12 years ago today I posted my first online Hobart College Football preseason preview. Kind of amazes me all these years later I'm still at it. Thankfully after too long of a break, Statesmen football is back!
This fall will be unlike any in recent memory. The Hobart College Statesmen Football team will have not played a regular season game in 650 days when they travel to battle Alfred University on September 3, 2021 to kickoff the 127th season in Statesmen history. The last time Hobart had this long of a forced hiatus dates all the way back to the 1943-45 seasons which were cancelled during World War II, literally a lifetime ago.
Going into this fall, the players we remember as FY & SO are now old enough to be JR & SR players, even though the roster should say otherwise. This Hobart team will look unlike any we’ve seen in decades with north of 50 FY players given the NCAA COVID-19 edibility rule accommodations with effectively two FY classes (’24 & ’25).
These Statesmen have waited for a long time, working hard but off the radar, given state and other institutional precautions and requirements. Unfortunately, this fall COVID will remain an issue across the nation and I surmise testing and related protocols won’t change much. We will have to hope that the season happens without interruptions, but there are no guarantees.
Needless to say, this preseason preview will have a lot of unknowns going into Week 1. While the Hobart coaching staff (which has changed a lot due to cutbacks, but has announced several new hires of late) has had two years to train and evaluate players, we won’t really know how the season will unfold until this team actually gets some live action and experience. While some of the players we will cover in this preview have past statistics and accolades to go by, the two-year hiatus may make some, if not all of them, irrelevant.
Team 127 has been two years in the making and will feature a great deal of Statesmen we had gotten to know over the successful 9-2 and New York State Bowl Championship campaign of 2019. All three facets of the game – offense, defense and special teams – will feature players we’ve seen in action, but the competition for starting roles and who will rise up to fill them, is still TBD.
(OFFENSE)
Offensively a strong core of the OL, RB and TE groups are back.
Rebuilding the depth and strength of the OL has been a mission of HC Kevin DeWall ’00 and he’s succeeding in this effort. The OL will be led by SR OL Ludner Mercy, a two-year starter, who saw his 2019 campaign cut short by injury. Team and classmates such as JR OLs Kieran Paskewitz, Cade Frucci, Anthony Segiutti, and Dalton Kindt all bring back valuable playing experience. Waiting in the wings are up and comers such as SO OL Ben Frank who showed good development in spring practices and will look to compete for time in the fall. While there is a lot of younger OL talent, they will require more time and evaluation to fill out the two deep / rotational line up.
There will be a literal 1-2 punch with the return of SO RB Rayshawn Boswell (#1) and SO RB Tim Denham, Jr. (#2) plus several other candidates to carry the ball. Boswell earned several preseason awards after leading the nation in KR yards in 2019. JR RB Drew Walsh (who has my favorite number) will look to expand on his 2019 role. This is a relatively deep position group, if it can stay healthy throughout the season, but the less experienced RBs will need time to learn the offense.
The Statesmen TE group is led by JR TE and Co-Captain Mike Zaccone. SO TE Cade Cecere adds some depth and strong blocking ability as a converted OL. Time will tell if this unit remains more of a blocking one, but Zaccone showed he can be an end zone target, hauling in a TD against Brockport in 2019.
There were some notable losses to graduation at WR, but this is still a deep and talented group. JR WRs Shahkyle Matthews and James Miele are key returners, but there will also be a number of new faces looking to make a name for themselves from this unit.
QB is probably the biggest question mark going into the season but there are a few familiar faces, plus some new ones, that should give Statesmen fans a good deal of confidence and hope. JR QB David Krewson is the signal caller with the most gameday experience returning for the Statesmen. His numbers regressed as a SO from his FY season, but a lot of physical and mental maturity occurs over a two-year time period. JR QB Kiernan Hamilton reportedly had a strong spring and SO QB Joseph Pelletier got a few snaps back in 2019 and has the size and arm strength of a “prototypical QB.”
Looking back on 2019, the two losses suffered by Hobart had a couple of things in common: Hobart couldn’t run the football (45 attempts for 95 net yards or 2.1 YPR; 1 rush TD) and they lost the turnover battle (-2). When the offense was clicking, they were pretty impressive, averaging 33.77 PPG in their nine wins.
(DEFENSE)
While the offensive side may disagree, I believe the Statesmen defense will be the strength of this team, at least in the initial weeks of the season. Hobart returns a number of key players here led by SR OLB, Co-Captain and 2021 1st Team Preseason All-American Emmett Forde. Joining him as a Co-Captain is SR DB Jared Leake, one of the best cover CBs in the conference, if not region.
Also returning in the secondary is SR FS Cal Sullivan as well as JR DB Jay McCoy (who’ll be joined by younger brother FY DB Joe McCoy on the same unit). I expect SO DBs Blake Hansen (really more of a rover/SS type), Abdoulaye Diallo and FY DB James Mahoney to potentially step up and make some plays this fall also. Overall, the Statesmen secondary has had two strong recruiting classes and should have a solid competition and upside as they get more experience.
Also coming back are SR DLs Isaiah Boone (NG) and Shane White (DE). White will have the task of working into the starting lineup at DE where the Statesmen are a bit inexperienced. JR DL Kyle Spano is a likely starter at one DE position. SO DL Naj Johnson and Connor Gunn will also be in the mix and add good depth to this important unit. Hobart has size and talent in this group, but will need some younger players to step up and earn time in the rotation at this position.
A large but young group of LBs returns including JR LB Brian Aguilar, who finished 3rd on the team in total tackles (77) in 2019. Also returning are C.J. Calero (listed as a SR but has a few years of eligibility left given past injury / medical red-shirt) and SO ILB Vito Visconti who played in 9 games in 2019 and should have a bigger role in 2021. Also, back after an injury shortened his 2019 campaign is JR LB Dante Kimbraugh. Other players like FY LBs Jaimen Bliss and Peterson Monexant could be part of some younger faces that earn time as they learn the defense.
(SPECIAL TEAMS)
JR PK Rob DiGregorio is one of the potential replacements for the kicking duties given the graduation of Kyle Hackett ’20. FY PK Tobias Wefering will also compete for time, having a strong preseason that included a successful FG try in the Brockport scrimmage last Sunday.
The Statesmen KOR game should remain deadly with SO RB Rayshawn Boswell returning kicks, but I imagine several younger Statesmen will get opportunities to make contributions as well in the punt and KO teams.
(SCHEDULE)
The month of September won’t be easy, especially with three Empire 8 teams on the schedule and two of those three games on the road. Keystone College is new on the schedule in Week 4, and will be part of HWS’s Homecoming and Parent Weekend festivities.
October will be the pivotal month that will decide if this season will be the Statesmen’s next chance to get back to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2016. At least the Statesmen get a bye in Week 6 and won’t travel until Week 9, but this is definitely the “meat” of the schedule.
It’s a tough stretch that starts against the Bombers in Ithaca (where we all know Hobart has never won), home games against RPI (who has over 45 senior/5th year players coming back and always plays the Statesmen tough) an improved Saint Lawrence Saints team, with a Halloween weekend / Homecoming game date at Union.
If both the
Statesmen and Dutchmen get to this Week 9 game undefeated, it will be one of
the biggest regular season games in the nation that weekend, if not season. I
would expect both teams to be ranked in the Top 25 if that scenario comes to
pass, but I’m getting way ahead of myself here.
November could be a short or long month depending how October goes. While the updated HWSAthletics.com website leaves a bit to be desired, I do like seeing the NCAA playoff dates on there as TBD.
Regardless, Senior Day will be in Week 10 against Buffalo State at “the Boz” and then the regular season wraps up for the annual Centennial Cup game in Rochester.
(FINAL THOUGHTS)
This Hobart team will have a chance to compete for another LL title and a NCAA berth, but has several tough challenges to overcome to get there. A combination of factors ranging from being and staying healthy, developing a QB and run-game, while continuing to play great defense and limiting penalties are pretty obvious requirements.
It’s been 650 days. I’m ready for some Hobart football. I bet you are too.
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