I had the chance to catch up with Head Coach Mike Cragg and other HWS staff at the Buccaneers-Falcons game back on December 6th. Ali Marpet '15 had a great game and helped lead the Bucs to a hard fought, 23-19 victory.
A number of articles on Ali's first season were published by the Buccaneers this week and I've posted them on @ITHuddLLe (on Twitter) if you haven't seen them already. A couple of my favorites included this one, which featured Coach Cragg and this film session review by former Jets and Bucs TE Anthony Becht.
While the graduations of SR LBs Trayvon Toney and SR LB Jacob Stanley will be big shoes to fill, Coach was optimistic in the coaching staff's offseason recruiting efforts. As of last Monday, the final Early Decision letters should have gone on and the Class of 2020 will start to come together. Updates on team captains and other newsworthy items will be coming out in the next month or so.
One big news item in the offseason was Ithaca College becoming a full member of the Liberty League. The Statesmen and Bombers will renew their rivalry in what appears to be under the lights of Boswell Field, Saturday, September 17th at 7pm! This is big news for the stability of the LL as a viable football conference but so far the announcement on the seventh LL team did not materialize in January as expected. While rumored this new member would come from PA, it has yet to be confirmed, and given the delay, could have fallen through. While not an issue for the Statesmen's playoff chances in 2016, a lack of a seventh team come 2017 would be a problem for all six LL teams going forward.
This fall Hobart will open the season with back to back road trips to play SUNY Brockport and Endicott College. These OOC games will be followed by a three game home stand against Ithaca, Union and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (who along with WPI and Springfield will depart for the NEWMAC in 2017). After a road trip to LL rival RPI, the Statesmen host Springfield off their bye week. Back to back road trips to WPI and SLU follow leading up to the regular season finale against Rochester for the Centennial Cup.
Also of note was the "resignation" of Union College HC John Audino who has been replaced by former Stony Brook OC/QB coach Jeff Behrman. A link to that story can be found here. Springfield College conducted a national search but ultimately decided to promote OC Mike Cerasuolo to the HC job. A link to that announcement can be found here. Hobart lines up against the Dutchmen and the Pride at the "Boz" on September 24th and October 22nd, respectively.
A couple of weekends ago, Marpet and his former team and classmate Mike Berkowitz '15 returned to campus to meet with incoming recruits and discuss their respective college and professional careers. While most folks know about Ali ending up in Tampa Bay, Mike landed an excellent job with a Goldman Sachs subsidiary in the Albany area and is doing great. You definitely do not need a "business" major to land a great job in Finance, Banking or Marketing if you get a BA from HWS.
Check out this cool highlight video produced by Connor Cough '17 which the recruits got to see during their visit to campus.
I'll be on the look out for more Hobart Statesmen news and thanks for reading!
Go 'Bart!
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