WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Charger Rundown: Bart Bixler and Matthew Sohderdal

Episode Date: November 16, 2023

Hana Connelly and Evan Mick interview football players Bart and Matt who discuss last week’s victory against Lake Erie, their experience at Hillsdale athletes, and their positions at corners for the Charger defense. 

Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. This is the Charger Rundown. I'm Hannah Connolly. And I'm Evan Mick with all things Charger Athletics. This week we are bringing on Hillsdale Charger athletes, Mike Soderdoll, and Bart Bixler, corners for the Hillsdale football team. But first, let's recap this week's athletics.

The Charger volleyball team defeated both Kentucky Wesleyan and Treveka Nazarene in last week in three sets. Versus Kentucky Wesleyan, Ali Weiss had 16 digs, Marilyn Popwell had 11 digs, Lauren Posaglia had 10 digs and a manahillaker had eight. Megan Culp had 12 kills and Lauren Posaglia had 29 assists. Versus Trevec and Nazarene, Marilyn Popwell had 14 digs, Aliwee had 12 digs and Audrey Riley had 9.

Marilyn Pappalwell also had 14 kills and Maisie Brown and Emery Braswell had six kills each. Lauren Pesaglia had 22 assists and Aliewees had three service aces. Hillsdale College currently sits at second in the North Division, making next week's matches very important, as next week they play Malone on Friday at home on November 3rd at 7 p.m. And Walsh, who was first place in the conference, on Saturday, November 4th at 1 p.m. So please come out and support your Charger volleyball team. The Charger football team beat Lake Erie 52 to 21 for their third win in a row.

They finished the game with 505 yards of total offense. In the first quarter alone, Hillsdale put up 35 points and led 52 to 7 in the third quarter before Lake Erie was able to score a few last-minute touchdowns against Hillsdale's deep bench. Herzog broke open a 40-yard run to get the chargers in the end zone on their first drive, and Logan Van Ingervort finished the drive with a nine-yard rushing touchdown. To kick off, Hillsdale decided to do a perfectly executed on-side kick, and kicker Julian Lee recovered his own kick after rolling at 10 yards up the middle of the field. To kick off, Hillsdale decided to do a perfectly executed on-side kick,

and kicker Julian Lee recovered his own kick after rolling at 10 yards up the middle of the field. Herzog finished Hillsdale's second drive with a two-yard score. The Chargers defense forced another three-in-out on Lake Erie's next drive and had a huge play on Lake Erie's punt as freshman Shea Reddy blocked the punt and redshirt freshman Colin Morrow recover the ball and returned it for an 18-yard touchdown to give Hillsdale a 21-0 lead. Still in the first quarter, junior Sam Zemis picked off Lake Erie quarterback for his third interception of the game. And on their first play, Herzog took a rush to the left for a 71-yard touchdown, their fifth one in a single quarter. On that run, Mike Herzog became the first Hillsdale running back since David Graham in 2019 to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season, and he did so with two games to go on the season. The final three quarters were all academics as Hillsdale added two passing touchdowns,

the 34-yard scored by Reddy from Garrett Eisen in the second quarter, and a nine-yard passing touchdown by Josh Lee from Jake Berger in the third. Hillsdale also put up a 19-yard field goal by Redshirt freshman Evan Mick in the second quarter. Despite playing only one quarter, Herzog played a phenomenal game, totaling 156 yards and three touchdowns. Caden Goggins added eight rushes for 54 yards, and Jack Robinson three rushes for 35 yards as well. Quarterback Scarrett Isson and Jake Berger were combined eight for 11 for 146 yards. Joe Schmidt led Hillsdale with a 49-yard reception, Reddy caught two passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Josh Lee added two catches for 24 yards and a touchdown as well.

On defense, Zach Pardinay led with four tackles and a shared stack with Hunter Spurling. Hillsdale is now 4 in 5 and 4 in GMAQ play. The Chargers played a phenomenal game and will continue their fight as they go on the road to play Walsh this Saturday at noon. I'm here with Hillsdale athletes, Matt Soderdoll, and Bart Bixler, corners for the Charger football team. Thank you guys so much for being here today. Yeah, glad we can make it. Thanks for having us on. Really appreciate the invite.

So first question, you guys had a big win yesterday against Lake Erie, beating the first. them 52 to 21. How did the energy and attitude from your team on the sideline contribute to this win? So we've kind of had a history with this team before. Coach really set the preset and practice this week on how we know this is this is the first team that we played this year that had a record that was worse than us. So we didn't want to overlook them. Obviously we're looking to get back to over 500. So it was a big thing in practice to just step on them early like we did 35 nothing and then just keep the pressure down. And I think we did that two years. years ago they stole our G-Mac ring and last year it was a close game so that we knew that

they were going to give us all they got and it was going to be one of the wins that they were hoping to get this year so I think we did a good job of putting all the pieces together and really playing a full game yeah I mean a lot of the sideline energy comes from those backups and a lot of them know or think that they're not going to be able to play and this week with Lake Erie them having the opportunity to go in there and get some time was really cool to see just they support us so much through the whole season, and it feels great to go and return and get some support for them. How do you guys stay locked in in a game like that

where you're so heavily favored? At corner, it's a very different game than on the inside of the line. A lot of those guys are banging heads and getting violent every play. At cornerback, it's a little bit more finesse. There's a lot of just small steps and reads that you have to make So a lot of it is more mentally focused than physically. So before every play, I just make sure that I know my alignment, I know my assignment, and I have my eyes right. And those three things you can trust and that'll make you play.

Yeah, another thing about that is I've definitely gotten really close with all the corners this year, especially the ones that play. So it's nice to be able to go back to the sideline and be able to talk through like that drive or be able to talk through some of your keys and some of the reads that you got that maybe you didn't get on a different drive. So that's nice to have too. Matt, anyone who's watched Hillsdale College knows that when the ball is going in your direction and ends up incomplete, you do a celebration. Tell me a little about what that is and where it came from. Yeah, I mean, I just throw a big incomplete sign out there.

I've been doing it ever since I can't even remember. middle school maybe. I don't know. I feel like at corner you you have the odds stacked against you you're trying to find you're trying to run a route with somebody who knows where they're going the quarterback knows when they're going to break it. They have their timing down they're going to throw it perfectly like at cornerback you got to celebrate all the small wins so every time I can get in there and break up a ball or deflect a pass or anything like that I make sure I get my celebrations in and bart you played quarterback in high school through for over a thousand yards how does that help you understand the quarterbacks you're playing against. Yeah, I would say coming in, I didn't really

have much corner experience freshman year, and it was a whole new position to me, but playing quarterback allowed me to realize how they're thinking, so I was able to put myself in different spots to maybe get that quarterback to not read it the way that he was going to before, because I know a lot of my reads when I was in high school, I was reading the corner on a lot of past plays with two receivers out. So that helped me, that's helped me a lot. Definitely, helps with the mental aspect of the game. Physical part, obviously, still keep climbing on. So as defensive players, what do you look for in an opponent's offense when you're watching film and preparing for a game? Personally, for me, I play the boundary side, so I do a lot of man-on-man.

I look to see the receiver's releases, his alignment where he lines up based on how close he is to the line or how far out he is. I always make sure I watch the quarterback for any signals that he might have wiping his hands off before he passes or looking at certain receivers before passes, just mainly stuff like that. Yeah, I would say it feels definitely a little bit different. I'm not near as worried about the run as Matt would be on the boundary side. I'm definitely more worried about the deep ball, the long pass. So I always look to see and film like how fast a certain receiver is to make sure that I can

cover as much ground as I need to or give myself a seven-yard split versus a five against somebody that might be slower. And then another part of my game is I work pretty much hand in hand with the free safety. So I've tried to establish a good connection with him. I sit by him and film, and we kind of talk about the two-man or three-man routes that they may run and figure out which way that we want to guard them. Both of you guys have guarded 64, now SEC wide receiver,

and a 6-6-wide receiver in practice, yet you're 5-10 and 5-11. So what was that like? How did it help make you a better player? So the only thing that I ever worry about with tall receivers is the fade ball, because it's one of the only routes where we have a terrible, we have no eyesight back on the quarterback or the ball unless we're completely turned around.

And by that point, the ball's already there. So I've learned to maybe just give myself a little bit of space. I think looking back is the only way to guard that because if not, they're just going to go up and get it. It's definitely made me a lot better corner for sure because you have to play those kinds of guys very differently and you have to judge their speed. too. Yeah, the main thing in practice with these tall receivers is pretty much in game. I've never seen another receiver like the guys I've had to play in practice. So working against their height and

figuring out what works against them and just being able to perfect my craft by going against them every single day is very helpful. With bigger receivers, I usually do the same thing, give myself a little bit more depth because usually the taller receivers aren't quite as quick so I can get out of my breaks a little bit faster than they can, hopefully make it downhill to break up a ball if it is a short pass. But yeah, like Bart said, if it's a fade ball, I'm just trying to give myself a little bit of room so I can make an attempt on the ball and hopefully get my eyes back. So going to game day, do you guys have like a pregame routine? And if so, what is it? What are the things that you have to do in order to get into the right headspace before game? For me, I always

wake up early. I never set an alarm either. I always, on game days, I'm always up like 6, 37 o'clock, just because I'm ready to go. I'm not sure why, but I always do that. I always get up, make myself a coffee, and then just kind of relax throughout the day, get my body feeling good, warm up, stretching, stuff like that. And then I always have an energy junk right before the game, take my wrists and ankles sometimes in the same way. And I don't know. I always wear the same things on game day, so that's my pregame routine. Do you have, like, a song that you have to listen to or, like, a certain genre of music that you listen to before a game?

Yeah, I mean, it's mostly just rap music, not specifically certain songs, but there's a lot of, like, old Drake, Meek Mill, stuff like that, so. My pregame actually starts the night before. I've always, especially even before high school games, too. I always look at about like 15 to 30 plays of the upcoming team's film before going to bed because I feel like if I do that right before bed, then I'm going to wake up with the mindset getting ready to play. I don't know, kind of a superstitious thing.

Yeah, I don't wake up early. I sleep in and I barely eat because I get nervous. So I usually only eat like a granola bar, maybe two, and that's about it. I don't do an energy drink either. I just kind of put my beats on. unlock into my music and I got to listen to Drake. Drake's always a move before games, but yeah. Both of you guys have blocked a kick at some point in your careers and have been part of the One Play Warrior Club. So describe those plays and describe what the One Play Warrior Club is.

Yeah, so the One Play Warrior Club is a, it's a special teams award. We're graded every single play on whether we do our job or not, and you get a plus or a minus. And at the end of the season, they add up all the points. And if you have 50 or more special teams points and you make the one-play warrior club. And a lot of the hidden game in football is in special teams, you don't necessarily think about that or see that, but if you can get good kickoffs or punts

to pin them inside the 20-yard line and stuff like that, that's really important. And like the block kicks, I mean, being able to take points away from a team whenever you possibly can makes a big difference. Like in the Thomas More game, we blocked a kick. And it ended up, the last play of the game ended up being a two-point conversion that they had to try and they failed it.

So if they would have had just had to kick another PAT, it probably would have been sent into overtime. So those special teams plays are very important. Yeah, going back to my play a couple years ago, we were 0 and 3 going into that game, and we were really struggling to look for a win, kind of get our season rolling there. And we were in a crucial part of that game,

and we had had a couple punt rushes earlier, and I knew that I was getting close. and I think the game was tied at that point, or it was really close, and I saw him bobble the snap, and I just got through and blocked it. It was a great feeling. And then the best part was obviously celebrating with my teammates after, and then we scored a touchdown right after that. I remember it was Mike Harding.

And then that kind of sealed and put the game away a little bit, and we got our first win. So I felt like it was awesome to be such a big part of the win as such a young player on the team. And it really gave me the chance to, like, kind of excel my game and really focus on the special teams that year and get better. So I think it really improved my attitude overall. And so, yeah. So what is something that you guys would tell an incoming freshman about the athletics,

specifically the football program at Hillsdale in order to prepare them? I'd personally say it's definitely a family here more so than other places. A lot of people preach brotherhood and family, but here it's definitely different. The coaching staff has been here for years and years and years. you're not worried about them leaving. Like other places, coaches are going through and trying to make a name for themselves versus here we're trying to make a name for the program.

And that's something that's definitely special about here and that I really enjoy. Yeah, I would say incoming players, the best two things about this college program is, number one, you're not going to get the quality guy, the quality friend, the lifetime partner that you're always going to be able to call. You got every single guy on this football team can be one of those guys for anybody.

I don't think you're going to get that anywhere else. Number two, you're not going to get that coach player relationship. Every single one of these coaches truly care about not just you and your football career, but your academics and graduating from here and becoming a man. And I think that that also really matters that it's not just about football here. We do a lot bigger things. how do you guys decide on each play who will cover which side of the field you guys talked about boundary and field what's the like the differences between those for you guys

personally yes we uh we have our like linebackers stars or whatever in the middle and they're always calling right or left so as field i always go towards the call which usually means that i have the side of the field with more space um and matt always goes opposite of the call as a boundary corner we've gotten pretty good at knowing whether we're going to switch sides or not if the ball's in the exact middle of the field we get good at hanging in the middle even talking between the play and then we always we always get to our right spot we've been in a jam a couple times but it usually only happens in two-minute situations when there's no time and they're getting in a hurry up yeah boundary boundary's a lot more man-on-man a lot more run fitting sometimes if your

receiver goes in to block a linebacker or the safety I have to go in and fill in on the run. Field's completely different. It's a whole lot of space, a whole lot of guarding, like a whole lot of running. Yeah, fields, field's tough. Every time I'm over there, I don't know quite what I'm doing. I mean, not that I don't know what I'm doing, but it's just different. Boundaries, a lot more man-on-man and stuff like that. So what are your majors and what are your plans after college? I was originally a biology major, but I just switched two years ago to exercise science. And I've kind of changed my plans a little bit, but as of right now, I'm looking at doing travel nursing for a couple years after school, kind of see where that takes me. And then this summer, I'm actually going to work with sports management in Columbus with one of my friends working on some AAU tournaments.

So we'll see if anything changes or comes out of that. I've always wanted to do something in that category, too. I'm kind of just looking to do a lot of different things after graduating, so we'll see where it takes me. Yeah, I'm a financial management major, so in the finance business realm. Out of school, I think I'm going to do Edward Jones, which is a financial advising company. I interned there last summer, and I'm going to be interning there again this summer. So I've already got that kind of lined up, but we'll see for sure.

And then, depending on how my life takes me, I mean, eventually my goal is to become an entrepreneur. and start something on my own. And so what is one thing that you would say sets Hillsdale apart from other colleges, athletically or academically? What makes Hillsdale so different? I'd say it's the people here. Everybody, professors, faculty, the coaching staff, people that I don't even know, random janitors or anybody here genuinely cares about you and wants you to succeed.

One of the guys that he was one of the janitors in my dorm last year, He would always come in and he would like take our trash out and stuff like that. And he would always come in and check on us and make sure we're going to class and stuff like that. Talking to us about our families, reminding us to call our moms and stuff like that. So just genuine people here that care about you and want you to do well and want you succeed. Yeah, I was thinking kind of the same thing. Just surrounded by highly intelligent people all the time changes the way that you talk and the way that you talk and the way that you. you think about things. It obviously makes you grow in that aspect of life. But I think the quality,

like Matt said, the quality people around here are great. You're not going to really get that anywhere else. It's kind of a bubble here, like Coach Otter says. When you go out of the bubble, you're kind of in the real world. So we have a special guest here today who is not originally supposed to be here, but he was Bart Bixler's ride. So Luke Constantine, I have a question for you. Why did you want to step into that moral role and influence and motivate people? What inspired you to do that? And you're such a loud guy on the sideline. Everybody knows who you are.

How do you step into that role? So, yeah, I decided to show up because I wanted to see this sweet studio. And so, but honestly, it's for the guys on the team. It's just a lot of fun. You know, when Matt makes a play, I'm always throwing out. I think my ex is a little bit better than his, to be honest. But it's just, it's a lot of fun. And because football is a game where 11 guys are going to be on the field at one time,

but there's so many other roles. And I think being able to embrace a different role that everybody appreciates and everyone really can get something out of it, you know, when things go bad, I'm always trying to, you know, keep everyone up when things go good. It's about celebrating and having fun. And it really just, you get a lot more out of football than just playing on the field. All right, so last question for you all, Luke, you can chime in too if you want. If you could talk about one teammate who shows leadership and motivates your team, who would you think of and why?

It's actually wild because he's sitting across for me. I was about to say the same thing. He does not matter to what happens to this guy. He's always there, always ready to lay his life down for the team. It doesn't matter if he's playing or not. He delivers probably the best hype game speeches I've ever been a part of. Whenever we're in a bad situation, adversity hits. He's the first one to talk to me.

He's the first one to keep my head up. He's the first one to get me back into the winning mentality. Yeah, I don't know if I'm ever going to come across another leader like Luke Costantino. I'd agree with that. And it stretches a lot further than game day. 6 a.m. in the wait room in the offseason, there's nobody yelling louder than Luke is. There's nobody hyping everybody up like Luke is. I don't know.

He's just got something different about him. A little crazy. but in a good way. Well, Luke, it would be a little bit anti-climactic, if you said yourself. So give me a person besides for you on the team who leads well. So honestly, I think offensively, we've had a lot of really good leaders,

especially with the offensive line. I think it's really started with them and this kind of winning streak that we went on, you know, Ben Affalter, Nick Affolder, Ben Gino, Ely Hadamus and Carter Cushman. I mean, those guys don't get a lot. a lot of credit. But really, I mean, what they have been able to accomplish as a unit this year has been just awesome to see. And, you know, a lot of guys aren't always focused on the offensive

line. When things go wrong, they're always the ones in the crossfire, but when things go right, I think that on-field leadership has really kind of catapulted us forward and has made for a really great past few weeks. Well, thank you guys so much for joining us. And thank you, Luke, for answering some questions for us. Thank you guys for having us. Really appreciate it. Yeah, glad we can make it out. Thank you guys.

And thank you for listening to the Charger Rundown on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.