Happy Leap Year!
I hope everyone has been enjoying the start of 2012. Hard to believe it's already (almost) March 1st (at least on the west coast it's still 2/29). Although it's still a long way off to the start of this year's college football season, I thought I'd check in with a brief update on the Statesmen football team. The football roster for 2012 is up (http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football) and I noticed a couple of players are not listed. The players in question were two starters from the 2011 squad, SO FB Juan O'Farrill and SO FS Chad Dorrance, but according to my sources they will not be on the team this fall.
O'Farrill was one of a handful of Florida natives on the Statesmen and appeared in eight games last season. O'Farrill was splitting time with fellow Floridian FY Dominque Ellis (39 carries for 195 yards and one touchdown) at FB. Ellis eventually took over the starting job after a wrist injury suffered in the Rochester game kept O'Farrill out of the line up for the Wesley game. O'Farrill carried 34 times for 115 yards and one touchdown and added three pass receptions for 27 yards in 2011. In 2010, the West Palm Beach native played in all nine games, carrying a season-high six times for a season-high 52 yards and a touchdown against WPI. Although the loss of O'Farrill is buffered by Ellis, he was a solid contributor to the program, especially in the running game, opening holes for SO RB Steven Webb and JR RB Bobby Dougherty.
Dorrance settled in to start at FS following the graduation of former team captain John Kelliher '11. A native of Cazenovia, NY, Dorrance played in seven games in 2010. He made a season-high four tackles against St. John Fisher and blocked an extra point against WPI. In 2011 Dorrance tallied five tackles including a fumble recovery and one pass break up. It's likely Dorrance's departure will equally be mitigated due to the fact that classmate SO FS Jolyon Davis appeared in all eight of Hobart's games, including starts against Union College and the Merchant Marine Academy. Although Dorrance's presence and experience in the defensive backfield will be missed, Davis contributed more tackles (17, including 11 solo) and one more pass break up than Dorrance last season.
That said fans of the program have criticized the Statesmen secondary in recent years. Outside of future Hobart Hall of Famer Drake Woodard '12, the rest of the secondary has struggled in coverage against strong passing teams. Some would even say that this problem has persisted for several seasons now, but has been less apparent given Woodard and the fact that the Statesmen's strong pass rush (bolstered by the additions of players such as SO OLB Devin Worthington and FY DE Tyre Coleman) doesn't give many teams enough time to exploit open receivers.
The blog will likely remain dormant for a bit but check back from time to time as information regarding incoming recruits comes forth in the coming months.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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