Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Kickoff 2017 is Here!

We are officially 11 days away from kicking off the 14th ranked Hobart Statesmen's 124th season. In case you haven't already subscribed, please go to D3football.com and sign up for this season's "Kickoff" preseason preview.

I've listed a couple of excerpts from my Hobart preview and article on SR QB Shane Sweeney below:

"While some could say Hobart was 20 seconds away from going 10-0 in the regular season in 2016, another perspective was that Hobart was 2:38 away from going 5-4. Either way, the "cardiac kids" from Geneva come into this season with high expectations after last year’s 9-2 campaign and playoff battle with Mount Union. If they want a rematch with the Purple Raiders, they will have to overcome some inexperience on defense. The "Air Show" offense will put up a lot of points, which should take some of the pressure off of new Defensive Coordinator Aaron Backhaus and his players."

"After completing a six-yard pass on fourth-and-one to get to the Mount Union 37-yard line, Hobart quarterback Shane Sweeney got the call from offensive coordinator Jon Drach:

"RIP 40 Z Eagles"

Sweeney dropped back and fired the ball to tight end Zach Withers, who found a seam in the Purple Raiders defense and ran it in for a touchdown, his second of the day, tying the game at 21 with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Sweeney felt relieved, especially after Hobart fell behind 14-0, then 21-7 earlier in the game.

"Getting that [second] touchdown was big. Once we went into halftime only down by a touchdown, we knew we had a chance. The rest of the country may not have believed we could beat these guys, but we knew we could."

I hope you enjoy reading these articles, as well as the many other features, team previews and predictions in this year's publication. It was a lot of fun to be involved again for a second year, and hope you enjoy it. More on this weekend's annual scrimmage with Buff State, so stay tuned and go 'Bart!

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