The seventh ranked Hobart College Statesmen finished their second consecutive unbeaten regular season with a hard fought 42-21 victory over their oldest rivals, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets Saturday at Fauver Stadium. It was the 106th meeting between the two programs, Hobart now owning a 51-48-7 overall lead in the series. Apparently the Statesmen and Jackets got a shout out on ESPN's College Game Day this morning given the age of this series.
The Statesmen (9-0, 7-0) needed a big second half and an opportunistic defense to put away a pesky Rochester (5-4, 3-3) team. The Yellow Jackets racked up 504 yards on 95 plays compared to Hobart's 376 on 47.
After a scoreless first quarter that featured punts and field position, the Statesmen finally got on the board thanks to JR FB Dominique Ellis scoring from 11 yards out with 13:52 to go in the second quarter.
Rochester would respond on the next drive, when SR QB Dean Kennedy slipped past several would be Hobart tacklers from six yards out to tie it up 7-7 with 8:26 to go in the half.
JR QB Patrick Conlan would air it out twice finding classmates JR WR Elvin Souffrant and John Fasano for 45 and 16 yards, respectively. Conlan would finish the drive with a 17 yard TD pass to JR TE Mike Berkowitz to give the Statesmen the 14-7 lead with 5:33 remaining in the second quarter. Although Kennedy got the Yellow Jackets into the Hobart two yard line, SR FS Jolyon Davis intercepted a last ditch effort as time expired so Hobart could hang on to a 14-7 lead at the half.
Rochester came out stinging in the third quarter however, taking a play from the Statesmen special teams book. SO OLB Chris Merenich blocked a SR WR Yosh Karbowniczak punt which was recovered by Yellow Jacket FY ILB David Wolff. The block gave Kennedy and the Rochester offense the ball at the Hobart 33 yard line. Three plays later Kennedy would find SR WR Thomas Hayes open for a 29 yard TD and tied the game 14-14 with 11:32 to go in the third quarter.
The Statesmen would blow the doors off on three big plays including a 43 yard TD run by Ellis, a pick six by Davis and a 64 yard Fasano TD catch and run to push the Hobart lead to 35-14 going into the fourth quarter. The lead expanded to 42-14 after a 48 yard SR RB Steven Webb TD run.
Although the Jackets would score another TD, a play in which SR LB Tony Ortega came in as a RB/TE, the Statesmen would win the game by a final score of 42-21.
Hobart was led by Conlan with 185 passing yards and two TDs. The combo of Ellis and Webb rushed for a combined 160 yards and three scores. Defensively the Statesmen were led by SO LB Trayvon Toney with a game high 14 tackles.
Rochester was led by Kennedy with a game high 325 passing yards and two scores (but three interceptions, SR CB Connor Garrett collected the third). The Yellow Jacket defense was led by Ortega and SR LB Zach Cicero, with nine stops a piece.
The win improves Hobart to 9-0, their second consecutive undefeated regular season. The Statesmen have now run the LL table in back to back seasons as well. Hobart will await word this Sunday night at 6pm ET when the Division III Football Championship Bracket is released by the NCAA.
We are interviewing the Committee Chair Duey Naatz on www.inthehuddlle.com at 7:55 PM ET.
Thanks for reading and go Bart!
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