The seventh ranked Hobart Statesmen improved to 3-0 Saturday and are the Liberty League's final undefeated squad after a very competitive Week 4.
Hobart struggled against a tough USMMA defense and was otherwise shut out in the first quarter, save for a FY PK Sean Kirsche 31 yard FG. SO RB Connor Hartigan would finally get the Statesmen into the end zone about half way through the second quarter to post the visitors to a 10-0 lead. The Merchant Marine (3-1) would threaten to score right before the half, advancing to the Hobart three yard line, but questionable clock management by the Mariners coaching staff forced them to rush a 23 yard Daniel Kennedy FG. The kick, which WEOS FM's Ted Baker aptly called a "Chinese Fire-drill", ended up being wide right. With the miss the 10-0 Statesmen lead stood at the half.
JR QB Patrick Conlan would find SR WR Yosh Karbowniczak from 37 yards out only 52 seconds into the third quarter to push Hobart's lead to 17-0. Apparently Conlan has some speed too, as he faked a hand off to SR RB Steven Webb, and ran untouched for 53 yards to score another Hobart TD. Although the Statesmen reserves would fail to preserve the shut out, Hobart hung on to win by a score of 24-8.
Conlan led the Statesmen offense with 129 passing and 49 rushing yards and two scores. SO LB Trayvon Toney led the Hobart defense with 12 tackles. SR OLB Devin Worthington had a big game, collecting 11 stops, including 3.5 TFL and two sacks. Worthington is closing in on both the career TFL and sack marks, the latter in close range for JR DE Tyre Coleman with only one and a half to go, but the All-American only had three tackles in Saturday's contest.
The Hobart defense bottled up what used to be the nation's leading rusher, holding SO QB Matthew McDaniels to only 65 rushing yards on 22 carries.
Webb ended up with 93 rushing yards, breaking a string of five games with over 100. Overall the Mariners held Hobart to 207 total rush yards, more than a 100 yards off their season average. The Statesmen controlled the game from start to finish, so there's really not much to complain about. 24 points is a bit low, but these aren't the Mariners of 2012. I could see this MMA squad doing some damage in what now appears to be a wide open LL below Hobart.
The Statesmen will host WPI (2-2) next Saturday at the "Boz". Hobart will don their camouflage uniforms in honor of our veterans, specifically, the Honor Flight organization.
Tune into "In The HuddLLe" Sunday night at 7:30 PM ET at www.inthehuddlle.com for highlights to this, and the weekend's top games.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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