nov. 3, 2012) 42-14 at Sherman Field but haven't won at Hillsdale since 1999, falling in five straight.
HUSKIES BITES
Michigan Tech is 4-0 when it wins the time of possession battle and 0-4 when it doesn't … Six games this season have been decided by more than 19 points. Tech is 3-3 in those games and 1-1 in games with less than a 20-point margin … Tech is 4-1 when, scoring first, leading at halftime and leading at the end of the third quarter … The Huskies are 3-0 when holding their opponent under 150 yards rushing.
PENALTIES AND POSSESSION
Michigan Tech is the second least-penalized team in terms of yards in the country. The Huskies average just 19.75 yards of penalties per game and trail Ashland (18.22) (all but two teams in the GLIAC are over 33 yards per game). Tech also ranks eighth nationally in time of possession with an average of 33:28, good for first in the GLIAC.
TECH DEFENSE THIRD IN GLIAC
Michigan Tech is third in the GLIAC in total defense, holding opponents to an average of 356.4 yards per game. Ohio Dominican (351.6) and Grand Valley State (354.7) are a few yards ahead of the Huskies. With extremely potent offenses league-wide, only six of 16 GLIAC teams have a total defense averages under 400 yards. Tech's 356.4 ranks 54th nationally.
LAST MEETING
On Nov. 3 last season at Sherman Field, the Huskies scored touchdowns on four of their six drives in the opening half and shut out the Chargers in the second half to move to 6-3. Tech piled up 439 yards of offense and held Hillsdale to 268 yards, including only 86 yards on the ground. Tyler Scarlett threw four touchdowns on the day with three going to Bryan LaChapelle. Charlie Leffingwell led a balanced ground attack with 63 yards.
LEFFINGWELL LEADS GROUND ATTACK
Charlie Leffingwell has four games rushing over 100 yards, including 221 yards on the ground at Northwood. He is averaging 117.2 yards per game, ranking him fifth in the GLIAC, and has scored six touchdowns. The junior was held to a season-low 50 yards last week vs. Saginaw Valley State.
SUPERIOR PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Superior National Bank sponsors the Superior Player of the Game. Following each football game, a player is chosen. A list of the 2013 Superior Players of the Game is below.
Sept. 14 at Tiffin Charlie Leffingwell (33 carries, 192 yds, 2 TD)
Sept. 21 vs. Walsh Garrett Mead (5 field goals, 2 PAT, 17 Total Points)
Sept. 28. at Findlay Brandon Cowie (11 catches, 142 yards)
Oct. 5 at GVSU Brandon Cowie (10 catches, 133 yards)
Oct. 12 vs NMU Brett Gervais (8 tackles, 27 punt return yards)
Oct. 19 at NU Jordan McConnell (7 catches, 112 yards, TD)
Oct. 26 vs FSU Taylor Ziolkowski (12 tackles, INT, Fumble Rec.)
Nov. 2 vs. SVSU Jordan McConnell (8 catches, 122 yards, 2 TD)
MEAD ONE AWAY FROM SEASON FIELD GOAL MARK
Kicker Garrett Mead sits just one field goal shy of the school record of 10 (shared by Grant Botz in 2004 and Billy Scyphers in 2001). Mead is 9-of-12 on field goals and 22-of-27 on extra points this season for 49 total points—most on the team and 16th-best in the GLIAC. The junior, who hit a school record five field goals in the win over Walsh, has makes of 31, 19, 24, 37, 27, 22, 27, 44 and 23 yards this season.
LOOKING AHEAD
The season wraps up back at home next Saturday (Nov. 16) against Wayne State at Sherman Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Tech defeated the Warriors 35-13 in last season's meeting in Detroit.
COACH KEARLY
Michigan Tech head coach Tom Kearly is in his eighth season as head coach and 14th overall with the Huskies program. The skipper owns a 48-33 record (.592 winning percentage) and has coached Tech to two of the eight eight-win seasons in school history. Kearly, a Hancock native and 1979 Winona State graduate, coached at Central Michigan for 19 seasons before returning to the Copper Country in 2000. He was the GLIAC Coach of the Year in 2010.
2013 CAPTAINS
Michigan Tech's team captains for the 2013 season are offensive lineman Chris Mullen, defensive lineman David Russek, quarterback Tyler Scarlett and fullback Cole Welch.