The Hobart Statesmen (4-2, 3-1) won their seventh straight over the United States Merchant Marine Academy (3-5, 2-2) in mixed fashion this past Saturday in Kings Point, Long Island.
The Statesmen looked completely in control early on in the game en route to jumping out to 23-0 lead behind a 24 yard FY RB Steven Webb TD run, a FY S Devin Worthington sack that lead to a two point safety and two JR QB Doug Vella (who started given SO QB Nick Strang was apparently out with mono) to JR WR Garth Muratori TD passes for 41 and 23 yards.
To the Mariners credit, they didn't go away quietly and responded with 13 of their own unanswered points to pull within 10 with 4:16 to play in the first half. The second of these two scores came off a Hobart fumble - the first of three turnovers on the day - which gave the MMA the ball on the Statesmen 21 yard line. SO RB JL Gosselin would run untouched to the end zone on the ensuing play.
Muratori would get the "hat trick" when he caught his third TD pass from Vella with 35 seconds to go in the half to post the Statesmen to a 30-13 lead. The plucky Mariners however would notch a 41 yard FG to go into the half down 30-16.
The second half started off promising for the Statesmen thanks to Vella's fourth TD pass of the day, this time to SR WR Mike Lazore for a 27 yard TD. Unfortunately, Vella's otherwise solid performance was marred by two back-to-back interceptions allowed the Mariners with short fields and enabled them to crawl back into the game. The MMA would score on both possessions - the first a SR RB Karl Heimbrock three yard TD run and the second a 31 yard FG - to pull within nine points of the Statesmen with 5:58 to play in the third.
The Hobart offense would close out their day with a short Conor Callahan FG late in the fourth quarter, but the Mariner offense would make things interesting after a 13 yard Ventre to Dunn TD pass would pull the MMA within a TD with 2:39 to play in the game. The Statesmen would recover the onside kick and almost run out the clock, but the Mariners did get one last play with four seconds to go. Fortunately after a lateral, SR LB Kyle O'Laughlin tackled the ball carrier and ensured the Hobart victory, 40-33.
Analysis
I have to view this game from two perspectives:
Glass half full - Hobart truly dominated in the first half and once again finished with over 400 yards of total offense. Vella connected on 18 of 33 attempts passing for 305 yards, finding Muratori for three of his four TD throws. The defense forced two fumbles and a safety and Devin Worthington (2.5 sacks) and Reggie Robinson (10 tackles) were down right unstoppable.
Glass half empty - Vella once again threw some questionable passes that lead to easy interceptions for MMA which allowed them to stay in the game. The Statesmen continued to play sloppy football, getting flagged 10 times for 83 yards. The team was particularly inept in the third quarter (when the two interceptions occurred) losing the time of possession battle by a 11:12 to 3:48 margin.
Hobart posted a short but interesting interview of Coach Cragg following the game which can be accessed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8MXMLiRClo&feature=player_embedded
Bottom line
With only three weeks of the regular season to go Hobart is already on the brink of NCAA elimination. Saint Lawrence (4-4, 4-0) continues to sweep it's Liberty League opposition, most recently taking down RPI (3-3, 1-2) 14-3 on Saturday. Unless the Saints lose their FINAL TWO GAMES (against 1-5 Rochester and 3-4 WPI), Hobart is out of the NCAA conversation for the second consecutive season.
That said, I am guessing Hobart will continue to play out their schedule with the goal of finishing 7-2. While it's not certain whether the team will put in a bid for a possible ECAC game based on last year's experience, the only hope for the Statesmen at this point is keeping winning and for SLU to somehow shoot themselves in the foot down the home stretch.
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