Sunday, September 11, 2016

Slow Start Leads to Strong Finish for Hobart

The Hobart College Statesmen defeated the Endicott College Gulls, 42-20, Saturday in Beverly, MA. Although the final margin looks convincing, don't be fooled. Endicott (0-2) had Statesmen fans and families worried until the Statesmen (2-0) were able to pull away with about seven minutes remaining in the contest.

Hobart came into this game with SR OLB Marcus Jemison who was held out because of a shoulder injury in the Brockport game. SR OL Justin DiJiulio was also lost due to a knee injury in the first quarter, but fortunately it wasn't anything he can't recover from and get back into the lineup, hopefully soon.

The Statesmen offense and defense looked flat after the six-plus hour road trip and the teams battled to a virtual tie in the first half, the only difference being a missed PAT which gave Hobart a slight 7-6 edge at the half.

The second half saw more back and forth. SO TE Matt Woods scored on a seven yard pass which delighted the Statesmen sideline as well as the recent alumni watching from the back of the end zone. The 14-6 advantage was short lived as SR WR Chris Lipscomb took a 21 yard pass for a TD to pull Endicott within two points of Hobart, 14-12. FY WR Isaiah Hill scored his first career TD on a long 59 yard catch and run which would be followed by JR WR Brandon Shed's 29 yard TD catch to give Hobart it's first "breathing room" of the game, a 28-12 lead with 13:15 remaining.

While JR QB Shane Sweeney's next drive looked like it would ice the game, an ill advised pass ended up being returned 80 yards for a "pick six" by SR OLB Connor McLaughlin. After a successful two point play, the Gulls were back in the game, down 28-20 with 9:04 left in regulation.

Just like Brockport last week, the Statesmen offense found a way to quickly respond and Sweeney found SR WR Sean Cunningham on a 68 yard TD play about 90 seconds later. A JR FB Dylan Quay short TD run would be the last scoring on the day and Hobart would win the game, 42-20.

In the end, the Statesmen out gained the Gulls by 504 to 336 total yards. Most of those came via the air, as Sweeney ended up 22-45 for 364 yards to go with four TDs compared to two INTs. SR RB Brad Burns led the ground game with 79 rushing yards and a TD. Defensively the Statesmen were led by SO DT AJ McFarlane with 10 stops, 2.5 TFL, two sacks and a forced fumble. McFarlane's been a bright spot on a rush defense that so far hasn't played to the same level as prior Hobart defensive units have in the past. For the second week in a row the Statesmen have allowed an opposing RB to gain over 100 yards.

Hobart returns home and will play under the lights Saturday night against Ithaca College (1-0). I'll have more on that game later this week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

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