The Hobart College Statesmen had a both a good and bad weekend down in Kings Point, NY yesterday. I intended to recap the game but held off because of a bad cold plus wanting to see how a few things panned out today.
The good news is that Hobart overcame a sluggish start to take a 30-15 win over the Mariners (1-2) with several key players out. JR OLB Marcus Jemison and SO QB Shane Sweeney did not play, but the Statesmen did enough against an improved Merchant Marine squad to overcome 118 yards in penalties (likely because it was the Mariners homecoming - the Merchant Marine by comparison only was flagged for 22), a lost pick six TD by SR LB and Co-Capt Jacob Stanley (one of the aforementioned penalties) and a SO QB Tom Sydeski 0 for 6 start to the game.
Sydeski finally found his form in the second quarter finding JR WR Jack Pfohl and SO TE Zach Withers (the latter being his first career TD) on consecutive possessions to post a 14-0 lead. A special teams break down gave the Mariners the ball at their 41 and they were able to drive 59 yards to score with 39 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the lead to 14-7. Sydeski would find SO WR Brandon Shed on a nice 40 yard pass play to potentially set up a FG attempt, but of course, he was flagged for offensive pass interference.
The Statesmen would come out and notch their third TD of the game after Stanley blocked a Mariner punt and JR DB Todd Collier recovered the ball and ran it back to the end zone. A JR PK Sean Kirsche 31 yard FG would follow and Hobart was in good shape, up 23-7. Although the Merchant Marine scored with about 7 minutes left in the game, SR RB and Co-Captain Connor Hartigan would score his first TD of the season to put the game away on the following possession.
Although he only completed five passes out of 19, Sydeski made them count and Hobart did enough to improve to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Liberty League. The win (along with a few upsets in the Top 25) was enough to get the Statesmen back in the Top 25 poll.
A link to the poll can be found here.
Unfortunately the bad news is that Stanley suffered what's apparently a season-ending injury during the game, further thinning the already beat up Hobart LB corps (if not starting 22). The Statesmen OL's struggles continued as they gave up five TFL and a sack against an undersized Mariner defense. Hobart also had it's third week in a row of rushing under 100 yards (which was pretty rare leading into this season - see prior post on the preview), carrying the ball 40 times for only 85 yards.
The road only gets more difficult for the Statesmen as WPI (3-1, 0-1) comes into town next Saturday. The Engineers are definitely improved from the 4-6 squad from last season, playing solid defense and an able offense.
I'll preview that game - which we also covered in tonight's ITH - which you can listen to here (goes live at 7:30 PM ET tonight). We cover off on the Statesmen's game vs. the Merchant Marine (thanks as always to Ted Baker from WEOS for the game highlights) and discuss whether or not Hobart deserved to go back into the Top 25 (apparently I was persuasive ;).
Anyway, will have a preview of the Homecoming / WPI game later this week. Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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