For The Win! A perfect hod by Levi Slager (37) resulted in a game-winning field goal by Jim Yates (99) versus Hillsdale. Photo by Ben Kramer, Photo Editor

The Chargers' kickoff landed in the hands of senior split end Robert Miller who exploded to the Bulldogs 45 yard line before being brought down by the Chargers' kicker. A false start against the Bulldogs on the next play brought them back to the 40 yard line.

Senior quarterback C.J. Van Wieren rushed for a 22 yard gain to reach the Chargers 38 yard line. Miller rushed the ball 23 yards to score the opening touchdown.

Hillsdale started their drive at their own 29 yard line, junior right end Kyle Walker forced a fumble giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 49.

After two incomplete passes, freshmen receiver Ron Hardy fumbled the ball and Hillsdale picked it up at their own 35.

Hillsdale’s sophomore running back Vinnie Panizzi rushed for 26 yards in three plays. After a face mask penalty on the Bulldogs, Panizzi broke into the end zone giving the Chargers their first touchdown, tying the game at seven.

Hillsdale took over on its 49 yard line. Hillsdale completed its two passes to the Bulldogs 26 yard line. After a few short running plays, senior quarterback Mark Nicolet connected with senior Nick Gurica for a touchdown, putting the Chargers ahead 14-7.

Ferris State started its drive on its own 34 yard line with 3:45 left in the first quarter. Sophomore Eric Grozenski came in to take over the quarterback position for Van Wieren who then played as a receiver for the possession.

Grozenski passed to Miller for a 29 yard gain, followed by a penalty and a sack for a loss of 10 yards, forcing the Bulldogs to punt.

Panizzi began the Chargers drive with a rush to the left, but Senior Kurt Hout was there to force a fumble which was recovered by the Bulldogs at the Chargers 15 yard line.

On the first play Van Wieren connected with senior Mike Guevara for a 15 yard touchdown pass tying the game at 14.

Hillsdale received the kickoff and marched 57 yards in seven plays down to the Bulldogs’ four yard line. The Chargers scored a touchdown with a short pass to take the lead 21-14.

The Bulldogs started their possession at their own 35. Van Wieren rushed for 26 yards on the Bulldogs first play and pounded the Chargers defense with his speed bringing the Bulldogs to the Charger’s 15 yard line.

Miller took over and rushed wide into the end zone tying the game at 21-21.

Yates recorded a 66 yard kickoff that bounced off the Hillsdale receiver’s chest and into the hands of Ferris junior Cole Meredith who was there to rush into the Chargers’ end zone, giving the Bulldogs the lead 28-21.

Hillsdale brought the ball back down to the Bulldogs' one yard line on the next drive. With a short rush up the middle into the end zone they tied the score at 28.

The Chargers' kickoff was dropped by the Bulldogs and recovered by Hillsdale at Ferris State’s 34 yard line.

After a complete pass and a short run, the Chargers were in the end zone , the score going up to 35-28.

The Bulldogs brought the ball back down to the Chargers one yard line, where Van Wieren rushed into the end zone, after a botched extra point, the Chargers maintained the lead 35-34, going into half time.

Hillsdale recorded the only points in the third quarter with a field goal making the score 38-34.

The Bulldogs began the fourth quarter on their own 28 yard line. Miller rushed left for a 13 yard gain, then right for a 11 yard gain. Senior Kirk Covey punched through the Chargers defense and into the end zone to score his first collegiate touchdown and give the Bulldogs the lead 41- 38.

“I was hoping I was gonna have it sooner or later.” Covey said. “I was waiting for it to happen, I’m glad it finally did.”

However, a field goal by the Chargers on their next drive would tie the game at 41.

Ferris State took over with one minute remaining in the game. Covey began the drive with a 14 yard rush up the middle to the Chargers 49 yard line. Miller ran to the right reaching Hillsdale’s 24 yard line. The Bulldogs took a time out with seven seconds left in the game.

Yates came out to attempt the game winning 41 yard field goal. The crowd cheered as the kick passed through the uprights giving Ferris State the lead with three seconds left.

The Chargers received the kickoff and despite their effort, fell to the Bulldogs 44-41.

“We were confident we could win this game.” Coach Jeff Pierce said afterwards. “I’m really proud of how our guys have battled the last two weeks.”

Heads Up Lindsay Tye (17) takes aim at a spike versus Michigan Tech. Photo by Ben Kramer, Photo Editor

“Most of the teams in the GLIAC are top 30 or 40 in the country at least. Whether a team is nationally ranked is not an issue when we play in the GLIAC. All of the teams are strong and very good,” head coach Tia Brandel-Wilhelm said prior to the match.

Ferris lost to the Northwood Timberwolves 3-0 (30-21, 34-32, 30-25) on Friday. In the first game the score was tied at 15 all before the Timberwolves went on a 9-4 run.

The Bulldogs came within five but the Timberwolves broke away.

The Bulldogs fought in game two to come back from being down 29-26, Northwood recorded a kill and took the win on a Bulldog attack error.

The Bulldogs tied the score at 11 but Northwood took the next point and kept the lead for the duration of the game. The Bulldogs battled back to a 27-24 deficit but the Timberwolves shut them down.

Sophomore middle hitter Kristy Gilchrist recorded 12 kills and a match-high of three aces. Senior outside hitter Lindsay Tye recorded 11 kills and seven digs. Junior setter Candice Marut recorded 29 assists and six digs. Senior libero Jamie Palazzolo recorded 16 total digs.

“We are always looking for ways we can improve as players and as a team,” Brandel-Wilhelm said.

The Bulldogs rebounded on Saturday by defeating the Saginaw Valley Cardinal 3-0 (30-23, 32-30, 31-29).

“We were not satisfied with our play [last weekend]. The players have made a big increase in the intensity and focus of our practices. We will be much crisper in our execution this weekend,” Bradel-Wilhelm said.

Tye recorded her 14th match of double digit kills this season with 25, along with 10 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Katie Edwards also recorded 11 kills. Junior setter Andrea Rich recorded 10 digs and 42 assists.

Senior libero Jamie Palazzolo recorded 22 digs, junior outside-middle hitter Emily Nemmers had 14 digs, and red-shirt freshman libero Whitney Rupp recorded 10 digs in the win.

The Bulldogs are now 3-2 in the GLIAC and 11-5 overall as they are ranked third in the GLIAC north division behind 11th in the nation Grand Valley State University (5-0, 15-2) and Northern Michigan (4-1, 10-7). Ferris lost to Northern Michigan 3-2 last weekend and will compete against Grand Valley on Oct. 2.

The Bulldogs are away this weekend as they travel down to Ohio to take on Ashland (15-2, 4-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Findlay (3-2, 14-5) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Many female athletes waited until they retired from their sport before they became mothers. Professional tennis players Chris Evert and Steffi Graf both waited until they retired, as did track star Florence Griffith-Joyner who died from an alleged drug overdose in 1998.

Female athletes are no longer waiting for retirement to start a family. Professional tennis player Lindsay Davenport took a year off from the circuit before coming back to win seven straight tournaments this year.

Davenport is not the only professional female athlete that balances both professional athletic career and motherhood.

Before the soccer mom phrase was coined, Fanny Blankers-Koen “The Flying Housewife” won four gold medals in the 1948 Olympics with two children. Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong Cawley was a 29-year-old mother when she won Wimbledon in 1980, she was the last mother to win a Grand Slam singles event.

In 1971 Margaret Court lost the singles final while pregnant with her first child, she came back that same year and competed in the U.S. Open. However, these cases were rare in sports history and have only recently become more common.

Court isn’t the only female athlete to continue competing while pregnant. Many female athletes that become pregnant are worried that their scholarship offers will be reneged if the school finds out.

WNBA’s All-Star forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin saw the scholarships disappear her senior year of high school when she became pregnant. According to the St. Petersburg Times in Tampa Bay, Fla., she played at a small school in Austin, Texas. There was often only enough food for her child while she struggled to support herself via international basketball.

In April of this year, Syracuse junior Fantasia Goodwin delivered her child after starting 28 games for the basketball team. In 2004, Louisville’s Connie Neal played 11 games while she was eight months pregnant.

Also, professional surfer Lisa Anderson was pregnant and still surfing.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, U.S. hockey team member, Jenny Potter, played in three Olympics and gave birth to her daughter Madison 87 days before the 2001 world championships, and her son Cullin 83 days before the following world championship.

Then there are the moms that made headlines when they gave birth to their children. U.S. soccer defensive player Joy Fawcett gave birth to three daughters, and returned to the sport a month after giving birth to her third daughter.

According to “Soccer Digest,” the U.S soccer team has three mothers on the roster after Fawcett and Carla Overbeck retired.

Fawcett isn’t the only athlete to return to their team within months after delivering a child. U.S. softball pitcher, Jennie Finch gave birth to her son Ace in May of 2006, and was playing for her professional softball team, Chicago Bandits, that summer.

According to the St. Petersburg Times there are 28 mothers on the LPGA tour, and more than 30 in the WNBA. There are also Olympic bobsledders who are mothers such as Vonetta Flowers who has two boys.

There are moms in speed skating, boxing, volleyball and skiing. What used to be a career ending situation is now becoming the norm.

Moms aren’t just the ones driving the minivans and lugging the gear, they’re out there playing while their children do the cheering.

Running Strong Jared Kelsh led the way for the Bulldogs finishing second overall at the Ferris State Invite. Photo by Ben Kramer, Sports Editor

On the women’s side, Ferris had five top-15 finishers to help lead the team to a first place finish. Freshman Megan Josey led the women’s squad by finishing 7th overall. She recorded a time of 20:17 in the 5k. The team concluded the race with 45 points. Saginaw Valley State University finished second with 54 points and Oakland Community College finished third with 76.

“All the freshman ran pretty strong. We just got over a hard week of practice and they did fairly well for coming into the college and working their butts off,” junior Mikinzie Stuart commented.

Stuart, who finished the race in 13th place, was not entirely happy with her performance.

“I’m hoping that I will do better next weekend in Chicago but it was a goal of ours to finish first so we were really happy that we accomplished that goal,” Stuart said. “Our main rival is Northwood and Saginaw Valley. We did pretty good because we had a couple of girls finish before their top girls.”

The men finished second overall as four runners finished in the top nine. The Bulldogs scored 36 points, Lansing Community College registered 27, and Saginaw Valley recorded 93 for a third place finish.

The men’s squad was led by junior Jared Kelsh in a time of 26:08. Kelsh also received runner up honors.

“It feels pretty good,” Kelsh said. “The team did well. We were hoping to get first 'cause we got second last year but we all ran pretty well. It was a good meet. I think our team is going to do pretty well this season.”

Senior Ray Rollet finished seventh for the Bulldogs in a time of 27.19 and junior Curtis Begley finished directly behind him in 27.27. Freshman Mike Wheat recorded a ninth place finish.

In addition, a high-school division meet was also held. Chippewa Hills and Cadillac claimed the boys and girls titles. Big Rapids High School boys completed the meet in third place as the girls finished in fifth respectively.

The Bulldogs will travel to Chicago, IL to compete in the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Saturday. Start time is scheduled for 10 a.m.

What spooks me even more is ESPN.com rated Jon Kitna as the top performer for Sunday. Sure, he passed for 446 yards but he only had two touchdowns. You need to put some points up on the board there, Jon. Let’s get to this week’s games.

Chicago at Detroit

Detroit hasn’t beaten Chicago at home since 2004 and I can’t remember the last time the Bears came to town with a losing record while we had a winning record. Let me break this game down for you.

Kitna seems to be clicking with his receivers but they have trouble getting in the end zone. If they want to score on Sunday, they are going to have to do it through the air since Detroit has yet to establish any kind of run game. While running back Kevin Jones did play for the first time since last season, he looked sluggish and made poor decisions. He didn’t quite have the speed to make it to the outside like he used to.

Chicago has been struggling lately too. Granted they have one of the tougher early schedules, but they made it all the way last year. Quarterback Rex Grossman looked awfully shaky in Sunday night’s game, completing less than half of his passes and throwing three interceptions.

I think after this week, Detroit’s defensive backs are going to work extra hard in practice so they don’t look like idiots this week. Combine this with Grossman’s streaky play and I think Detroit can pull off this upset.

Detroit WR Calvin Johnson went out with a bruised back but I think he will be back for Sunday.

My Pick: Detroit.

Denver at Indianapolis

Indy’s game against Houston last week was closer than it should have been. Quarterback Peyton Manning had a so-so game but running back Joseph Addai stepped in for two touchdowns. Luckily for them, the Colts have so many offensive weapons, Manning can have a so-so game and they can still win.

The Broncos are 2-1 but they barely snuck by Buffalo, beat a struggling Oakland team in overtime and lost to Jacksonville. While doing this, Denver has allowed an average of 62.5 yards passing. But they haven’t faced Manning and his arsenal of receivers, averaging 294 yards through the air.

I expect this one to start slow, but pick up after halftime.

My pick: Indianapolis.

Since I didn’t have room for the usual chart of picks this week, here is a list of who I think will chalk up a ‘W’ this week.

Houston

NY Jets

Cleveland

Dallas

Detroit

Oakland

Minnesota

Seattle

Carolina

Pittsburgh

San Diego

Indianapolis

Philadelphia

Cincinatti

Last week I went 10-6 which brings me to 22-13 for a season average of .628. My average has hovered at this level for two weeks now, but who would have thought the Packers would go 3-0? Nobody. See you next week NFL fans.

Editor’s notes: results of the Monday game were unavailable at press time. ESPN.com was used as a resource.

It’s football season and once again people insist on losing money on sports betting. I don’t understand it. It seems like everybody who pays attention to any kind of sport should know not to make a bet on the event.

I don’t understand why people don’t realize that on any given day even the best of the best can lose. Take a minute and think about it. Even those who hold world records lose. One person can be better than somebody else on any given day. The question is: will the team or person you put your money on be the best on the day you need them to be?

Personally, I refuse to make any bets that involve money. I would be upset if I had to give somebody money because I lost a bet, but people do it every week. The only person I’ll voluntarily give my money to is God when I pay my tithes and offerings. Oh yeah, Uncle Sam takes his share every month too, but that’s about it.

Sports betting is serious business. Every week I search the web to see what’s happening in the world of sports. Every week something about sports betting comes across my screen and I simply exit out of it. However, those pop-up ads just wouldn’t go away this week so I decided to look at them.

I thought the majority of the ads would tell me how wrong it is to gamble on sports. Of course there were a couple that talked about getting help because you shouldn’t gamble at all but most of them didn’t.  

I was browsing sports.com and I was amazed. I guess I was amazed because I thought gambling, (unless you’re at the casino) was illegal. I don’t know if it is or isn’t legal but I’m sure I got this idea from watching one too many movies.

I always see the police harassing a bookie (I think that’s what they’re called) on the corner for information. If I don’t see that then I see somebody getting the mess beat out of them because they didn’t pay on a bet.

Either way, I was amazed because this website is a welcome mat for anyone who wants to gamble. You don’t even have to gamble on sports, you can gamble on other things. I did notice that the telephones numbers were international and the site did confirm that sports’ gambling varies from nation to nation.

Another website ( www.thebestbetonsports.com) promises that you can turn $100 into $500,000 with a money back guarantee. Seriously! This doesn’t even sound legitimate.  For my entertainment purposes I browsed the site but didn’t get very far. There were lots of “buy now” advertisements. What I can’t seem to figure out is what the site wanted me to buy.

Either way, I’m not into gambling my money nor am I into making a purchase before I gamble my money. The idea of buying something before possibly losing money just doesn’t sit well with me.

However, there are lots of people who take sports betting seriously. I’m starting to wonder if “sports betting” should be a sport itself?

Senior Akshay Chellappa started his weekend by winning on Friday to advance to the semi-finals on Saturday.

He earned his third straight victory when he defeated Northwood’s number seven seed, Henryk Seeger in the fourth round Saturday.

Chellappa fell to Stefan Borg of Drury, Mo. during Sunday’s semifinal singles match. He was the only player to advance to Sunday’s match. Borg will advance to the National Small College Championships scheduled for Oct. 11-14 in Mobile, Ala.

Other notable performances included senior Kevin Brundle winning his open match on Friday. Senior Corey Banghart also had a first round win before being eliminated by Federica Levi of Drury, Mo.

Nick Andres and Ahmet Demir teamed up for a first round victory in doubles. Brain Anderson and Brundle also saw a victory in first round play. Chellappa and Banghart lost 9-8 (6) after being seeded third to Grand Valley State’s Patrick Troy and Renato Tamashiro during the second round.