The Hobart Statesmen will need to put Week 2 behind them quickly as a stronger, more talented Saint John Fisher Cardinals team will make the short trip to Geneva for Saturday's OOC matchup. This will be Hobart's third straight against an Empire 8 team. The Statesmen (1-1) should have their hands full with a Cardinals (1-1) offense that's averaged 41 PPG.
To be fair those stats are bolstered by their Week 1 blowout of Buffalo State (0-2). Against a stronger, playoff caliber team in Framingham State (2-0), the Cardinals got off to a 14-0 lead, but ultimately lost, 31-20.
Scouting the Cardinals
Based on a review of the statistics from Weeks 1 & 2, the SJF offense is really keyed off of 5th year SR RB Malachi Duval (pictured above - credit to sjfathletics.com). Duval averaged over 100 YPG on the ground, carrying the ball 36 times for 294 rushing yards and 5 TDs. He also pulled off a successful halfback passing play, for 27 yards and a TD last weekend against Framingham.
JR QB Aaron Chase is a dual threat, passing for 254 yards and 4 TDs while also rushing for 86 yards and 1 TD. Chase was the receiver on the Duval trick pass play, so Chase has the proverbial trifecta of passing, rushing and receiving TDs already only two weeks into the season.
Defensively the Cardinals are led by JR LB Joe Miscia with a team high 19 total tackles. Up front, SO DL Zach Driesbach leads the defense with 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks. Generally, it appears as though the LB corps is the strength of this unit and so Hobart will need to prepare accordingly.
On ST, SO PK Kyle Farewell handles all the majority of the kicking duties. He averages less than 30 YPP, so that could help the Statesmen in the field position battle. He's only attempted one FG (from 30-39 yards), but it was no good. He's otherwise pretty reliable on PATs, converting 9-10. SR PK Andrew Symans has handled KOs, averaging nearly 50 YPKO.
Keys to the Game:
1. Back to the Basics (Run the Ball, Win the Turnover Battle): Regardless of who was or is the starting QB, Hobart's success in 2021 was predicated on being an outstanding rushing offense. The winning formula for the Rams in their win over Fisher last weekend appears to have been a conscious decision to run the football. Framingham called 44 rushing plays in Week 2, getting 18 first downs via the run and scored 5 rushing TDs. The Rams pass defense also had a good game, limiting the Cardinals offense to only complete 14-34 (41.17%) for 187 yards. While they allowed two passing TDs, FSU picked off SJF twice. Coach Kelly is a great coach, so why not just copy his game plan?
2. Trial by Fire: We saw some new faces last Saturday, and if that's the case again this weekend, these younger Statesmen will just have to buckle up and learn on the job. There's a great deal of young talent on this team, but obviously with youth comes the occasional mistakes. Hobart will need to work on its resiliency, as they crumbled under pressure at Morrisville. These younger players will need to rise to the occasion and assume more of a leadership role, especially if that's not being provided by the upperclassmen to the extent it should.
3. Home Sweet Home: In need of a bounce back win, you couldn't pick a better place to do so than at Boswell Field where Hobart is unbeaten in 12 straight, dating back to 2018.
Prediction:
I expect a dog fight Saturday as the Statesmen's confidence has to be shaken and SJF must believe they can beat Hobart if SUNY-Morrisville did. We won't know the status of certain players until later in the week (tune into the next Hobart podcast on Thursday), so I expect a lower scoring, defensive struggle, but (I hope) Hobart will hang in there to make their home record a lucky 13-0, edging the Cardinals late, 24-17.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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