A first half explosion by the Bulldog offense, aided by a stingy defense gave the Truman Football team a 38-24 victory over Hillsdale (Mich.) College on Saturday in the home opener.
Truman racked up 461 yards of total offense with Cody Schrader gaining 164 on the ground and Nolan Hair throwing for 256 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff 65 yards with Hair finding Zach Zerwig for a 25-yard TD pass and a 7-0 lead.
Hillsdale marched down the field in their first possession but the Bulldogs held firm and forced a 42-yard field goal by Shannon Jack to make it 7-3.
Truman would then score the next five touchdowns. Matt Hall reeled in a five-yard pass from Hair to give the Bulldogs a 14-3 lead then Schrader busted out the longest run of his career as he galloped 88-yards to the endzone and a 21-3 lead with 1:15 left in the first.
Josh Scheiderer tacked on a 46-yard field goal early in the second and Dante Ruffin hauled in a seven-yard pass from Hair in the final minute of the half as Truman heading to the locker room up 31-3.
Jake Tuttle scored from seven yards out with 4:08 to go in the third to put Truman comfortably up 38-3.
Hillsdale scored three times in the fourth quarter on TD passes of 12 and 16 yards from Jake Burger to Michael Harding and Isaac TeSlaa and Ryan Sellers picked off Chad Briden and returned the ball 19 yards for a final score.
Schrader averaged 13.7 yards per carry with his 164 on 12 attempts.
Hair was 15-of-23 for 256 with Zerwig catching four balls for 72, Jaylen Jefferson three for 56 and Ruffin three for 44.
Ben Thomas and Ulysses Ross led the defense with seven stops apiece and through three quarters, Truman held Hillsdale to only 127 yards on 50 plays. Ross added a fumble recovery on a quarterback sack. The Chargers finished with 245 yards, 66 on the ground.
Truman, now 3-0, will have a showdown with nationally ranked Tiffin (Ohio) next Saturday on the road. The Dragons were ranked 15th in this week’s American Football Coaches Association Division II poll before their road game at #12 Indianapolis on Saturday night.