Comin Atcha - Hobart College Football Weekly

Final D3football.com Poll Smacks Statesmen

2011-12-19T09:41:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Liberty League co-champion Hobart Statesmen (7-2) gave #3 Wesley (12-2, losers by a touchdown to national runners up # 2 Mount Union, 14-1) one of their closest games of the NCAA playoffs, but was left out of the final Top 25 poll by the "panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country."

Saint John Fisher (10-3), who benefited from a better seeding from the NCAA Playoff Committee (in spite of a 36 point loss to Hobart back in September) finished the year with a #11 ranking. That said the final placement of Johns Hopkins (#18, 10-1), Delaware Valley (#13, 11-1) and Baldwin-Wallace (#24, 8-2) really calls this group of pollsters into question.

Although Hobart didn't do itself any favors with voters given their eight game schedule and the one point RPI loss; the Statesmen acquitted themselves very well taking the Wolverines to the brink with several key offensive players out of the line up. Hobart proved with out a doubt they not only belonged in the tournament, but had they had Fisher or another team's (better) draw, they would have likely advanced a couple of rounds given how well they played against Wesley.

Still, the voters apparently took the view that Hobart was a two-loss team that exited the playoffs in the first round (even though they challenged the #3 team in the country as well, if not better than other higher ranked teams). That said all the evidence shows they overlooked the fact that the Statesmen were clearly a Top 25 team.

Hopefully the returning Hobart players will take this oversight by the D3football.com community as added fuel to push for another LL title and a better / longer playoff run in 2012.

Comin' Atcha hits 10,000!!!

2011-12-08T09:31:00.001-08:00

Thanks to all the readers out there who helped get this blog to 10,000 views since going live back in August of 2009. I appreciate the visits and interest in Division III and specifically Hobart football from all the fans, alumni and others out there!

See you in 2012 when I am sure to have a few updates on incoming recruits.

Happy holidays!

JB

Hobart lands four players on the D3football.com All-East Region Team

2011-12-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hobart SR CB Drake Woodard was named to the D3football.com All-East Region first team today.

Statesmen SR OL Brendan Hatlee, SO OLB Devin Worthington and FY DE Tyre Coleman each received second team recognition as well.

A copy of the press release is below:

http://static.psbin.com/f/3/f3e93d39hkcp7q/d3football-all-east-region-2011.pdf

While the Woodard selection isn't a surprise, Coleman's not making the first team can be thought of as an "upset" given his stats (e.g., second in DIII in sacks). Still it's extremely rare for a freshman to break through to a first team award, which tend to go to upperclassmen.

Still, it's quite an accomplishment for all the Hobart players selected. Congratulations to Drake, Brendan, Devin and Tyre!

What Could Have Been (with a side of sour grapes)

2011-11-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

Although the Statesmen's season wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, I have been keeping an eye on the DIII football playoffs and marvelling at the advancement of the Saint John Fisher Cardinals (10-2). The Cardinals, who potentially were the "last team into the tournament" as an 8-2 at-large selection and Empire 8 conference runner up, have defeated two conference champions in successive weeks (Johns Hopkins and Delaware Valley) after receiving a ranking / seed that was supposedly "lower" than Hobart's (given the Statesmen's convicing head-to-head victory over SJF on 9/24).

Perhaps this is just a case of a team peaking at the right time but it does make me wonder "what if" the Statesmen ended up in Fisher's bracket vs. being placed (as some would argue as the seventh seed) in a more difficult (containing several top 10 teams) and geographically far-fetched bracket with #7 ranked Wesley (who by the way, rallied down 27-7 in the first half to win 49-34 over Northwest Conference champion Linfield last Saturday in Dover)?

Fisher fans will argue the 36 point loss to Hobart back in September was an aberration and as it stands now, the Cardinals clearly have benefited and have taken advantage of their placement in the tournament (playing two conference champs with really no serious out of conference games) and will likely end the season with a better ranking than the Statesmen (who I am guessing will be "rewarded" with a 20-25 ranking by D3football.com due to playing Wesley close in Round 1) once the season ends in a couple of weeks.

Given the new playoff format, it remains to be seen whether or not Hobart will encounter more odd / bad seedings in the future. That said it seems clear that for now, the Statesmen and the LL won't be getting any preferential treatment anytime soon. At least Hobart is bolstered by a 10 game schedule in 2012 and the addition of new LL member Springfield. It's a long way until September so I can't help but wonder how 2011 could have been different had a few plays / decisions went in a slightly different direction......?

2011 Season Retrospective

2011-11-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Hobart Statesmen football team came into this fall with a lot of offseason baggage but went quietly about their work in getting back on top of the Liberty League and returning to the NCAA playoffs for the first time since 2008.

2011 really seemed like a “tale of two seasons” in that the Statesmen completely blew away their competition by an average score of 39-13 in their first five games. Then, in the snow and cold of the WPI game, Hobart’s offense seemed to lose its spark, getting shut out in the second half and scoring no more than 28 points in their last two regular season games. Even the Statesmen’s previously lock-down defense gave up a season high 29 points in their only losing effort to RPI on Senior Day. Although the Statesmen would recover to capture a share of the LL title and the automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA’s (due to a 41-24 win over Union on 10/8) the following week against Rochester, Hobart would lose their star QB Nick Strang to a concussion, their top WR Garth Muratori to a PCL injury and their punter and third WR Yosh Karbonwiczak to an ankle sprain all in the same game. SR LB Reggie Robinson also suffered a concussion, but obviously a milder one, as he was able to play in the playoffs.

Still this Hobart team, and particularily the defense, came back with a chip on their shoulder, ultimately proving they were one of the top teams in the country by taking #7 Wesley College to the brink, before falling 35-28 on the road in the first round of the playoffs. While the Wolverines exploited the Statesmen's one true achilles heel (i.e., struggle to defend the deep ball when a team has more than one receiving threat), Hobart forced multiple turnovers and saw back up JR QB Kelly Olney rise to the occasion passing for over 200 yards against one of the best defenses in Division III.

Although 7-2 is somewhat a disappointing finish given the talent level of this team, it does signify a return to form for a Statesmen program that went to the playoffs six times in eight seasons during the last decade. Hobart graduates several key contributors including SR DB Drake Woodard, Robinson, Muratori and five SR OL including Anthony Coletta, Kelvin Cruz, Jarrid Blades, Kyle Sandy and Brendan Hatlee but several underclassmen saw playing time on both sides of the ball.

One nice change in 2012 is the return of a 10 game regular season schedule. Springfield College joins the LL as an associate member and new OOC games with Utica and Geneva College have been added to Hobart's slate.

Thanks to all who've followed the blog this season (up to 9,755 views and counting since Sept 2009). As always I will be on the look out for new recruits over the offseason and other Statesmen-related news.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Undermanned but undeterred, Hobart pushes #7 Wesley to the brink before falling 35-28

2011-11-19T17:57:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen traveled to Dover, Delaware Saturday to take on #7 ranked Wesley College Wolverines in the first round of the NCAA Division III football tournament. Hobart would be short-handed as their starting JR QB Nick Strang was out with a concussion, and SR WR and co-captain Garth Muratori would leave the game with an injury early in the second quarter.

Both team's offenses got off to a slow start, turning the ball over on their initial possessions. After he Hobart offense stalled on it's second drive, Wesley's SR QBk Shane McSweeny drove the Wolverines to the Statesmen eight yard line before finding Jared Morris open for an eight yard touchdown. The Tryon point after was good and Wesley staked itself to an early 7-0 lead.

McSweeny would strike again on the ensuing possession finding FY phenom Steven Koudossou on a 72 yard catch and watched his receiver out run the Statesmen secondary for the Wolverines' second score of the day. The Tryon point after was good and Hobart found themselves down 14-0 with 4:03 to play in the first.

The Statesmen defense would try and turn the tide and tone of the game in the second quarter when JR DL Nick Auriemma picked off McSweeny at the 13 yard line, returning it to the 12. Four plays later JR RB Bobby Dougherty would score from one yard out. JR PK Stephen Bruening's point after was good and Hobart would make it 14-7 with 9:20 to play in the first half.

The Wolverines would respond almost immediately on a second long Koudossou catch and run, this one a 66 yarder to post the Wolverines to a 21-7 lead after the Tryon point after. Hobart would battle back though, once again after the Statesmen defense forced a McSweeny fumble at the Wesley 32. Back up JR QB Kelly Olney would lead the Statesmen to the one yard line until SO RB Steven Webb broke through to pull Hobart back within seven points after the Bruening point after was good.

The Wolverine offense would tack on one more score, this time a 42 yard pass from McSweeny to Matt Barile with 17 seconds to play. The Tryon point after pushed the Wesley lead to 28-14 which stood at the half.

In the second half the Hobart defense continued to keep the Statesmen in the game, holding Wesley to a three and out on their first possession and then blocked a Wolverine punt at the 24 yard line which was recovered by SO OLB Devin Worthington and returned for a touchdown. The Bruening point after was good and Hobart found themselves only down 28-21 with 8:01 to play in the third quarter.

Wesley would embark on their longest drive of the game, taking over seven minutes and 13 plays before McSweeny connected with tight end Shane McAndrew from 15 yards out to put the Wolverines back up by 14 points, 35-21, with 47 seconds to play in the third quarter. Although the ensuing Statesmen drive stalled, the Hobart special teams made another big play when Wesley's Sean Hopkins mishandled an FY WR Elvin Souffrant punt, which Hobart recovered at the Wolverine 16 yard line. Two plays later Webb scored his second touchdown of the game, and after the Bruening kick was good, the Statesmen were once again back within seven, down 35-28, with eight seconds left in the third.

The fourth quarter would see teams trade possessions with Hobart driving inside the Wesley 10 yard line on two occasions. The first time Hobart failed on a fourth and goal from the five yard line when they could have come away with at least a field goal. The second would be Hobart's final drive of the game which ended when Olney's pass intended for JR WR Junior Woodard was incomplete with 1:43 to play. The Wolverines gained a first down and ran out the clock to escape with a hard fought 35-28 victory.

Olney lead the Statesmen with 211 passing yards. Webb lead all Hobart rushers with 45 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. On defense the Statesmen were lead by SR LB Reggie Robinson with a game high 15 tackles, one and a half taclkes for loss and a forced fumble.

Wesley was lead by McSweeny's 336 passing yards and five touchdowns. The senior quarterback also had a game high 61 yards rushing. Kossoudou lead all receivers with 166 yards and two touchdowns. The Wolverine defense was lead by linebacker Mike Asiedu with 14 tackles.

With the win Wesley improved to 10-1 on the season and will advance to play Linfield College, who were 30-27 winners over Cal Lutheran in Oregon. With the loss the Statesmen fall to 7-2 on the season.

More on this game and a post-season retrospective later this week. All in all, it was a one of the "gustiest" performances I've ever seen from a Hobart team. Although the loss will sting, the Statesmen should be proud of their effort today.

Strang out for Wesley Game

2011-11-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

JR QB Nick Strang's concussion will keep him on the sidelines for today's NCAA first round playoff game. JR QB Kelly Olney will get the start in his absence. Although SR WR and co-captain Garth Muratori has a strained PCL, he is listed as starting. The rest of the team's starters appear to be ready to go.

Kickoff is in 50 minutes and the game can be heard on www.weos.org. Ted Baker is on the call.

More on the game later today.

Wesley NCAA Round 1 Game Preview

2011-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

The Hobart College Statesmen (7-1) will travel south to play against the #7 ranked Wesley College Wolverines (9-1) this Saturday for a noon (eastern) kickoff at Scott D. Miller Stadium in Dover, DE. Wesley is coming off another successful campaign earning an at-large NCAA "Pool B" selection (which means they competed either as an independent or in a conference not eligible for an automatic bid, which in Wesley's case it was the former). Wesley is a very formidable team and has 15 NCAA postseason wins over the past six years, which is the third most in Division III (I am pretty sure most fans will be able to guess who's number one and two on that list). Last season Wesley advanced to the national semi finals, falling 27-7 to eventual National Champion University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW).

The Wolverines are lead on offense by SR QB Shane McSweeney. The PA-native has thrown for nearly 2,000 yards this season, completing over 64% (132 of 206) of his passes for 18 TDs compared to only four INTs. McSweeney is also the second leading rusher on the team and has carried for 363 yards and 10 rushing TDs. Wesley's leading rusher is JR RB Askia Jahad. Jahad is a big back (6' 220 lbs) who has carried the ball 101 times for 685 yards and nine rushing TDs.

McSweeney has several targets in the passing game including SR TE Sean McAndrew (28 catches for 326 yards and six receiving TDs) and SO WR Jeremiah Howe (23 receptions for 288 yards). That said, the Wolverines are primarily a rushing team and have gained over 2,000 yards and 31 TDs on the ground this season.

The real strength of Wesley however is their defense which features at least three All-America first team caliber players. The Wolverine "D" has allowed a paltry 740 rushing yards and only three TDs all season. SR LB Jeff Morgan leads Wesley with 70 total tackles including 15.5 TFL and five and a half sacks. SR DE Chris Mayes has tallied 17.5 TFL and five and a half sacks as well. JR DE Devin Hardy has 11.5 TFL and seven and a half sacks. Overall the Wolverine defense has thrown opposing teams for -394 rushing yards on TFL (93 in total). On top of all that, Wesley's defensive players are also ball hawks, having picked off opposing QBs 14 times on the season. SR CB Dakevis Howard leads the team with four INTs, two which he returned for TDs, on the season.

Tale of the Tape

Defensively, Hobart actually matches up pretty well with Wesley, statistically speaking:

PPG Allowed - Hobart 14.88 / Wesley 10.8
YPG Allowed - Hobart 259.4 / Wesley 237.5
Rush YPG Allowed - Hobart 109.5 / Wesley 74
Sacks by - Hobart 24 (-161 yards) / Wesley 36 (-240 yards)
Rush TDs allowed - Hobart 5 / Wesley 3
Pass TDs allowed - Hobart 11 / Wesley 7
Red zone - Hobart 8 of 13 (7 TDs) / 10 of 18 (4 TDs)

The numbers show that Wolverines have more offensive firepower than the Statesmen. Wesley has scored 49 offensive TDs compared to Hobart's 38. Other areas they have better offensive numbers include:

PPG - Hobart 34.25 / Wesley 41.8
Rush TDs - Hobart 19 / Wesley 31
Pass TDs - Hobart 16 / Wesley 18
Red Zone - Hobart 26-36 (25 TDs) / Wesley 41-46 (35 TDs)

That said Hobart does have a slight per game advantage in:

Rush YPG - Hobart 210.6 / Wesley 207.8
Total YPG - Hobart 403 / Wesley 394.4

The Statesmen have done a better job than Wesley in time of possession (34:14 vs. 30:26), but that stat is a bit misleading given how quickly the Wolverine offense can score.

Special teams is another area of strength for the Wolverines over Hobart. They have a dependable kicker in JR Dan Tryon who's converted six of 11 FG attempts (one blocked) on the season and has a long of 45 yards. Wesley averages 35.5 yards per punt (compared to Hobart's 29.91). One of the Statesmen's strengths is punt coverage however, as Hobart has only allowed 2.44 yard per return on the season.

Keys to the Game:

1. Pass protection/ passing game success - The Statesmen's most experienced unit is their OL and this group will need to fortify itself against one of the most aggressive pass rushes in all of Division III. The Wolverine sack total (36) speaks for itself. While the status of fifth year SR C Kelvin Cruz is uncertain as of this writing, SR OL Jarrid Blades is a more than capable and experienced replacement. The health of JR QB Nick Strang is of greater concern given his removal from the Rochester game last Saturday due to a concussion. It's highly unlikely Hobart will have much success running against this defensive front so I expect a lot of short pass plays or check downs to the RBs and FBs given the injuries sustained at WR. SR co-captain Garth Muratori will likely be blanketed by Wesley's top cover corner and JR WR Junior Woodard has been banged up since the WPI game. Also, SO WR Yosh Karbonwiczak is out with a torn PCL. This means other (younger) receivers such as FY's WR Elvin Souffrant and/or Troy Robinson will need to step up to make plays for the Statesmen. Given the pass rush capabilities of Wesley, I suspect Hobart will keep their TE's in to block but it should be noted that JR Brent Matazinsky and FY Mike Berkowitz have scored one TD a piece in close range. While I criticized OC Kevin DeWall's reliance on the pass in the loss to RPI, I do think the Statesmen will need to pass for at least 200 yards to stay with the Wolverines. Good news for Hobart fans is that the OL has only allowed eight sacks (for -36 yards, basically one per game) on the year and Strang (when healthy) is fairly mobile, rushing for 289 yards on the season on 71 carries with four TDs.

2. Field position - Aside from having to step up in a receiving role, Souffrant will also fill in on the punting duties Saturday. He did a very good job against Rochester averaging just over 31 yards per punt, fielding several low snaps and pinning the Yellow Jackets behind their 20 yard line on a couple of occasions. Wesley's opponents have punted 62 times in 10 games, so it's likely we'll see six punts by the Statesmen in this one. It's imperative the FY from Randolph, MA has a good day so Hobart avoids giving the Wolverines a short field. It should also be noted that the Statesmen haven't attempted a fake punt all season. I am not advocating it necessarily as it could back fire against a team like Wesley, but given the circumstances....why not go for it?

3. Time of possession - This goes hand and hand with third and fourth down conversions. Hobart went two for 16 against Rochester last Saturday, lowering their overall third down conversion percentage to below 50% for the first time all season. The Wolverine defense is as stingy as they come and have allowed opponents to convert only 32% of the time on third down (48-148). Wesley is even better on fourth down, allowing only 22% (4-18). Assuming Coach Cragg doesn't have the luxury to attempt FGs given JR PK Stephen Bruening's struggles, the offense should expect to fight for every inch and view every possession as four down territory.

4. Hang tough on defense (especially in the second half) - Hobart's defense will have their biggest test of their season and if the offense struggles early on the Statesmen will need SR leaders such as co-captain Drake Woodard and ILB Reggie Robinson to step up under fire. FY DE Tyre Coleman can make a case for an All-America bid given he is second in DIII with 12.5 sacks (not to mention an impressive 17.5 TFL) and the Statesmen will need a few more in this game to have a fighting chance. The Wesley OL has allowed 14 sacks, so it's not like they are impregnable. I expect we'll see SO OLB Devin Worthington pressuring McSweeny on blitzes so the secondary will have to step up in coverage.

5. Keep it close (early) - Wesley has outscored their opposition 216 to 40 in the first half. In the Kean game, the Wolverines jumped to an early 6-0 lead but the Cougars fought back to take a 17-14 halftime advantage due to an early Wesley turnover. To stay in this one, Hobart will need to improve upon their red zone offense and take care of the ball. After scoring on 19 of 22 (86.36%) red zone attempts in their first five games, the Statesmen have gone seven for 14 (50%) in their final three.

Prediction:

I struggled with this one on Sunday's ITH and I still do. It's a "head / heart" thing, if that makes any sense? In my head I think Wesley will wear down the Statesmen given their overall size and speed advantages. The Wolverines just have a lot more athletes than Hobart and should be able to benefit on the Statesmen's injuries to key players and the struggles in the kicking game. While I can see a 28-14 Wesley win as being a sort of "moral victory" for Hobart, it would be a shame for a Statesmen squad with this much talent to end up 7-2. That said if Kean (9-1 and the NJAC Champ) can beat these guys 31-28, I don't see why Hobart can't either?!? In fact the Cougars fell short in almost every offensive and defensive category to the Wolverines but persevered due to committing one less turnover and other intangibles. One achilles heel I did notice is that Wesley is a highly penalized team, averaging 87.4 yards in penalties per game (!). With first downs at a premium, I'll happily take them anyway the Wolverines are willing to serve them up.

Either way it should be a great (defensive) ball game. Hopefully Hobart will be healthy enough on offense and play well on special teams to spell the Statesmen defense sufficiently. In the event Hobart pulled off the upset and Cal Lutheran defeats Linfield Saturday, a "dream scenario" of being able to see the Statesmen play in Los Angeles could unfold for me. No need for any Christmas presents for this fan if that happened!!

Go 'Bart!

Hobart defies NCAA, claims they won't play Wesley

2011-11-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Liberty League co-Champion Hobart Statesmen (7-1) filed a petition with the NCAA today that stated they refused to play the Wesley Wolverines (9-1) on grounds that "according to D3football.com we received the worst draw of the entire tournament."

St. John Fisher fans applauded this move, confirming the Cardinals received a better seeding than the Statesmen (who happened to win their head-to-head match up by five TDs on 9/24/11, but who's counting?) and felt it was just desserts for those "ducking pumpkins".

In an interview with "In The HuddLLe" on Sunday night, NCAA Chairperson Joy Solomen was interpreted to have said that "we thought it was ironic Hobart turned down a game with Wesley back in February so we decided to send the Statesmen to Dover to prove a point that it was Hobart's fault Widener cancelled on them in January". Another NCAA spokesperson indicated on the condition of anonymity that "the irony clause is specifically cited in section 12, sub-section 11, part 22.3 of the NCAA handbook, i.e., if you don't play a team in the regular season you WILL have to play them in the first round of the playoffs"

At the time (in February of this year) Hobart Athletics Director Mike Hanna indicated that the Statesmen were merely looking for an "eastern region opponent". Although Wesley is based in Delaware (as are many Fortune 500 corporate and legal entities), they are technically a "South Region" team and a program that struggles to schedule opponents on an annual basis due to their lack of conference. While indignant Wolverine fans chided Hobart for being put under NCAA sanctions and only playing eight regular season games, they were equally relieved (as was nearby Penn State) that the NCAA's jurisdiction apparently doesn't apply to criminal activity when it comes to championship caliber football programs (http://www.whetstone.wesley.edu/2010/12/02/four-football-players-arrested-for-dorm-burglaries/).

A normally expletive free Coach Cragg commented that although he would play any team, any where, he was surprised at the seeding, especially in lieu of the SJF-JHU match up and basically stated "I don't know what the #$%^ the Committee was thinking."

In all seriousness, I'll have a preview of the game later this week.

Go 'Bart!

Coach Cragg on In The HuddLLe 11/13 show reported Strang concussion in Rochester game

2011-11-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

My co-host Frank Rossi and I had the pleasure of congratulating Hobart Head Coach Mike Cragg on winning the LL and getting back to the NCAA playoffs. During the conversation we learned that JR QB Nick Strang was not benched but rather received a concussion after a late hit on his last interception.

Hopefully Nick will be good to go this Saturday at Wesley as Hobart will need to fire on all cylinders against the tough Wolverine defense.

More on that later this week. You can access the Coach Cragg interview on iTunes or directly from the archive at www.inthehuddlle.com.

Hobart to play Wesley in the first round of the NCAA's

2011-11-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen (7-1) will travel to face the#7 ranked Wesley Wolverines (9-1) in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. This selection is really from right field as the Statesmen appear to have been placed in the UMHB bracket which is typically a "southern" field.

The only positive I can take away from this draw is that if Hobart and Cal Lutheran were to win, Hobart would have to travel to Los Angeles - only 25 minutes from my home - to play a second round game.

That said Wesley has gone to the national semifinals multiple seasons in a row and so a victory for Hobart is a tall order.

NCAA prediction time

2011-11-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Here's my best guess at tomorrow's NCAA bracket ("east region" only):

1. Mount Union - OAC Champ
2. Delaware Valley - MAC Champ
3. Kean (given H2H win over Wesley) - NJAC Champ
4. Salisbury - E8 champ
5. WNEC - NEFC Champ (not as strong a conference as the LL but 10 wins is more than 7)
6. Hobart - LL Champ
7. Norwich - ECFC Champ
8. Sacrificial lamb (say Albion)

So it's off to New Jersey for Statesmen fans on Saturday in Round 1. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

Hobart rides their defense to a 24-10 win at Rochester, going to the NCAAs

2011-11-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen traveled westward to face off against their oldest rival, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets, at Fauver Stadium with a lot on the line for both teams. The game featured the two best defenses in the league and the Jackets' defense would strike first, causing a Steven Webb fumble on only the second play from scrimmage. Rochester would convert a fourth and 1 from the Hobart four yard line and complete the drive when SR QB Braezen Subick handed off to SR RB Clarence Onyiriuka for a three yard touchdown. The Alex Antonucci point after was good and the hosts enjoyed an early 7-0 lead.

Hobart would respond and drive to the Rochester 15 yard line but rather than attempt a field goal went for it fourth and seven. The Nick Strang pass was deflected but Rochester couldn't capitalize as the Statesmen defense held the Jackets to a three and out. Hobart would go for it on fourth down on their ensuing drive and was able to convert on a Webb four yard rush. Webb would cap the drive with a one yard burst and the Stephen Bruening point after was good and it was tied up 7-7 with 13:21 to play in the first half.

Rochester forced a Hobart punt but SO WR Yosh Karbowniczak booted the ball to Yellow Jacket 8 yd line. The Statesmen D held again and Strang would find FY WR Elvin Souffrant (who had a heck of a game punting seven times, three inside the 20, in relief of Karbowniczak) on a 33 yard TD strike, his first collegiate TD, to push the Hobart lead to 14-7 with 7:24 to play in the second quarter.

SR CB and Co-Captain Drake Woodard would intercept SO QB Dean Kennedy to give the Statesmen a potential red zone opportunity with 3:43 to play in the half, but Strang would be picked off himself thwarting the Statesmen's chance to take a two touchdown lead.

The Yellow Jackets would drive down the field and catch a break on a fourth and four when the officials caught Hobart with 12 men on the field. Alex Antonucci's 42 yard attempt was blocked but yet another Statesmen penalty gave Antonucci a second chance from 37 yards. The kick was good and Rochester pulled within 4 which would hold as a 14-10 Hobart lead at the half.

The start of the second half saw both teams exchange turnovers but the Statesmen would ultimately catch a break when running back Byron Saggese fumbled out of the end zone to give Hobart a safety and a 16-10 lead.

JR QB Kelly Olney would spell a struggling Strang [who I discovered on an 11/13 interview with Coach Cragg he was pulled due to a concussion] but neither offense could get much traction in the second half. In the final stanza the defenses continued to dominate the game and the teams traded field position but once again it would be the Hobart defense that made the play of the game. SO CB Kevin Hearon picked off Subick and returned it 36 yards for a TD that all but sealed the victory for Hobart. After successfully killing the clock to hold off the Jackets, the Statesmen claimed their seventh LL title (shared with Union) and a NCAA Pool A bid after closing out a hard fought 24-10 win.

Hobart was lead by SR LB Reggie Robinson with a game high 12 and a half total tackles and one forced fumble. Woodard added six tackles to his two INTs and Coleman had a game high three sacks.

Offensively Hobart was lead by Strang with 155 passing yards, one TD and two INTs.

Rochester was lead by Subick with 116 passing yards and two INTs. Onyiriuka lead all rushers with 64 yards and one TD. Defensively the Jackets were lead by Zach Cicero with eight total tackles.

Both teams traded four turnovers in a mostly poorly played second half. Hobart managed over 200 yards of offense in the first, but gained just over 60 in the second.

With the win Hobart improved to 7-1, 5-1 in the LL. Rochester drops to 4-5, 3-3. The Statesmen's first round NCAA opponent will be announced tomorrow night at 6 PM ET on NCAA.com.

Join us on www.inthehuddlle.com tomorrow when we speak to Coach Cragg and the NCAA tournament chair. We're on the air at 7:30 PM ET.

Hobart ranked 7th in the latest (and final pre-selection) NCAA rankings

2011-11-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

Hobart dropped from second to seventh in the NCAA's eastern regional playoff rankings. The list as it stands now is:

1 Delaware Valley 9-0 (can clinch the MAC title with a win vs. #5 Widener Saturday)
2 Salisbury 8-1 (already clinched the Empire 8 title)
3 Montclair State 8-1 (can clinch the NJAC title with a win over #4 Kean Saturday)
4 Kean 8-1 (see above)
5 Widener 8-1 (see above)
6 Western New England 9-1 (can clinch NEFC title with a win over Framingham State Saturday)
7 Hobart 6-1 (can clinch LL title with a win over Rochester Saturday)
8 Endicott 9-1 (has to hope for a Pool C bid)
9 St. John Fisher 7-2 ( has to win final game and hope for a Pool C bid)
10 SUNY-Maritime 7-2 (has to hope for an ECAC bid)

Norwich of the ECFC has clinched an automatic bid but is not ranked. Mount Union is ranked #1 in the north region but it's highly doubtful a 10-0 Del Val team would merit a #1 seed so I expect to see the #2 (in the country) Raiders to be at the top of this bracket come Sunday for yet another season.

Hobart files for ECAC North Bracket

2011-11-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

Now while I hope Hobart takes care of business Saturday at Rochester, in the event they fall short (they won't but, you know, just in the "worse case scenario"), the Statesmen would be eligible to play in one of the three (or four) ECAC "North Bowl Games" on the weekend of November 19th.

The current teams that have filed for a selection are as follows:

Team / Record

*Endicott 9-1 (could be considered for a NCAA Pool C bid but unlikely given SOS and other factors)
*Hobart 6-1 (goes to NCAA on LL Pool A bid if they beat Rochester Satuday)
Worcester State 8-2
Bridgewater State 7-2
Cortland State 7-2
St. John Fisher 7-2
Salve Regina 7-3
Alfred 6-3
Springfield 6-3
Mass-Maritime 5-4
Mount Ida 5-4
Utica 5-4
Curry 5-5
RPI 4-4

Of course I hope to be writing about the Hobart win at Rochester come Saturday and awaiting the seeding selection for the Statesmen in the NCAA tournament Sunday night (my guess is they get seeded fifth and travel to NJ play the winner of this weekend's Kean - Montclair game in the first round), but wanted you to know there is still post-season potential regardless of the NCAA.

Counting down to Saturday. Go 'Bart!

Centennial Cup / Rochester Game Preview (aka LL title game, take 2)

2011-11-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen (6-1, 4-1) will look to salvage clinching a share of the Liberty League championship and the accompanying NCAA tournament bid this Saturday when they face their oldest rival, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets (4-4, 3-2). This game will be the 104th meeting of the two squads, and Hobart will look to regain the Centennial Cup which Rochester took home after defeating the Statesmen 36-35 in 2OT last season in Geneva. The all-time series is deadlocked at 48-48-7 and dates all the back to the 1892 season. For the Yellow Jackets this game will be on Senior Day and a win would give Rochester their first winning season since 2007.

The Yellow Jackets have had an up and down, injury-riddled season, but have won three of their last four games, including nearly defeating Alfred (6-3) on the last play of the game after being down 21-0 in the first half. The status of SR QB Braezen Subick (ranked third in the LL in passing efficiency and having thrown for 1298 yards, 10 TDs compared to seven INT) and SR RB Clarence Onyiriuka (fourth in the conference averaging 80.2 rush YPG and six rushing TDs) is still uncertain, but Rochester has found some strong contributors in their absence. SO QB Dean Kennedy has stepped in and played well against Alfred and Saint Lawrence (2-6, 1-4) passing for 371 yards and rushing for 102 yards with two passing TDs and three INTs. SR RB Chris Lebano and SR FB Joe Cicero have tallied 191 yards and two TDs in relief of Onyiriuka. Rochester’s top receiving threats are SO WR Garrett Kesel (330 yards and one TD), JR WR Thomas Hayes (482 yards and three TDs) and SR TE Thomas Norman (327 yards and two TDs but likely unavailable due to injury).

Defensively the Yellow Jackets are lead by SO OLB Tony Ortega who leads the LL in tackles per game (11.6 per game average). SO OLB Zach Cicero is fifth with 8.2 tackles per game. SR DE Chris Bickford has six sacks. Overall Rochester is the third ranked scoring defense (25.2 PPG allowed) and second in the LL against the run (118.8 YPG allowed).

On special teams the Jackets have one of the best kickers in the conference with JR Alex Antonucci going a perfect seven for seven (long of 42 yards) on FGs.

Keys to the game:

1. Better balance – Although Hobart will likely run into some challenges rushing the ball against the Yellow Jacket defense, I really felt like Coach DeWall’s over reliance on the pass (15 passes vs. five runs in the fourth quarter) cost the Statesmen the RPI game. Rochester has a strong outside rush, so look for Hobart to test the interior with dives and/or bubble screens to open up their offense. Last season both teams had nearly identical total yardage (328 for UofR compared to 322 for Hobart) and it was 2:1 passing to running which this game has the potential to be as well.

2. Third down and red zone conversions – Hobart led the LL in third down conversions, red zone offense and defense for most of the season (and still do save for red zone offense after Saturday) but only converted six of 13 third downs, went three of six in the red zone on offense and allowed TDs on all three of RPI’s red zone chances on Saturday. Rochester is the second ranked red zone offense, converting 85.7% of their chances (24 of 28) scoring 17 TDs and seven FGs. They also happen to be the second rated red zone defense, allowing 20 scores on 26 tries, including 15 TDs and stopping four of the nine FG attempts tried (which obviously was another huge factor in Hobart not being able to beat RPI).

3. Special teams / fourth down – The kicking game (two “blocked” kicks, neither of which had an upward trajectory) really cost the Statesmen last Saturday and so it may be incumbent on the offense to complete drives or go for it on fourth down. Hobart is seven for 15 (42.7%) on the season, including going one of three vs. RPI last Saturday.

Prediction:

Last Saturday’s result notwithstanding this team has better overall talent than many, if not all, of Hobart’s NCAA playoff teams from the last decade. That said I expect the team to rebound and clinch the NCAA bid (and guessing a fifth seed in the bracket, more on that later), but in a higher scoring affair in spite of the defensive strengths of both teams, Saturday in Rochester 33-30.

Hobart blows 21 point lead, come up short on Senior Day to RPI, 29-28

2011-11-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

The #24 Hobart Statesmen hosted the RPI Engineers on Senior Day at Boswell Field. Early on it looked like the Statesmen would be on their way to their first Liberty League championship since 2008 when JR RB Bobby Dougherty gave Hobart an early lead. He found the end zone from one yard out, capping a 13 play, 79 yard drive with 6:09 to play in the first quarter.

The Statesmen extended their lead to 21-0 behind two touchdown passes from JR QB Nick Strang to JR TE Brent Matazinsky for 19 yards and SR WR Garth Muratori from six yards. The Muratori touchdown was the 17th in his career - tying him for fifth all time for receiving touchdowns at Hobart.

Although the Statesmen were up 21 points, JR QB Mike Hermann and the RPI Engineers managed to connect on a 46 yard touchdown pass to WR Steven Burpoe to pull within 14 with 6:59 to play in the half after the Andrew Franks point after was good.

Hobart would strike back as well after SO RB Steven Webb broke a 25 yard run for a touchdown to post the Statesmen to a 28-7 advantage. Hermann would waste little time, finding Mike Blais open for a 62 yard touchdown and driving RPI to connect on a 21 yard field goal to bring the Engineers within 11 points as RPI would trail 28-17 at the half.

The second half would prove to be all RPI as the Statesmen racked up first downs and yardage but were otherwise shut out on offense. Hermann would be the catalyst behind a one yard pass to Matt Wood and rush to score from 10 yards out in the fourth quarter to push the Engineers to a 29-28 advantage.

Although Hobart would threaten to take the lead, the RPI defense stood firm, blocking a short Stephen Bruening field goal and forcing the Statesmen to turn it over on downs before taking the victory formation and clinching a hard fought 29-28 upset victory.

Hermann lead the Engineers with 306 of RPI's 342 yards including three passing and one rushing touchdowns. Hermann's favorite target was Burpoe who hauled in five receptions for 71 yards and a score. Defensively the Engineers were lead by Ted Abriel with 10 total tackles.

Hobart outgained RPI by 131 yards and had twice as many first downs (30 to their 15) as the Engineers, but came up short when it mattered most. The Statesmen were lead by Strang with 271 yards passing and two touchdowns. Senior linebacker Reggie Robinson had a game high 11 total tackles and two tackles for a loss.

With the win RPI improves to .500 with a 4-4 overall record and 3-2 in the league. Hobart drops to 6-1, 4-1 in the league and will need to defeat Rochester next weekend on the road to clinch the league championship and accompanying NCAA automatic bid.

#24 Hobart sees 21 point lead disappear against RPI to lose first game, 29-28

2011-11-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hobart (6-1, 4-1) dropped their first game of the season to RPI (4-4, 3-2). Hard to figure this one out. Perhaps RPI caught the Statesmen looking ahead? The good news is Hobart can still win the Liberty League with a victory at Rochester next Saturday (or pending the outcome of today's Union-MMA game).

Can Hobart go 8-0 (and does it really matter)?

2011-11-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

You won’t get an answer from Coach Cragg or the rest of coaching staff on this one. Their focus is, and should be, on beating the RPI Engineers this Saturday. However, after an impressive 6-0 run and only two games left, this is a question on the minds of many Statesmen alumni, fans and others who follow Division III football.

Since I was a little curious, I did some research. What I found out was that Hobart Football has only been 8-0 once in their 118 year history. You have to go all the way back to 1954 to find the only team that accomplished this feat, winning eight straight games and finishing a perfect 8-0. Overall there have been only five undefeated Hobart teams – 1891 (the inaugural and very short 2-0 season), 1896 (9-0-3), 1915 (5-0-1) and 1957 (6-0) being the others – all-time, so the 2011 squad has a rare opportunity to join a very exclusive fraternity if they finish 8-0.

Although eight wins in a row hasn't happened in 57 years, the last time the Statesmen won seven in a row wasn’t that long ago. It was 2006 in fact when a seven game Hobart win streak was broken by rival Union College, 31-14. You have to go back just two years earlier to the last time Hobart won seven in a row to go undefeated in the Liberty League (LL) en route to a 9-2 overall finish, tying the program record for wins in a season (the team also had 9 overall wins in 2005 and 2008), advancing to the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

Given the current NCAA football tournament format, not to mention a handful of programs that have dominated Division III football (and should move up to DII or FCS) for the past 10-15 years, it’s likely that this run will eventually come to an end at some point (perhaps in a place called Alliance, but I digress).

Regardless of the historic implications cited above, the Statesmen actually don’t even need to go undefeated to win the league and go to the NCAA playoffs (i.e., a 7-1 record would effectively clinch the NCAA automatic bid based on LL tiebreaker rules). That said, it begs the question should ending the year 8-0 even be a priority for Hobart? Why not rest some starters, get healthy, etc before finding out who the first round NCAA opponent will be?

I can't speak for the Coaches or the team but I hope they shoot for 8-0. The company it would place this team in, not to mention making good on the end of the 2010 season, (when Hobart lost to RPI on a last second FG and to Rochester in 2OT when a two point conversion pass fell incomplete) and going into the playoffs on an eight game win streak (and receiving potentially as high as a number two or three seed in their bracket) should be motivation enough to accomplish the same in my opinion.

Can they do it? Time will tell. The final march to perfection (and history) starts this Saturday, November 5.

More on the RPI game later this week. Go 'Bart!

#24 Hobart ranked #2 in the NCAA initial regional rankings

2011-11-02T13:55:00.001-07:00

The #24 Hobart Statesmen could be the #2 seed in the D3 football tournament in a "East (until a #1 seed is named) Bracket". Of course this just an initial ranking and could change pending how teams fare in the next two weeks.

Check back tomorrow for a discussion regarding Hobart's potential of going undefeated for only the second time in program history...

That's it for now. Go 'Bart!

RPI / Senior Day Game Preview / LL Championship

2011-10-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

The #24 ranked Hobart Statesmen (6-0, 4-0) will look to clinch the 2011 Liberty League Championship this Saturday at Senior Day in Geneva against the RPI Engineers (3-4, 2-2). The following seniors will play their final (regular season) home game at Boswell Field:

#1 CB Drake Woodard (team co-captain)
#11 LB Reggie Robinson
#15 QB Will Connery
#20 TE Greg Clifford (team co-captain)
#32 CB Jeff Hummel
#42 LB Bobby Marraffa
#51 DE Kevin Ryan
#54 OL Kyle Sandy
#59 OLB Gerard Tully
#62 OL Jarrid Blades
#64 OL Kelvin Cruz
#65 OL Brendan Hatlee
#74 OL Anthony Coletta
#75 DE Dane Wilcoxen
#80 WR Garth Muratori (team co-captain)
#87 TE Matt Marsh
#92 DL Gianni Contro

Last season RPI edged Hobart on a 34 yard field goal to claim a 24-21 victory in Troy, NY. The Engineers hold a one game advantage (27-26-1) in the all time series which dates all the way back to 1910.

RPI is lead by their JR QB Mike Hermann who leads the LL in total offense, averaging 290.1 YPG, and scoring (10.6 PPG average). Hermann is a big (6’ 6” 240 lb) guy who has passed for 1525 yards and 11 TDs compared to eight INTs. Overall the JR QB is averaging 217.9 YPG which ranks second in the LL. The South Carolina native is also a threat to run and has accounted for 506 rushing yards (good for fifth in the LL with a 72.3 YPG average) and has scored the most rushing TDs (12) of any player in the conference.

Hermann’s top targets are JR WR Austin Caswell (37 receptions for 521 yards and five TDs), JR WR Steven Burpoe (20 catches for 248 yards) and JR WR Nick Weber (23 receptions for 286 yards and one TD). Complimenting Hermann in the rushing game is SR RB T.J. Strunk who has rushed 68 times for 310 yards and two TDs.

On defense the Engineers are undersized up front, but have four of the top 20 tacklers in the league with JR LB Matthew Day (56 total tackles), SO LB Zac Borrelli (45), SR DB Zach Scruggs (51) and SR OLB Ray Pasco (43). Still, this unit ranks sixth in scoring and total defense, giving up 30 points per game on average and 397.7 YPG, respectively. RPI also has the league’s worst red zone defense, having allowed 23 of 27 tries, including 20 TDs and three FGs.

Keys to the Game:

1. Contain Hermann – Last season Hermann passed for 181 yards and one TD against the Statesmen defense but really won the game on the final possession, driving RPI to the Hobart 16 yard line to set up the game winning FG in the final minute. To say the Engineer offense revolves around the JR QB is an understatement and the Statesmen defense will need to assign a spy on him at all times given his ability to run. I expect Coach Yoder to bring a lot of pressure to disrupt Hermann’s rhythm. I imagine both FY DE Tyre Coleman – who won his fourth LL Rookie of the Week award (and pretty much seems to have the Rookie of the Year locked up) and SO OLB Devin Worthington (last year's LL ROY) will be rushing and adding to their QB sack totals in this game.

2. Go airborne – RPI has the sixth rated pass defense, giving up 219.4 YPG. They were torched last weekend by Union to the tune of 335 yards and five TDs. Although JR QB Nick Strang endured his worst career passing game last week in the snow against WPI, I look for him to rebound at home and attack the RPI secondary with relish. One milestone that should occur on Saturday is SR WR Garth Muratori moving up in the all-time receptions (needs two more catches to move past #9 Luke Gutelius ’98), receiving yards (needs 14 more yards to pass #6 Nico Karagosian ’97) and TDs (needs one more TD to tie #5 Nate Waye ‘95 with 17).

3. Special teams – Although Hobart has enjoyed the luxury of winning their games by over 20 points, it would serve them well to improve their kicking game as the playoffs approach. The Statesmen rank sixth in the conference in punting (29.2 YPP net), FGs (one of two made) and PATs (.844). One way to slow down Hermann is to pin him and the RPI offense deep onto their side of the field. While the Hobart defense is formidable enough to force its fair share of three and outs, if the offense sputters like they did last week against WPI in the second half, this unit needs to be called out and asked to step up.

Prediction:

I think Hobart’s OL has a clear advantage (not to mention it's virtually an all SR group playing their final home game at the Boz - well, hopefully not given the playoff possibilities) over the RPI DL and will exploit it early and often in this game. Strang should bounce back from a bad game last week but worse case, we may see more carries given to the running and full backs like we did against WPI

That said I’ll take Hobart to win on Senior Day by a score of 35-14. Kickoff is at noon (ET). Go 'Bart!

Hobart now at #24 in the D3football.com National Poll

2011-10-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hobart moved up one spot, to #24, on this weekend's D3football.com poll.

Hobart (6-0, 4-0) has the opportunity to clinch their first LL championship and NCAA playoff bid since 2008 with a win this weekend against conference rival RPI (3-4, 2-2).

More on this game and the prospects on an unbeaten season, tomorrow. Tonight tune into www.InTheHuddLLe.com to hear from Hobart's unsung heroes, the linemen, at 7:30 PM ET.

#25 Hobart overcomes sloppy, turnover riddled game to outlast WPI, 27-13

2011-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

The #25 ranked Hobart Statesmen traveled east down Interstate 90 to face off against the WPI Engineers at Alumni Field in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Statesmen made an opening statement on the first play of the game when SO OLB Devin Worthington caused WPI SO QB Johnny Antonopolous to fumble, giving JR QB Nick Strang and the Hobart offense the ball at the WPI 14 yard line. Four plays later, SO RB Steven Webb punched in a short TD run to post the Statesmen to an early 7-0 lead after the JR PK Stephen Bruening point after was good.

WPI's miscues would continue on the ensuing possession, as a bad punt snap set up Hobart on the WPI 18. After a short Strang to JR WR Junior Woodard completion, the Statesmen offensive line opened a huge hole on second down allowing FY FB Dominque Ellis to rumble 17 yards untouched into the end zone for his first collegiate TD. The Bruening point after was good, and Hobart enjoyed a 14-0 lead in less than five minutes into the game.

The Engineer's luck would change however, as the WPI defense would hold the Statesmen to a three and out, then see Engineer CB William Alves block a SO P Yosh Karbonwiczak punt on fourth down. WPI would drive into the Hobart red zone, capping the possession with a five yard SR RB Ernie Mello rushing TD. After the SR PK Cody Beckel kick was good, the Engineers cut the Hobart lead to 14-7 with 6:27 to play in the first.

The Statesmen offense would get back on track on their next drive, taking advantage of a 33 yard Webb run to set up SR WR Garth Muratori's sixth TD catch of the season from 20 yards out. The point after hit the upright, giving Hobart a 20-7 advantage with 4:32 in the first.

The teams would exchange four turnovers on ensuing possessions; the last leading to a Worthington 43 yard fumble recovery return to the WPI 12 yard line. JR RB Bobby Dougherty would score on the next play, giving Hobart a 27-7 lead after the Bruening kick was good.

WPI could continue to fight back however, with converted SR RB Manny Chambra picking off a Strang pass that hung up in the wind on what otherwise would be a touchdown to Woodard. The Engineers also took advantage of defensive coverage break down which would lead to an Antonopolous to Trevor Dunne 29 yard TD with 5:24 to play in the second quarter. The Engineer point after failed giving Hobart a 27-13 advantage. That score would hold until the halftime as Chambra picked off Strang a second time, thwarting another Hobart scoring drive with about a minute to play in the first half.

The second half saw more struggles by the offenses as the pending snow storm and snow fall picked up considerably. After trading punts and/or failed fourth down conversions, Coach Robertson took a page from the Cragg playbook, converting a successful fake punt near the end of the third quarter. Dunne rushed for 34 yards on the fake, ending up at the Hobart 30 yard line. The Statesmen dodged a bullet however, forcing the fifth WPI fumble of the game and recovering it on their own 9 yard line.

By the fourth quarter the snow was coming down hard and the defenses continued to dominate the game. Ultimately the Statesmen benefited from poor clock management by WPI, and Hobart ran out the time remaining in the game to hang on to a 27-13 win.

Hobart was lead by their OL which paved the way for 249 rushing yards for the trio of Webb (88 yards on 14 carries), Dougherty (83 yards on 18 carries) and Ellis (60 yards on eight carries) for three TDs. Strang endured his worst game in his career only managing 52 yards, going six of 16 passing with a TD and three INTs. Worthington and FY DE Tyre Coleman lead the defensive rush with nine and seven tackles a piece, including a total of eight tackles for a loss and three sacks.

WPI was lead by Ernie Mello with 119 rushing yards on 25 carries and one TD. Antonopolous threw for 118 yards and one TD. Tom Thackery and Yussein Hatim lead the Engineers with 10 and nine tackles a piece. Manny Chambra contributed on both sides of the ball, catching six passes for 43 yards, while adding two tackles and two INTs. SR DB John Perron also added an INT and two tackles.

With the win Hobart improves to 6-0, 4-0 in the league and will have the opportunity to clinch the LL championship, next weekend at home vs. RPI (3-4, 2-2) or in the season finale vs. Rochester (3-4, 2-2).

With the loss WPI falls to 2-6, 1-4 and will be idle next weekend, before hosting Saint Lawrence in the season finale on November 12th.

WPI Game Preview

2011-10-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

The #25 ranked Hobart Statesmen (5-0, 3-0) will embark on their longest road trip of the season, traveling down I-90 320+ miles to Worcester, MA to take on the WPI Engineers (2-5, 1-3) Saturday at Alumni Stadium.

The Engineers are lead by SR RB Ernie Mello who is ranked 2nd the Liberty League in rushing with a 103.4 YPG average. Mello is also tied for first in the LL in rushing TDs with 10. SO QB Johnny Antonopoulos (who actually got his first career start last season against the Statesmen) is sixth in the LL averaging 113.4 passing YPG. The SO QB has thrown for eight passing TDs compared to six INTs. Antonopoulos' favorite target is SR WR Nick Bean who has 30 receptions for 400 yards and four TDs. Overall the WPI offense averages over 300 YPG.

On defense the Engineers are lead by SR DL Peter Gill with 46 total tackles including seven tackles for loss and five sacks. SR DB John Perron leads the team with four INTs to go along with seven passes defended and three break ups. That said the WPI "D" has struggled against the run, allowing 181 YPG on average to their opponents.

Special teams is an area of strength for the Engineers as they lead the LL in kickoff returns behind SR RB Manny Chambra. SR PK Cody Beckel is also a solid contributor, converting 20 of 22 PAT's and three of five FGs (one was blocked). He also averages over 50 yards per kickoff.

Keys to the game:
1. Avoid the "trap game" - RPI (3-3, 2-1) is the only other LL team in control of its destiny and the Statesmen could be looking for some payback after dropping a heart-breaking 24-21 decision to the Engineers of Troy, NY last season. If RPI beats Union this weekend, November 5th game at Boswell Field vs. the RPI Engineers would basically be for the conference championship. While Hobart has never lost to the WPI Engineers in their seven game series, the Statesmen need to stay focused and not get too overconfident and overlook a scrappy WPI club.

2. Mellow Mello - The WPI SR RB is the key to the Engineer offense and slowing him down should be the focus in securing a Hobart victory. The Statesmen rush defense should be up to the task, having completely shut down the Mariner's #1 rushing attack last weekend at Homecoming. WPI is last in LL in sacks allowed so I expect another big game for FY DE Tyre Coleman and the Hobart defensive ends and outside linebackers.

3. Play to win - Seems self explanatory but WPI really has nothing to lose after a tough season that hasn't gone their way. They are on a three game skid having lost games by a TD or less in each instance so this game is effectively their season's "Super Bowl". I expect Coach Robertson to bring a lot of defensive pressure. That said this should open up the Hobart passing game with SR WR Garth Muratori and JR WR Junior Woodard likely in man coverage. Then again, Hobart did score four rushing TDs against WPI last season, so perhaps we'll see more of SO RB Steven Webb, JR RB Bobby Dougherty and company?

Prediction:
I like Hobart to move to 6-0, 4-0 and one game away from clinching the LL championship beating WPI in convincing, say 42-17, fashion.

Hobart overwhelms Merchant Marine 42-14 for Homecoming

2011-10-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

The United States Merchant Marine Academy travelled to Geneva, NY looking for their first win over the #25 ranked Hobart Statesmen since joining the Liberty League in 2004. The Statesmen held home court at the "Boz" for their Homecoming and Family Weekend festivities as well the SR OL Jarrid Blades inspired Touchdowns & Tackles for Happiness House fund raiser.

The Statesmen took their first two drives into Mariner territory but the Merchant Marine defense caused Hobart to turn over the ball on downs and benefited from a 25 yard JR PK Stephen Bruening field goal attempt which hooked wide left (there was no word on why SO PK Reyes Guevara did not play but he appears to be off the Hobart roster)?

Hobart's tough luck would change after the Mariner's third possession ended on when the Mariner's Richard Grennan mishandled a punt snap and SR CB and co-captain Drake Woodard recovered it in the end zone for six. The Bruening point after would be good posting the Statesmen to a 7-0 lead with 52 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The second frame saw the Hobart offense finally hit it's stride, scoring 21 points behind JR RB Bobby Doughtery and JR QB Nick Strang three yard TD runs, and on JR WR Junior Woodard's 36 yard catch and run for a TD which pushed the Statesmen's lead to 28-0 with 4:12 to play in the first half.

Hobart added a SR WR Garth Muratori eight yard receiving touchdown, the senior co-captain having earned his 100th career reception earlier in the game, to push the lead to 35-0 after Bruening's point after with 18 seconds to play in the first half. Garth only needs a couple of catches to pass my buddy Luke Gutelius '98 for ninth place on the all time receptions list.

The Statesmen outgained the Mariners 301 to 45 yards in the first half and added a sixth TD in the game when backup JR QB Kelly Olney found FY TE Mike Berkowitz for a three yard reception with 14:09 to play in the fourth quarter. The game well in hand, the Statesmen reserves allowed two late Mariner TDs - a 20 yard Alex Coviello run and a 37 yard Chase Dunn reception.

Hobart was lead by Strang who passed for 226 yards and two passing TDs as well as 30 yards rushing and one rushing TD. Muratori was Strang's favorite target, catching four balls for 57 yards and a TD.

On defense the Statesmen were lead by SR LB Reggie Robinson with 14 tackles, including one sack and two and a half tackles for a loss.

Merchant Marine was lead by JR QB Alex Coviello who threw for 120 yards and one touchdown as well as 105 yards rushing and a score. SR LB Kevin Stapf lead the Mariner defense with 12 tackles.

With the win Hobart improves to 5-0, 3-0 in the Liberty League and will travel to Worcester, Mass next weekend to take on the WPI Engineers.

The Mariners drop to 2-6, 1-3 in the league, and after a bye week will travel to Schenectady to play Union College Saturday, November 5th.

Homecoming Preview

2011-10-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

The #25 ranked and undefeated Hobart Statesmen (4-0, 2-0) will host the United States Merchant Marine Mariners (2-5, 1-2) this Saturday for Homecoming at Boswell Field. The Mariners are a triple option team, meaning they run the ball on virtually every snap. This has enabled the Merchant Marine to rack up over 230 rushing yards per game, but they have struggled against strong defensive fronts. For example last Saturday the Rochester Yellow Jackets (2-3, 1-2) held the Mariners to under 130 yards rushing in a lopsided 45-16 win.

The Merchant Marine is lead by their JR QB Alex Coviello. A threat to pass and run, the Cape Coral, FL native ranks seventh in the LL in rushing yards per game and four TDs. Coviello rarely passes, but has completed 15 attempts for 234 yards and four passing TDs. Coviello's favorite target is JR WR Chase Dunn, who has six TD catches.

Another running threat for the Mariners is JR RB John-Leon Gosselin who ranks third in the LL with 104.7 rushing yards per game (which is also ninth in the LL in total offense). A load to bring down, Gosselin has accounted for two rushing TDs as well.

On defense the Merchant Marine is lead by SR LB Kevin Stapf who ranks first in the LL with 74 total tackles and second with 10.6 tackles per game. Still, a reason for all of the Mariner's work on defense is that they have been relatively porous against the run (191.4 yards per game allowed and 12 TDs) and the pass (205 yards per game allowed and 19 TDs).

That said I imagine Hobart won't have too much difficulty winning Homecoming this weekend. The Statesmen have won seven in a row over the Merchant Marine, dating back to 2004 when they joined the Liberty League. The real key to the game here is containing Coviello and Gosselin while exposing the Mariner's weak defense. The Merchant Marine has allowed over 30 points per game on the season and I expect Hobart to eclipse this mark early in the game.

I'll predict a 49-9 Statesmen win this Saturday, pushing them to 5-0 for the first time since 2006.

2011 Mid Season Review

2011-10-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (4-0, 2-0) are off to their best start since the 2008 season. Although Division III football pollsters have largely ignored them, at mid season the Statesmen are ranked 29th in the country in total offense, 16th in total defense and 11th in sacks per game.

Hobart is ranked first in the following categories in the Liberty League (LL):

Offense:
Scoring – 38.2 PPG
Total yards – 433.2 YPG and 20 Touchdowns (TDs)
Red zone (88.2%)
3rd down conversions (56.5%)
Time of Possession (34:49 - good for 8th nationally)
Sacks against (3 for -16 yards)

Defense:
Scoring – 13.2 PPG
Turnover margin +6 (which is a huge improvement from last year)
Rush – 109.8 (1 TD allowed)
Pass – 136.4 PPG (6 TDs allowed)
Total - 246.2 YPG (7 TDs total allowed)
Pass efficiency (98.7 rating)
Opponent first downs (57)
Red zone (42.9% and only 3 TDs)
Opponent 3rd down conversions (31.5%)

Special teams, statistically speaking, could use some work as SO PK Reyes Guevara has missed 4 PATs (18-22) so far on the season. In Guevara’s defense however he is second in the league amongst kickers (and the entire Statesmen team, just behind SR WR and Co-Captain Garth Muratori’s 24 on four TD receptions) with 21 points. Kickoff and punt return yardage is also fairly low, netting Hobart only 17.1 and four and a half yards on average, respectively. The punting game has also been down but that statistic is a bit misleading given Hobart has only punted five times all season and one of those was a shank that netted little, if not zero, yards in the Saint Lawrence game. A positive note for the Statesmen punting game is that opponents have zero success (and yards) in returning punts against the Hobart punt unit.

Individually the Statesmen boast the number five, eight and tenth best rushers in the LL with SO RB Steven Webb averaging 66.2 YPG and having scored two TDs; JR QB Nick Strang averaging 50.5 YPG and JR RB Bobby Dougherty 48.5 YPG. Both Strang and Dougherty have 3 rushing TDs a piece.

Strang is the fourth rated passer in the LL based on YPG (194.8) and has nine passing TDs (compared to three interceptions) to his credit. Strang is the second rated quarterback in the league based on passing efficiency (143 rating). His primary targets, Muratori (88.8 YPG and four TDs) and JR WR Junior Woodard (70 YPG and two TDs) are second and fourth in the LL standings for reception yards per game.

On the defensive side of the ball, Hobart’s SR CB and Co-Captain Drake Woodard is tied for first in the LL for interceptions (three, which is tied for first in the nation in INT per game) and first overall in return yardage (66). SR LB Reggie Robinson ranks 21st in the LL with 23 total (an average of 5.8 tackles per game). FY DE Tyre Coleman is first in sacks with 6.5 (and second in the nation in sacks per game) and SO OLB Devin Worthington is tied for second with four sacks on the season. Coleman, who’s been named LL Rookie of the Week Award three weeks consecutively, also leads the league in tackles for a loss with seven and a half for -55 yards.

Overall the Statesmen have proven to be a solid team, both explosive offensively and stout on the defensive end. That said Hobart has at times been their own worst enemy. Penalties and turnovers are down from 2010, but the Statesmen have gotten bogged down at times. Fortunately their mistakes have yet to come back to haunt them but it will remain to be seen how many times they can successfully bail themselves out of sticky situations.

Hobart takes the field again on Saturday, October 22 during Homecoming Weekend. The Statesmen will line up against the Mariners of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (2-4, 1-1 at the moment, but they do play Rochester this Saturday). Kickoff is at 1 PM ET. I’ll have a preview of the Mariner-Statesmen match-up early next week.

Until then, thanks for reading and go ‘Bart!

Hobart sacks Union 41-24 to take sole possession of 1st place in the LL

2011-10-08T23:36:00.000-07:00

The undefeated Hobart Statesmen traveled Schenectady to face long-time rival and league unbeaten Union Fighting Dutchmen with first place in the Liberty League on the line.

The Dutchmen's offense took the field after winning the coin toss and capped an impressive 10 play, 73 yard opening drive with a 10 yard Drew Connolly to Justin Gallo touchdown giving Union an early 7-0 lead.

The Statesmen's offense was shut down, going three and out on their first two possessions. The Hobart defense hung tough however keeping the Dutchmen at bay.

SO RB Steven Webb would get the Statesmen on the board taking the hand off, and after running into a wall of tacklers, burst through the line for a 70 yard TD dash to tie it at 7-all.

The Union offense responded with their own big play as Connor Gallo made a spectacular one-handed catch for a 61 yard TD bomb reminiscent of his older brother's long TD catches from the 2009 Hobart-Union game. The 3 play, 71 yard drive took only 1:19 off the clock and pushed the Dutchmen's lead to 14-7.

In the second quarter the teams traded possessions until a short Sasha Papich punt set up the Statesmen at the Union 43 yard line. After a few short gains, Hobart benefited from a pass interference call on the Dutchmen's secondary. Two plays later JR RB Bobby Doughtery ran in his third rushing TD from 9 yards out, tying the game at 14 all.

Union caught a big break however when JR WR Junior Woodard lost the ball in the sun and ultimately fumbled a Union punt setting up the Dutchmen on the Hobart 22 yard line. The Statesmen defense came up big sacking Connolly on consecutive possessions until a draw play by Darnel Thomas pulled the Dutchmen to the Hobart 22. Adam Henry connected on a season long 39 yard field goal which pushed Union's lead to 17-14 with 1:58 to play in the first half.

Hobart would strike back quickly however an 83 counter strike from Strang to Woodard giving the Statesmen their first lead of the game, a 21-17 advantage, which would stand until the ensuing kickoff. FY S James Smith recovered a Union fumble at the 15 yard line and pushed Hobart's lead to 27-17 after the Guevara point after hit the goal post.

Union held Hobart to a three and out to start the second half and took over from their own 39 yard line. The Dutchmen run game asserted itself driving to the Statesmen 26 yard line until SR CB Drake Woodard picked off Connolly and ripped off a 45 yard return. Eight plays later, Strang would find FY WR Troy Robinson on a 15 yard pass to push the Hobart lead to 34-17.

Union fought back scoring on another Connolly to (Justin) Gallo quick strike for 34 yards and the Dutchmen appeared to regain some momentum after Colin Beerworth intercepted Strang on Hobart's ensuing possession giving the Dutchmen offense the ball at the Hobart 49 yard line only down 34-24.

Although Union drove to the Statesmen 21, the Hobart defense came up big again with their backs against the wall sacking Connolly and driving Union out of field goal range. The Statesmen took over and with 6:43 to play and worked to run out the clock.

Strang ended up following his offense line to pay dirt, however, scoring on a 5 yard touchdown to cap an 11 play, 72 yards with 1:19 to close out the scoring and the game giving Hobart a 41-24 win.

Although Hobart had some key player come up big in this game, the star was SO OLB Devin Worthington who lead the defense with 10 tackles and 3.5 sacks - the most by a Statesmen defender since 2006. Hobart improves to 4-0, 2-0 in the LL and is idle next weekend. More on this game an look at the Statesmen halfway through the regular season later this week.

Union College Preview - Battle of the (League) Unbeatens

2011-10-05T18:42:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (3-0, 1-0) look to capture first place in the Liberty League (LL) standings this Saturday in Schenectady, NY against long time rival, Union College (2-3, 2-0). Union struggled opening the 2011 with three straight losses the season losing their first three games surrendering fourth quarter leads against Salve Regina (2-3) and Utica College (2-2) and after committing five turnovers against Empire 8 rival Ithaca College (3-1).

That said the Fighting Dutchmen have been undefeated in conference play, holding off a determined Rochester squad (1-3, 0-1), 41-34, and overcoming an 11 point deficit to triumph over WPI (1-3, 1-1), 34-31, on a last second 22 yard Adam Henry field goal.

Hobart defeated Union 41-35 in a thrilling 2OT game last season which saw then SO QB Nick Strang account for six touchdowns, tying the school record for (five) passing TDs and running in the game winner. In spite of last year's win, Statesmen have historically not been able to solve for Union and have not posted back-to-back wins against their long-time rivals since the 2003-4 seasons. All time, the Dutchmen hold a 42-50-2 edge over Hobart (not including a 30-20 victory by the Statesmen in 2007 due to NCAA sanctions).

Union's strength is on offense where there they are lead the LL with the #1 ranked passing attack. The Dutchmen's passing game has accounted for 267.4 YPG and 11 passing TDs. SR QB Andrew Connolly leads the LL in passing efficiency (81 completions on 136 attempts with only five interceptions in five games for a 161 rating).

Connolly's key target is SR WR Justin Gallo who ranks #1 in receiving yards per catch (21.7), per game (156) and receiving TDs (9) in the LL. Gallo also ranks #2 in the LL for all purpose yards and #3 in scoring. For those of you wondering, this is the same Gallo who racked up 246 receiving yards on eight receptions for three (long) TDs against an otherwise helpless Statesmen secondary in 2009.

On defense the Dutchmen are lead by JR LB Noah Joseph with 9.8 tackles per game - good for fifth in the entire LL. That said Union has struggled a great deal against the pass, ranking last in the LL allowing 232.8 YPG and eight TDs to date.

Keys to the game:

1. Ground Gallo - Union's #1 passing receiving threat hasn't won back-to-back LL Offensive Player of the Week awards this season for nothing. He is an explosive receiver that has racked up 409 yards and six TDs in his career against the Statesmen defense(!).

2. Confound Connolly - The Dutchmen's offense centers around the SR QB from Foxboro, Mass who was undefeated against Hobart until last year's shoot out. Although he lacks the ground attack from graduated Chris Coney, Connolly has more than enough confidence based on prior outings to feel like he can light up the Statesmen "D".

3. Finish - After attending the 2009 Hobart-Union game in person I can say from first hand experience that the best team isn't always the winner in these match ups. That day I witnessed a Statesmen team absolutely dominate the line of scrimmage only to see a fumble on the goal line, then the three consecutive Connolly to Gallo TD passes, keeping Hobart from a 28-0 halftime lead. Last season it was the Statesmen who threw Union a curve ball starting Strang for an injured Doug Vella, which the Dutchmen eventually solved for in the second half, picking off the rookie QB four times. That said, the Union defense finally folded late - which we've seen at least twice so far this season - to Strang in 2 OT.

Prediction:

When I predicted Hobart to go 6-2 at the beginning of the season my guess was Hobart would lose at least one league game. They have not run the table in the LL since 2004, but after their dominating start to the season, perhaps this is the year they do it again?

While I predicted Hobart to win a hard fought 28-24 contest last Sunday night on "In the HuddLLe", I wouldn't be surprised to see this game go either way. Hobart's defense has been very strong to date, only allowing 9.7 PPG, 1 passing TD and only 100 YPG through the air; which points to a tough day for Union.

If the Statesmen defense continues at their current pace, Union won't stand a chance. That said Hobart's offense took a step backwards in the SLU game given the weather and generally playing poorly (three first half turnovers) overall. The weather this weekend in Schenectady looks pretty good, but you never know in these match ups.

I am hoping for Hobart to continue to 4-0 but wouldn't necessarily be surprised if Union pulled off the upset much like they did under very similar (1-3 coming into Geneva vs. 4-0 and ranked Hobart) circumstances to 2008.

Game time is 1 PM ET and you can tune into WEOS for Ted Baker's, or my ITH co-host Frank Rossi's, call on www.weos.org or www.ustream.tv respectively.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Defense Shut Outs out Saint Lawrence, 23-0

2011-10-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen looked to atone for last season's league opening loss to eventual champion Saint Lawrence University on a damp and grey day in Geneva.

It was an auspicious start for Hobart as they turned over the ball three times in the first half, first on an interception by JR QB Nick Strang, then two series later on a fumble on a punt return by JR WR Junior Woodard. Woodard would cough the ball up again after making a catch later in the second quarter.

The Statesmen remained resilient however lead behind a very strong pass rush of FY DE Tyre Coleman who started his first collegiate game after earning the league Rookie of the Week honors the week prior against Saint John Fisher.

The game remained a defensive struggle until late in the first half. After forcing the Saints to punt deep on their side of the field, Hobart took over from the Saint Lawrence 41 yard line. Strang would lead the team downfield finally connecting with SO WR Yosh Karbonwicz for a two yard touchdown with only 19 seconds remaining before the half. The Reyes Guevara extra point was good, and Hobart took a hard fought 7-0 lead into halftime.

The second half was more defensive dominance for the Statesmen as Hobart caused a Saint Lawrence fumble on the Saints' 19 yard line. The Saint Lawrence defense would stand firm however and SO PK Reyes Guevara kicked a 36 yard FG to push the score to 10-0 with 8:49 left to play in the third quarter.

Strang would put the game out of reach midway throught the fourth quarter, capping a 17 play, 81 yard drive calling his own number on a three yard touchdown run.

SO OLB Austin DiMarco would put the defense's signature on the win with a 38 yard interception for a touchdown return to close out the game on Saint Lawrence's ensuing possession.

Although the Guevara kick bounced off the upright, Hobart would close out the day with a convincing 23-0 shutout of the defending Liberty League Champs.

The Statesmen were lead in what was an otherwise "off day" by Strang who passed for only 139 yards and rushed for 43. Leading the Hobart rushing attack was SO RB Steven Webb with 54 yards on 15 carries.

SR RB Marcus Washington lead the Saints with 81 yards on 20 carries, but the Hobart defense's five sacks of SO QB Nik Busharis caused -36 yards, leaving Saint Lawrence with only 59 total on the day.

Busharis struggled mightily against the Statesmen's pass rush and coverage, going three for 21 for only 25 passing yards and two interceptions.

That said the star of the day was the Statemen defensive line and Coleman who collected two and a half sacks, a fumble recovery to go along with five total tackles. SO OLB Devin Worthington and SR LB Reggie Robinson lead all Statesmen defenders with six tackles a piece. Saint Lawrence's defense was lead by linebackers Ramon Mignott and Andrew Cox with 11 tackles a piece.

With the win Hobart improves to 3-0, 1-0 in the Liberty League and will travel to Schenectady to face 2-3, 2-0 Union College in a battle of league unbeatens. Saint Lawrence drops to 2-3, 1-1 and has a bye week.

Hobart's OL Named "Team of the Week" by D3football.com

2011-09-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

The Hobart "hogs" are paving the way to a great start for the Statesmen. Check the link below for more information:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2011/9/27/HFB_0927111748.aspx

Saint Lawrence Game Preview (League Opener and Payback Game #1)

2011-09-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday night on “In The HuddLLe” Hobart Head Coach Mike Cragg reminded us that the Statesmen have lost their last two Liberty League openers to that season's eventual conference champions (you check out the archive at http://www.inthehuddlle.com/). Last season it was a 24-21 decision to the Saint Lawrence University Saints (2-2, 1-0) that upended Hobart in Canton, NY. The win was Saint Lawrence’s first victory over the Statesmen since 1991 and propelled the Saints to an eventual 5-1 league record and their first ever (“modern”) NCAA tournament berth.

This year the Saint Lawrence game will also serve as Hobart’s (2-0, 0-0) home opener, being one of only three games this season to be played at Boswell Field. The Statesmen are riding high after winning their first two contests by an 89-29 margin.

That said Hobart will be looking for some payback but will have to contend with one somewhat unfamiliar face to earn a victory on Saturday.

The new face of the Saints is their quarterback of the future, SO Nik Busharis. The Mansfield, MA native enjoyed his second three passing touchdown performance against the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1-3, 0-1) in route to helping the Saints retain the Hoffman Cup for the third consecutive season. Busharis has completed over 60% (good for 2nd in the LL in pass efficiency, just behind Hobart’s Nick Strang) of his passes for 633 yards and 10 touchdowns, the latter which leads the league. His favorite target is SR WR and Co-Captain Ethan Sutton who’s hauled in 26 catches for 331 yards and seven TDs.

In spite of these impressive numbers in the passing game, Saint Lawrence’s game changer on offense is really SR RB and Co-Captain Marcus Washington. The Pahokee, FL native leads the league with 583 yards rushing (145.8 yards per game average) on 108 carries (an impressive 5.4 YPR average).

Defensively the Saints are lead by SR LB and Co-Captain Trevor Saunders with 41 total tackles, including three and a half tackles for loss and one forced fumble. Overall Saint Lawrence has performed better against the pass (137.2 YPG) than the run (211.5 YPG) but struggled against the prolific Utica and Alfred passing games, allowing 262 yards and three TDs and 175 yards passing and two touchdowns, respectively.

Keys to the game:

1. (Re)Establish Home Field Advantage – After an impressive scoreless and win streak on the grass and mud of the old “Boz”, Hobart went 3-2 on the new field turf surface in 2010. So far the Statesmen have been effective starting off games quickly, having outscored their opposition 49-7 in the first half and should look to do the same to the Saints on Saturday.

2. The Buck Stops with Washington – Alfred was very effective in limiting RB Marcus Washington to 70 yards on 18 carries, jumping out to a big lead and forcing the Saints into passing / playing from behind.

3. Pressure Busharis – Busharis is not very mobile and lost 40 yards rushing on six sacks against Alfred as well. Overall the SO QB has been sacked nine times. Hobart’s FY DE Tyre Coleman collected the first two sacks of the year for the Statesmen defense and should look to collect a few more Saturday.

Prediction:

I like Hobart to exact some revenge for last year’s loss by a comfortable 38-21 margin (with two of the Saints’ scores coming late in the fourth quarter when the game is pretty much in hand).

Kickoff is slated for 12 PM ET and will be broadcast on WHWS (http://www.whws.com/) radio.

Go ‘Bart!

Hobart beats Fisher, 56-20

2011-09-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen travelled to Pittsford, NY to face the Saint John Fisher Cardinals of the Empire 8 conference Saturday for a 1 pm kickoff. The Statesmen were looking to return the favor of playing spoiler to the Cardinals' homecoming game after falling to Fisher 34-14 last season under the lights at Boswell Field for Hobart's homecoming game.

The Statesmen defense made a statement early forcing a punt on the Cardinals' opening possesion. On the ensuing play, junior quarterback Nick Strang lead the Statesmen offense on a 12 play, 76 yard march which was capped when junior running back Bobby Doughtery found the end zone from three yards out to give Hobart a lead they would never relinquish.

The Statesmen would score on their next two possessions, both featuring Strang finding senior wide receiver and co-captain Garth Muratori and junior wide out Junior Woodard for 54 and 12 yard strikes, respectively.

Saint John Fisher would try and get back into the game, with junior quarterback Ryan Kramer finding senior wide receiver Ryan Schmidt for a 35 yard touchdown pass to pull the score to 21-7 with 6:44 remaining in the first half.

The Statesmen offensive onslaught would continue as three more Strang touchdown passes would push the Hobart lead to 42-7 before a 65 yard Schimdt run made it 42-14 with one minute, 17 seconds play late in the third quarter.

The final would end up 56-20 Hobart with the Statesmen outgaining the Cardinals 492 to 263 yards. Six different Hobart players would score, lead by Strang who went 20 for 29 yards for 266 passing for 5 touchdowns, while leading all Statesmen rushers with 64 yards on five carries. Garth Muratori enjoyed a career day with eight cathes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

On defense the Statesmen were lead by senior linebacker Reggie Robinson with six tackles and one forced fumble.

With the win Hobart improves to 2-0 and will host Saint Lawrence in the Statesmen's home opener on Saturday, October 1st.

Hobart (proves me wrong and) crushes Saint John Fisher 56-20 to go 2-0

2011-09-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Too many good things to say at this point. Will provide more analysis later today and plan to get Head Coach Mike Cragg on In the HuddLLe (www.inthehuddlle.com) tomorrow night @ 7:30 PM ET to discuss this HUGE win over the Cardinals. Fisher entered the game ranked #4 on scoring defense in all of DIII. Guess not ;)
Hobart gave the Liberty League their first and only win over the Empire 8 conference this season. It is Hobart's 11th win in the all-time series over the Cardinals, but their first since 2001!

The Statesmen will have their home opener next Saturday at the "Boz" looking to avenge last year's 24-21 loss to eventual League Champion Saint Lawrence (2-2, 1-0).

Saint John Fisher Game Preview

2011-09-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

After two weekends of no football games, the Hobart Statesmen (1-0) will travel to Pittsford, NY to take on the Saint John Fisher College Cardinals (2-0) this Saturday for a 1 PM kick-off. Last season the Cardinals sidetracked Hobart’s first ever night and most recent Homecoming game by a convincing 34-14 margin. The Fisher defense caused three Hobart turnovers and otherwise shut down the Statesmen on third down (Hobart would go 0 for 10). The only bright spot for the Statesmen that night was a historic 100 yard receiving and rushing game for then-FY RB Steven Webb.

Although the Cardinals’ offense and special teams turned several heads last Saturday scoring 52 points on the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets (1-1), the real story in my opinion is what Fisher continues to do on defense.

Fisher has only allowed 10 points in the past two games – both scores coming in the first quarter - and has otherwise pitched shut outs from the second quarter on. The Cardinals defensive line and linebackers have limited their opponents to a paltry 64.5 rushing yards on average. The defensive line’s effectiveness against the rush is also evident in that of the 24 first downs allowed by the Cardinals so far this season, only six came on running plays.

That said Fisher are also strong against the pass, only allowing an average of 141 passing yards, including four interceptions. Leading the Cardinal defense is Head Coach Paul Vosburgh’s son and SR DB Dave Vosburgh with 16 total tackles, including one and a half tackles for a loss (TFL) and a half a sack. Other key players include FR LB Nicholas LoBrutto (four TFL, one sack) and SR LB Brenden Moore who both have 15 total tackles a piece.

Although the Cardinals lost their all-time passing leader Tim Bailey to graduation, they appear to have reloaded having out gained their opponents 716 to 411 yards. The Fisher offense is opportunistic and has scored eight times in nine trips to the red zone.

The Cardinals are lead on the ground by SR RB FuQuan Borum who’s carried 35 times for 139 yards and one rushing touchdown. Borum had a career game against Hobart in 2010, rushing for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Taking the reins from Bailey in the passing game is JR QB Ryan Kramer who has passed for 361 yards including five touchdowns to two interceptions.

Kramer’s top targets are, somewhat ironically, a pair of Ryan’s – SR WR’s Schmidt (20 catches for 156 yards and three touchdowns) and Francis (13 catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns).

Keys to the Game:

1. Move the chains / third down conversions – It’s fairly obvious that this was one of, if not the, key contributor to the Statesmen’s 2010 loss to Fisher (no solution to Borum and the Fisher OL was probably equally problematic but I digress). While Hobart has a strong mix of offensive weapons, it will need all of them to move the ball against this defense.

2. Shut down the “Triple Ryan” offense - Hobart’s defense will need to bring pressure to force Kramer out of his comfort zone and the Statesmen defensive backs will have their hands full with the speed of Francis and Schmidt. That said Kramer doesn’t need to throw for that many yards to be effective. For example, although Rochester was fairly effective in keeping Borum in check (76 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown) and Kramer only threw 15 completions for 143 yards; four of those passes were for touchdowns.

3. Avoid turnovers and falling behind early – Having seen last year’s game in person I can say first hand that Hobart didn’t do itself any favors in the first half. The Statesmen committed a blocked punt, interception and fumble put them in an insurmountable 24-0 hole early in the second quarter. Although Steven Webb would score on an exciting 61 yard catch and run later in the game, it was too little too late for the Statesmen. Fisher hasn’t allowed any points other than the first quarter, so it would appear as though getting to a good start and posting scores early is as critical as anything for Hobart in this game (which also happens to be the Cardinals’ Homecoming game).

Prediction

On Sunday night’s “In the HuddLLe” broadcast I belabored a bit before I threw out a 30-20 Fisher prediction. While I hope Hobart’s improved offense will be able to keep up with Fisher, I have concerns based on how dominating the Cardinals defense played against Buff State (who scored 82 points in Week 2, albeit against a weak WNEC team) and Rochester. That said the Statesmen defense may end up having to shoulder the load in this one. If they can contain Borum and Kramer and keep the Fisher offense off the field, the Statesmen may have a chance to play Homecoming spoiler like the Cardinals did at Boswell Field last year.

Either way this should be Hobart’s toughest test of the season and will provide a measuring stick for a Statesmen team that has postseason hopes; not to mention providing the Liberty League with its first win of 2011 against an Empire 8 team (who are 5-0 so far vs. the LL).

Go ‘Bart (prove me wrong)!

Remembering Andy

2011-09-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

It was ten years ago today my former Hobart teammate Andy Golkin '93 was killed in the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

In memory of Andy I hope everyone will consider a donation of any size to the Andrew Golkin Memorial Scholarship Fund:

http://www.seo-usa.org/andrewgolkinfund/index.html

God bless.

In The HuddLLe Sept 4 Episode 2

2011-09-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

You can download the replay of last Sunday's ITH to hear an interview with JR QB Nick Strang. We discussed the Dickinson game among other matters.

Log onto http://www.inthehuddlle.com/ to check it out!

Hobart Runs Over Dickinson, 33-9

2011-09-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Recap

The Hobart Statesmen traveled to Carlisle, PA looking for their first road win over the Dickinson College Red Devils since 2005.

It was a dubious opening for the highly touted Statesmen offense as JR QB Nick Strang fumbled the initial snap from center. However, the Statesmen defense held on 4th and goal from their 1-yard line, and the offense quickly composed themselves driving 99 yards to strike first with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Strang to SR WR Garth Muratori, to give the Statesmen an early 7-0 lead.

Dickinson would respond by driving inside the Statesmen's 20, but once again Hobart's defense stopped the Red Devils on 4th down.

Muratori remained Strang's favorite target on the ensuing drive but it was JR RB Bobby Doughtery who capped off an 85-yard drive with a 28 yard burst to post the Statesmen to a 14-0 lead with 1:04 to play in the first quarter.

Dickinson turned the ball over twice more in the half, including a fumble recovery by SR DE Tim Murray and an interception (INT) by SO CB Connor Garrett in the second quarter. The Red Devil defense was successful turning away Hobart once but the Statesmen struck for a third touchdown on an 11-yard scramble by Strang. The Reyes Guevara point after was good, and the Statesmen were up 21-0 with 11:12 to play in the half.

Two more Hobart takeaways befuddled the Dickinson offense, including a goal line fumble by the Red Devils keeping the shutout in tact, at least temporarily.
The Dickinson defense came up big through the remainder of the period, keeping the Statesmen offense at bay, including another fourth down stop at the 8 to end the first half

The second half saw another Dickinson interception, this one by SO SS Devin Worthington, allowing the Statesmen to drive the ball 67 yards with SO RB Steven Webb running in a touchdown from two yards out to give Hobart a 27-0 edge.

By this point, the game was a lock for Hobart, and the final score was 33-9 Statesmen.

Hobart ran for over 300 yards on the day, racking up 500 yards of total offense. On defense Hobart capitalized on 5 Red Devil turnovers on 6 consecutive possessions. Strang finished the day going 13 of 25 passing for 187 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Muratori collected seven catches for 123 yards and 1 TD. The SR Co-Captain was recognized by the League as this week's Offensive POTY award. Dougherty lead all Hobart rushers with 87 yards on nine carries.

The Statesmen defense was lead by SO CB Kevin Hearon and SR LB Reggie Robinson with eight tackles a piece.

The 1-0 Statesmen will return to action on September 24th as they visit the stalwart St. John Fisher Cardinals in Pittsford, NY at 1 PM ET.

Analysis

The final stats have changed in the past couple of days, but by looking at the rushing totals and listening to the WEOS broadcast it seems pretty clear that the stars of this game were the Hobart OL. They dominated the line of scrimmage, gave Strang plenty of time in the pocket and otherwise created gaping holes in the Dickinson defense.

My only critique of the Statesmen's play was they were once again a little sloppy in their execution, racking up 79 yards on 8 penalties. While special teams was generally good - SO P/WR Yosh Karbowniczak garnered the league's Special Teams POTY award - Hobart did miss two PAT's (the Statesmen did not miss a single PAT in 2010), the latter which was returned for Dickinson's final two points of the contest.
That said Dickinson successfully moved the ball into Statesmen territory on several occasions but shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. While the Hobart defense had an amazing game - five takeaways and holding three times on fourth down - Dickinson converted over half of their third down possessions and did not allow a sack.

Still, the Statesmen were clearly the superior team won easily. They will have a greater challenge on 9/24 but I expect Coach Cragg to have the team ready.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Athletics' Dickinson Game and Season Preview is Up

2011-09-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

The official Hobart season preview is online:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2011/9/2/HFB_0902111400.aspx

An archive of my interview with SR Co-Captain Garth Muratori can be accessed at http://www.inthehuddlle.com/. We're back on the air Sunday night at 7:30 PM ET to discuss the results of the Hobart-Dickinson game and the rest of the LL results from tomorrow's football games, including Coach and player interviews.

Don't forget to check ITH out and "like" us on Facebook!

Less than 24 hours until kickoff - go 'Bart!

Season IV of ITH starts tonight at 7:30 PM

2011-09-01T11:57:00.000-07:00

The "In the HuddLLe" crew will be back on the air tonight and again on Sundays throughout the football season at 7:30 PM ET. Check out http://www.inthehuddlle.com/ to hear the show live (or on tape delay).

Dickinson Game Preview

2011-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Hobart will face a Dickinson team looking to rebound from last season’s disappointing 3-7 overall record, which included no wins on their home turf. Unfortunately it sounds like the rest of the Centennial Conference (CC) feels that it will be more of the same for the Red Devils picking them to finish 7th in the 2011 preseason CC poll.

Some of the concerns in Carlisle have to do with starting a rookie QB. SO Todd Smolinsky won the starting job over SR QB Ricky Martz, Jr. in the offseason, but is very inexperienced. Martz started five games at QB in 2010 (and scored Dickinson’s lone TD in last year’s 38-7 defeat at Boswell Field) while Smolinsky has only 13 career pass attempts to his resume (he completed six). Only five other starters (three OL, TE and FB) return from an offensive unit that averaged 22.7 points and 319.6 yards per game in 2010. Smolinsky’s most likely targets will be SR WR Cam Di Fede (13 catches for 214 yards in 2010) and SR TE Tyler Rosa (seven catches, 16 YPC average).

In my opinion, the biggest question mark for Dickinson is who will start at RB? RB Greg Lord, who rushed 39 times for 252 yards and three TDs in his career vs. Hobart, and RB Tim Smith (523 yards on 126 attempts, including 5 TDs in 2010) graduated last spring. SO FB Mike Capone and SR RB Mike Shimkin each ran for only 122 yards last season as backups.

On defense the Devils are most experienced in the secondary, welcoming back all three starters, SR FS Scott Sullivan (84 tacles and three INTs), SR CB Andrew Fink (58 tackles) and JR CB Pat McBreen (26 tackles). SR LB Julian Rosen (61 tackles and 2 INTs), SR DT Andrew Downs and SR DT Ross Johnson will lead the interior defense. Dickinson surrendered 29 PPG, which ranked 8th in the CC, and was their worst showing in that category since 1983.

On special teams Dickinson welcomes back SR P David London. He averaged 39.3 yards on 18 punts last fall, eight of those landing inside the opponent’s 20 yard line. The Devils will need to find a replacement to graduated Gordon Craig, Dickinson’s all-time kick-scorer.

Keys to the Game:

1. Ease Strang into the game (i.e., RUN THE BALL): Dickinson ranked 8th in the CC in rushing defense, allowing opponents 167.3 YPG and surrendering over 200 yards rushing in five games in 2010. Given Hobart is returning nearly its entire OL and backfield intact, I hope Coach DeWall will refrain from his usual pass first approach and let JR QB Nick Strang hand the ball off to SO RB Steven Webb, JR RB Bobby Dougherty and SO FB Juan O’Farrill.

2. Pressure Smolinsky: The Devils will look to test the Statesmen’s inexperienced defensive ends and OLB’s with off tackle plays and bubble screens given the Hobart’s aggressive blitz schemes. If the Statesmen can protect the three gaps, it will force Dickinson to pass, opening up opportunities for interceptions by the Hobart defense. Hobart’s opening score in 2010 came off a Reggie Robinson interception early in the first quarter, setting the Statesmen offense up on their 48 yard line.

3. Follow last year's script (make big plays): Last season Drake Woodard scored a TD on a blocked punt and a 90 yard Steven Webb kickoff return for a TD. Yosh Karbownicz even converted a 4th down on a 17 yard run off a fake punt. Also, in contrast to what occurred later in the year, Hobart won the turnover battle, collecting four takeaways (one fumble, two INTs and the aforementioned blocked kick) and committing none (the Dickinson game was the only one in 2010 where the Statesmen did not commit a turnover).

Prediction:

While Hobart also needs to rebuild from a disappointing 2010 season, they have more and stronger players coming back in 2011 than Dickinson in my opinion. Although Hobart’s last win in Carlisle was in 2005, I believe this Statesmen team will take control of the game given their superior personnel. That said I am going to pick Hobart to come away a 35-7 victory.

Tune into http://www.weos.org/ WEOS 89.7 FM to hear Ted Baker's call of the game. Go 'Bart!

2011 Season Outlook

2011-08-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

A few pundits have Hobart as the league favorite this fall given the large number of returning players from last year's team. At the end of 2010, I initially liked Rochester as a potential “preseason favorite” given how they finished the 2010 season (4 straight wins) and their returning roster. I am coming around to viewing Hobart in this regard based on taking into account their large number of key contributors and in taking a closer look at the league.

Still, the long gap between the first and second games, the play of Nick Strang (is he a “one hit wonder” or a viable starter who can perform at a Doyle/Strom/Mizro level?) and the overall average play by the defense in 2010 gives me pause.

I’ve read elsewhere that others predict a 6-2 record for Hobart given the aforementioned questions. 6-2, while not a bad year, could eliminate the Statesmen from NCAA consideration for the third consecutive season – barring going 6-0 in the LL (and the accompanying NCAA automatic bid) or 5-1 via tiebreakers. 6-2 would also be good enough for an ECAC bid (in theory), but it would depend upon the other eligible teams.

At first blush I see Hobart probably beating Dickinson (losses to graduation, new QB and RB, still rebuilding), SLU (uncertainty at QB, revenge factor), USMMA (new QB, weak rush and red-zone defense), WPI (questionable passing game, last in LL in red-zone offense) and RPI (many losses to graduation, new coaching staff/scheme).

Question marks surround the SJFC (lost a lot on the OL, new QB, so they potentially could have a “down year”), Union (lost RB Chris Coney to graduation, but has had Hobart’s number of late, last year notwithstanding) and Rochester (ended 2010 on a 4-0 run, have a lot of players returning in 2011) match ups. That said I could see Hobart winning or losing all three of those contests based on a number of factors.

Thus I am going to play it safe and also predict a 6-2 season for Hobart. Even if the Statesmen don’t struggle with the turnovers and mental mistakes that plagued them in 2010, Hobart has not gone undefeated in the league since 2004.

In case you were wondering, the last undefeated Statesmen team was in 1957 (that team, which featured Mr. Garry Mendez II '58 went 6-0). The last Hobart team to go 8-0 was in 1954.

Coming up next week will be a preview of the Dickinson game, ITH info and more.

Go 'Bart!

2011 Hobart Preseason Preview - Part IV (the schedule)

2011-08-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

9/3/11 @ Dickinson College – Hobart will open its 118th season of football in Carlisle, PA. This will be the 20th consecutive season opener between the Statesmen and the Red Devils. Dickinson leads the all-time series by a 10-9-1* margin. Last season Hobart hosted the Devils hoping to avenge one of their worst offensive games from 2009 (and their lowest scoring output since 1991!). The Statesmen were vindicated by jumping out to a 17-0 halftime score and adding 21 more points in the 3rd quarter en route to a convincing 38-7 win. Although Dickinson actually outgained the Statesmen in total yardage, most of their success came in the fourth quarter against the Hobart reserves. Dickinson finished their 2010 campaign with a 3-7 mark (3-6, 8th place in Centennial Conference).

9/24/11 @ Saint John Fisher College – The Statesmen will have three weeks to prepare for their second game of the season, a road trip to Pittsford, NY, to take on the St. John Fisher Cardinals of the Empire 8 conference. Last season the Cardinals dominated Hobart in virtually every aspect of the game, winning by a score of 34-14 under the lights in Geneva on Homecoming Weekend. Although the Statesmen lead the all-time series by a 10-6 mark, Hobart has not beaten the Cardinals over four straight meetings. The last Statesmen victory dates back to 2001. The only bright spot from last year’s game was a record performance by then-FY RB Steven Webb who racked up 103 rushing and 109 receiving yards and two TDs. Although SJFC’s star QB Tim Bailey (who passed for 248 yards and one TD vs. Hobart that night) has graduated, SR RB FuQuan Borum (who carried 33 times for 180 yards and three TDs) returns. Needless to say Hobart needs to figure out how to slow down Fisher’s potent rushing attack to have a chance in this one. Fisher ended their 2010 campaign with a 9-2 record, tied for second in their conference with a 5-2 mark and a very convincing 56-13 ECAC bowl win over RPI.

10/1/11 Saint Lawrence University – Hobart won’t play its home and league opener until October, but don’t think this date isn’t circled on the Statesmen’s calendars. Hobart saw its longest active winning streak of 18 games broken against the eventual LL champion Saints by a 24-21 mark last season. The Statesmen came back to hold a 21-17 lead with 2:05 to play, but turnovers (five, including two interceptions in the final 102 seconds of the game) and penalties (six for 70 yards) killed the Hobart in this contest and set a dubious precedent for Hobart’s struggles in 2010. SLU ended the season with a 5-6 mark, getting shut out 49-0 to national runner up, Mount Union in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Saints struggled out of conference (going 0-5, including the NCAA game) but won the LL thanks to a 5-1 mark in the league.

10/8/11 @ Union College – Hobart’s first league road game will be against one of its oldest and toughest rivals, Union College. Last season the Statesmen prevailed in an offensive shoot out in double overtime behind the record-setting performance of then-SO QB Nick Strang. Strang filled in for an injured Doug Vella and passed for over 400 yards and tied the al-time Hobart record with five TD passes. He also added 93 rushing yards and the game winning TD. Although he was picked off four times in his debut, it appeared as though Strang was in line to wrest the starting job away from Vella until he was derailed by mononucleosis and didn’t play for the remainder of the season. The win over Union (who holds a 50-43-2* edge in the all-time series) was the first for Hobart since a 30-20 triumph in 2007 (which technically was taken off the record books due to the NCAA infractions, so some will say 2004 was the last "official win"). Union struggled through one of its worst seasons in years, going 2-7 overall and 2-4 in conference. Losing RB Chris Coney to graduation will be tough but I expect the Dutchmen to rebound in 2011.

10/22/11 USMMA – The Statesmen will have another bye week then host the US Merchant Marine Academy for this year’s Homecoming game. Last season Hobart opened this game with 23 unanswered points, but a saw a determined Mariner squad battle back to only lose by a TD, 40-33. Then-SO RB JL Gosselin led the Academy with 110 rushing yards and one TD. Vella had one of his better games of 2010 passing for 305 yards, four TDs and only two INTs. The USMMA finished their 2010 campaign with a 4-6 overall (3-3 LL) record.

10/29/11 @ WPI – The Statesmen will make their longest road trip of the season to Worcester, MA to face the WPI Engineers. Although WPI came into last season’s game as the #1 defense in the league, Hobart little trouble dispatching them, rattling off 24 unanswered points and eventually winning 38-13. WPI finished last in the LL in 2010, going 1-5 in conference and 3-7 overall.

11/5/11 RPI – Senior Day will see Hobart face off against the RPI Engineers looking for some payback after last season’s 24-21 defeat on a last second 34 yard field goal as time expired. Although the Statesmen defense shut down the RPI running game (holding the Engineers to only 79 rushing yards), Hobart fell behind 21-7 in the middle of the third quarter. The Statesmen would rally to tie the game with 1:20 to play, but once again turnovers (two INTs and two fumbles) would haunt Hobart as did poor special teams and defensive play in the final minute of the game. RPI finished second in the LL with a 4-2 mark and ended up 6-4 overall.

11/12/11 @ Rochester – The Statesmen will close out their regular season campaign vying for the Centennial Cup at Rochester. Last season Hobart lost a heart breaker at home on Senior Day, 35-34, in double overtime. Coach Cragg opted to go for the win but the pass from Vella to then-JR Garth Muratori missed its mark sending Hobart to their first loss in the Centennial Cup series (the all-time series is tied at 48-48-7*). This game marked the first time the Yellow Jackets had bested Hobart since a 17-13 win back in 2003. Rochester was 4-5 in 2010 (3-3 in the LL), but was literally two different teams (losing their first five games and winning their final four) over the course of last season.

*I am not factoring in the 2006-07 sanctions in these all-time marks.

Comin' atcha next weekend will be my 2011 season predictions and an update on the fourth season of LL football talk show "In the HuddLLe".

Welcoming the Class of 2015

2011-08-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen will welcome a class of 29 FY student athletes in this fall’s camp. As usual the majority (15) hail from New York State and the Northeast (11 including five from MA, two from PA, and one each from CT, NJ, VT and ME, respectively). For the second year in a row Hobart will have student athletes from the Sunshine State (two). The one first for this year’s team is that the Statesmen have enrolled their only Virginian (football playing anyway), albeit by way of a PG year at Northfield Mount Hermon (MA). I had posted a few of these earlier in the year including:

FB Dominque Ellis
RB Alex Delany
FB Scott McMorris
SS Matt McGriff
OL Ali Marpet
OL Matt Riggi
DE Tyre Coleman
DT Troy Jackson

I obviously missed many others, but news on DIII “signings” are few and far between. It also appears as though Adam Novak and Tucker Randle either didn’t decide to enroll or opted out of playing football. Brian Kessler is apparently sticking with lacrosse too.

That said a few names that stand out include the aforementioned – Coleman in particular given the Statesmen’s needs at DE – but also several others, namely:

QB Patrick Conlan, son of Penn State and Buffalo Bills linebacker, Shane Conlan
CB Fairi Jackson (Fayetteville, NY PG’d at Kent School)
OL DeAndre’ Smith (from Corcoran who’s 6’3” and 340 lbs - Alex Bell ’05 anyone?!?!?)
DT Raimonn Goddard (from Middletown and comes in at 6’ 3” 280 lbs – that’s “Ryan Aruck ’09 big”).

Of course only time will time how many of these players will make an impact over their Hobart careers. Although this is a ballpark figure, usually about half of a given class will stay on the team all four years. For example, the Class of 2012 had 33 begin with the program in the fall of 2008. This fall 17 of those original 33 (51%) will suit up.

The full Statesmen preseason roster can be found at this link:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

I’ll be back in about a week to review the 2011 season. Thanks for reading and go ‘Bart!

Hobart 2011 Preseason Preview - Pt III (Defense & Special Teams)

2011-08-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

Returning Defensive Players

DE – Perhaps one of the Statesmen’s biggest concerns this fall is finding replacements for James Rayhill and Chris Luber. Potential starters at DE this season are likely to include SO Tim Murray and SR Kevin Ryan. Murray played in six games last season tallying 13 tackles, the majority of which came against Union (seven), and one sack (in the Rochester game) – Murray missed a few games due to injury to a knee that happened in the first game. Ryan only saw action in the Dickinson game, recording two tackles, so it’s possible he may remain a backup given Coach Yoder converted SO Juan Breton to DE. JR Kees Nordin and SO Chuck Seergy will also compete for time.

DT – The Statesmen return only five interior linemen, but four played significant roles for Hobart in 2010. The likely starters are SR Dan Wilcoxen and JR Nick Auriemma with JR Jordan Sisti and SR Gianni Contro either backing up or supplanting their teammates. SO Jacob Powell, while the youngest and least experienced of the group, should also see time given Coach Yoder and Muffley’s propensity to rotate in players regularly.

OLB/SS – While the graduation of Kyle O’Laughlin (and his LL fourth best 81 tackles) will be difficult to replace, one of the best players in the entire east region last year was SO Devin Worthington. Worthington earned D3football.com All-East first team, LL Rookie of the Year and LL first team defensive awards in 2010. He led the LL both tackles for a loss and sacks and was fifth and eighth, in the nation, respectively in the same categories. He blocked a FG against RPI and also scored his first TD on a fumble recovery against WPI. Worthington was named as a 2nd team preseason All-American by D3football.com as well. SOs Austin Demarco, Dan Sweeney Taylor Delperito and Steven Domoracki will compete for time at OLB/SS. My guess is Demarco begins the season at OLB, unless Hobart moves one of their ILBs outside (which is a likely scenario given the depth there) with Worthington the (obvious) starter at SS. The only upperclassman at this position is SR Gerard Tully, but he saw limited action in 2010, appearing in only the WPI game.

ILB – Hobart returns a very strong line-backing corps led by SR Reggie Robinson. Robinson led the Statesmen in tackles and finished third overall in the LL in the same category, for which earned him a nod as a first team All LL. JR Andrew Klindera, JR Nick Zapp and SR Bobby Marraffa will likely compete for the other starting LB position, but all should see significant playing time. SOs Sean Harrison and Thomas Elder will likely see time on the JV squad given the depth of this unit.

FS – SO Chad Dorrance is the likely starter having backed up John Kelliher for most of 2010. However, two other SOs Jolyon Davis and James Kierans will also compete for playing time.

CB – The Statesmen welcome back four year starter and SR Co-Captain Drake Woodard at the strong side cornerback position. Drake was a unanimous selection for the first team LL defensive team in 2010. The only knock against Drake is his interception totals, which numbered seven in his first season, have dropped precipitously since (only one interception in two years). That said this same drop could be attributed to teams avoiding his side of the field completely (e.g., Woodard was not in the top 10 passes defended category according to LL stats). Backing up Woodard last year was SO Kevin Hearon. SO Connor Garrett (a fellow Californian!) started at the boundary corner spot in a handful of games. He will be competing against classmate Spencer Dunn and potentially SR Jeff Hummel.

Returning Special Teams Players

K – SO Reyes Guevara seemed to wrest away the starting job from SR Conor Callahan late in 2010. Guevara nailed a 38 yard FG in the Rochester game and was perfect on PATs. Callahan has kicked for the Statesmen for three seasons, notching 16 FGs and 64 PATs over his career. Last season he led the LL in PAT percentage (100% going 31-31) and scoring by a kicker (5.4 PPG), but was only 50% (four for eight) in FG attempts. His range is limited (usually misses over 30-35+ yards), but his longest career FG was the infamous 37 yarder against RPI in 2008 which propelled Hobart to its last LL title and visit to the NCAA playoffs.

P – SO WR Yosh Karbowniczak also served as Hobart’s punter, doing a nice job and earning 2nd team All LL recognition for the same. He averaged 36.5 yards PP and was able to get at least one punt inside the 20 yard line in each game he played.

In all, it appears as tough Hobart has few, if any; glaring holes on their roster (perhaps save for DE). If this team comes together and avoids the pitfalls (i.e. turnovers and penalties) from last season, this could be a great year to be a Statesman!

This weekend we'll take a look at the 30-man FY class that just came up on the Statesmen's preseason roster.

Hobart 2011 Preseason Preview - Pt II (Offense)

2011-08-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

Returning Offensive Players:

QB – JR Nick Strang, the hero from last season’s 41-35 double overtime thriller against Union College, appears to the heir apparent given the departure of Vella. Strang accounted for six touchdowns (five passing and the game winner, one rushing) in his first start but was shelved for the remainder of 2010 due to mononucleosis. JR Kelly Olney backed up Vella after Strang was sidelined and looks to the back up this season as well.

RB - One of Hobart’s breakout players from 2010 was SO Steven Webb. The Dundee, NY native finished third in the LL in rushing yards and led the LL in scoring with 16 TDs. I personally enjoyed seeing Webb become the first Statesman to have 100 rushing and receiving yards in a single game at Homecoming against St. John Fisher (about the only good that came out of playing Fisher last season, but I digress). Backing up Webb is JR Bobby Dougherty who saw action in all nine games, gaining 119 yards and one TD. Dougherty also contributed to special teams, racking up 289 kick return yards.

FB – SO Juan O’Farrill looks to start given the graduation of Matt Howard. Last season the Palm Beach Lakes grad rushed for 124 yards and one TD, as well as five receptions out of the backfield. SO John Wolfsberg (#36!) will compete for time as well.

WR – Nick Strang’s job is made somewhat easier thanks to having both SR Co-Captain Garth Muratori and JR Junior Woodard back. Both Statesmen were ranked near the top of the LL in both receptions and yards per game. Muratori caught 36 balls for 569 yards and seven TDs (which led the LL). Woodard caught 41 passes for 570 yards and three TDs. Woodard also led the LL in punt return yardage and was named to the LL first team as a return specialist. Also expected to potentially see some passes this season include JR Jay Cronze (missed some of 2010 due to injury), as well as SO Yosh Karbowniczak. Other SO WR’s include Joey Adduci, Paul Brown and Chad Hecht.

TE – The Statesmen use their TE’s sparingly as receivers, but they return four upperclassmen at this position, including SR Co-Captain Greg Clifford. Clifford started eight games and tallied three catches, but two counted as TDs. Clifford previously played FB for the Statesmen. Other TE’s include SR Matt Marsh (one key catch in the Rochester game which he started), and JR’s Andrew Zdrojewski and Brent Matazinsky.

OL – The Statesmen return almost all of their starting offensive linemen this fall, including former Co-Captain and C Kelvin Cruz who playing as a fifth year SR (missed the 2008 season). Also rejoining Cruz in the trenches are SR RT Brendan Hatlee (first team All LL), SR RG Kyle Sandy and JR LG Art Garvey. SR Anthony Coletta is likely to assume the LT position vacated by Sean Kluber’s graduation, but several other OL players including SR Jarrid Blades, JR Tyler Garvey, SO Alex Bush and SO Max Janoff will likely see action as well.

All in all, the Hobart offense appears stacked heading into camp. If this team can avoid the turnovers that the 2010 offense struggled with, this Statesmen unit should be tops in the league once again.

Up next is the defense.

Hobart 2011 Preseason Preview - Part I (Introduction)

2011-08-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Statesmen ended 2010 with a disappointing 5-4 (3-3 league) record, losing their last two games by a combined four points and missing the post-season for the second straight year. This season was also Hobart’s worst finish in the history of the LL and the lowest win total since the 1999 season.

2010 saw Hobart lead the league in most offensive categories including scoring (31.3 PPG), passing (233.7 YPG), total offense (378.9 YPG), red zone (80%), 3rd down conversions (38.7%) and pass efficiency (125.3). That said the defense was not as stout as in prior seasons (e.g. Hobart ranked 5th in the LL in scoring and pass defense) and had limited success causing takeaways (seven interceptions in 2010 compared with 19 that the 2008 playoff team generated). The Statesmen also were last in key categories such as opponent 4th down conversions (62%), penalties (52.6 YPG) and, most importantly, turnover margin (-7). The latter was especially problematic, especially in LL play. Hobart was guilty of committing four fumbles and six interceptions in their three LL losses.

The offseason wasn’t any kinder to the Statesmen with an NCAA Infractions Report going public on January 8th citing Hobart for providing financial assistance to players during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Although the Statesmen are not barred from the playoffs in 2011, they were required to abdicate the victories from those seasons (16), provide training to Statesmen coaches and officials, hire a compliance officer and serve three years probation, among other NCAA and self-imposed penalties.

To make matters worse, a few weeks later a scheduling issue (which the Athletic Department arguably could have proactively mitigated) caused Hobart to end up with only eight regular season games. Although efforts and offers to remediate the situation occurred, no game ended up being scheduled. Consequently, this fall will be the first time since 1978 that Hobart will not play at least a nine game regular season (more on the implications of that later).

The Statesmen took another hit as long-time trainer and coordinator of sports medicine Doug Reeland lost his battle with cancer in the spring. Mr. Reeland was synonymous with HWS athletics and will be greatly missed.

Hobart again made headlines in late June when an NCAA report published by InsideHigherEd.com cited HWS as one of “six major violators” of what “is often called DIII’s bedrock principle” (i.e., providing “unjustified aid to aid athletes”). Specifically the report stated that “Hobart College showed distinguishable and unjustified patterns of award that benefited athletes”, which added further insult to injury already inflicted in January.

This offseason also saw the departures of a handful of rising seniors, the most notable being that of SR QB Doug Vella, who (unofficially) is focusing on his academics this fall instead of the gridiron. Vella was Hobart’s starting QB for the two prior seasons and was named to the LL’s 2010 first team at QB.

Needless to say Hobart is entering this fall’s camp with the goal of moving past last season’s disappointments and offseason distractions to return to the top of the LL and go back to the playoffs. Fortunately, Statesmen they have a large core group of returning players and should be once again in the thick of the Liberty League title race. A look at the Statesmen at each position; additional commentary regarding the season outlook; schedule, etc. will be posted at a later date.

SR QB Doug Vella No Longer on Hobart's 2011 Roster?!?!?

2011-06-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

The rising SR QB who has effectively started for Hobart during the 2009 and 2010 campaigns is no longer on the Statesmen's roster.
A few inquiries have been made to check his status (i.e., has he transferred, taken a term abroad, etc.) were sent to a Hobart official but no response as of late.

Yet another twist in one of the most topsy tervy offseasons in recent Statesman history.

That said it appears as though JR QB Nick Strang, the hero in an OT win over LL arch rival Union College, is the projected starter in the 2011 season.

Hobart Cited in (Another) NCAA Report

2011-06-29T07:09:00.001-07:00

A report from the NCAA published in today's "Inside Higher Ed.com" cited Hobart and a handful of other Division III institutions that apparently have "awarded financial aid to [student athletes] based on their athletic ability".

A link to the article and attached reports is provided below:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/06/29/ncaa_division_iii_financial_aid_reporting_program_reveals_problems_persist

Hobart's specific mention in the article above was:

"there have been six “major” violators of these regulations over the life of the reporting process, and these institutions do face public scrutiny. Violations by Buffalo State College, the State University of New York at Geneseo, and the State University of New York at Potsdam were the result of an unjustified proportionality difference between the amount of financial aid awarded to athletes and the percentage of athletes in the overall student population. Chatham University and Hobart College showed distinguishable and unjustified patterns of award that benefited athletes. Fontbonne University's violation took the form of coaches "rating" incoming freshman athletes as the first step in the institutional financial aid process."

Looks like the NCAA has their eye on the Statesmen since last January....

Statesmen Stuck at Eight Games in 2011

2011-06-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

The potential ninth game reported here about a month ago has fallen through according to a source within the Hobart Athletic Department. Unfortunately, with only 71 days until kick-off, it appears as though Hobart will play it's first eight game regular season since 1978 (that's 33 years for those math challenged individuals like myself).

The good news is that Hobart still has the opportunity to play a ninth game (or more?) if they win the Liberty League title and earn a post-season NCAA tournament berth (which would be their first trip back to the Field of 32 since the 2008 season). Another possibility would be an ECAC post-season "bowl game" if the Statesmen finish the season 6-2 or 5-3 (last year's 5-4 mark proved insufficient to earn a bid in comparison to other ECAC-bowl eligible teams). One thing in Hobart's favor is the fact the Statesmen welcome back 40 returning lettermen and 15 starters making them an early favorite to win the LL championship and accompanying NCAA bid.

That said it is disappointing for both the fans and the players, especially the seniors, to have only two games in September and effectively THREE bye weeks in the 2011 season. All in all, this has been one of the toughest off-seasons for the Statesmen in many years.

Hobart Goes to the Top Drawer to Enroll Trumansburg Scholar Athlete

2011-06-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Odessafile.com reports that Trumansburg's (NY) Tucker Randle intends to play football at Hobart this fall. Randle played DE for the Blue Raiders and averaged nine tackles per game (according to MaxPreps.com). Tucker also scored a safety in a 27-12 win over Edison (Elmira Heights, NY) and was an All-State Track high jumper, as well as a top student at THS.

http://www.odessafile.com/0519tdTuckerRandle.JPG

The following synopsis on Tucker, a winner of a "Top Drawer Award", was provided in the attached link:

http://www.odessafile.com/Sports-TopDrawer11party.htm

Tucker Randle is a Trumansburg senior who excels in football, indoor track and spring track. He was a 1st Team Section IV All-Star in football, and is an exceptional High Jumper in track, winning Section IV indoor and outdoor titles last year, as well as sharing in a Section IV 4x100 Relay title. He is a High Honor student with a 3.6 grade-point average, is a member of Boys State, the Green Team Environmental Club and the Outdoor Education Club, is a math tutor, and recipient of a Student of Distinction award. He coaches Pee Wee football and track, is on the community Earth Day Cleanup Committee, has helped rebuild the overlook at Buttermilk Falls, is on the Farmers Market Building Committee, and has visited Guatemala to help build a school for children -- a trip he plans to repeat this year. He will attend Hobart College, where he plans to play football.

All in all, Tucker sounds like a great kid and I'd like to be the one of the first alumni to welcome him to Hobart. Based on all of the above he sounds like he'll make a great Statesman.

Update - It appears Tucker has either opted out of football or is attending another school. He does not appear on the Statesmen's FY roster (8/12/11)

NY First Team All State OL to Enroll at Hobart

2011-06-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Livingston County News (Geneseo, NY) reports that Caledonia-Mumford SR OL Matt Riggi intends to play football for the Statesmen this fall.

The 6' 4" 225lb offensive guard / defensive tackle was named to the Class D All State first team. Riggi helped the Cal-Mum Raiders to a 12-2 record in the 2010 season.

A picture of Riggi is listed below:

http://www.cal-mum.com/sports/football/2010/warsaw/Warsaw12.jpg

The above was taken after he received the "Tom Callen Award" as part of Cal-Mum's Homecoming festivities. Interestingly enough two of Riggi's teammates, who he played alongside on the DL during their HS careers, ended up at Saint John Fisher College. Hobart will face the Cardinals on September 24th.

Congratulations Matt and welcome to Hobart!

Ninth game for football in the works for Hobart

2011-05-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Word from Geneva is a potential match-up for the Statesmen this September may be coming to fruition - and I am not talking about a "scrimmage" with Cornell as reported earlier this year.

More on this as it develops, but Hobart could fill out it's 2011 slate with an 9th opponent as early as next week.

Stay tuned!

Bryant Defensive Lineman Transfers to Hobart

2011-05-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

Adam Novak '14 will don #97 and suit up as a defensive tackle this fall for Hobart according to HWSAthletics.com.

Novak transferred in from Bryant University (RI) and originally hails from Longmeadow, MA. The 6' 2" 270 lber was a two year letterman at LHS helping his team to consecutive league titles and MA "Super Bowl" state championships. He also starred on the basketball team which won the Western MA State title.

Adam's dad, Peter, was a former college football player at American International (Springfield, MA) and also coached at the University of New Haven (CT).

Although DT is where he is listed on the roster as of today, I hope the coaches give Novak a shot at DE given the Statesmen have several returning players at DT but no returning ends.

Regardless, I'd like to be the first to welcome Adam to Hobart. Looks like the defense will be very strong with the number of recruits coming in at LB and the defensive line.

Just over 100 days until kickoff vs. Dickinson....GO HOBART!

Update - Novak appears to have decided against transferring to Hobart as he no longer appears on the Statesmen's roster (8/12/11)

Hobart Names Captains for 2011 Campaign

2011-05-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hobart will look to three rising seniors, TE Greg Clifford, WR Garth Muratori and DB Drake Woodard to lead the Statesmen on the gridiron this fall.

Attached below is a link from HWSAthletics.com that includes some highlights of the three players.

Less than 109 days until kickoff!

Congratulations to these student-athletes and GO HOBART!

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2011/5/17/HFB_0517110105.aspx

Hobart lacrosse recruit considering a return to the gridiron

2011-05-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Brendan Kessler, a senior at Red Lion High (York, PA), is a lacrosse standout at midfield/attack and has made a verbal committment to Hobart College to play lacrosse and attend school in the Fall of 2011.

Aside from being an All-American in lacrosse, Kessler also earned YAIAA Division I all-star honors after racking up 1,030 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. He also lead his team in tackles as a safety. Apparently Kessler had offers to walk-on at Temple, Towson and St. Francis, but fortunately for Hobart, he chose to stick with lacrosse.

That said it's no surprise that Coach Cragg and the Statesmen football team are also VERY interested in this student-athlete given his size (6' 4") and DI caliber speed.

There is a long tradition of two-sport lacrosse / football players in Geneva, most recently Mike Lazore '11 and Justin Hager '09 starred in both sports for the Statesmen.

Hopefully we'll see Kessler give DIII football a try prior to joining the Statesmen's DI lacrosse program.

Wellsville (NY) Linebacker to Attend Hobart

2011-04-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

WellsvilleDaily.com reports that Scott McMorris, a 5' 11" 225 lb linebacker intends to enroll at Hobart this fall. The Rochester area student-athlete has been named to multiple area All-Star teams. Scott intends to major in pre-med at HWS.

A link to the article is below:

http://www.wellsvilledaily.com/sports/x215605489/McMorris-added-to-Big-30-game

Welcome Scott!

Remembering Douger

2011-04-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

News came in this weekend regarding the passing of HWS's Head of Sports Medicine, Doug Reeland, who had been struggling with cancer. Doug had served the Colleges since 1978, so if you were an athlete at any point in time in the past 33 years, your paths' probably crossed.

No arrangements have been posted to date, but I expect to see something in the next day or so. A recent picture of Doug is posted on the HWS.edu website (under "This Week in Photos" with the 1981 Hobart National Championship team that was honored back on 4/16). A link to the same is attached below:

http://www.hws.edu/experience/twip/photos/photos/55.JPG

RIP Douger. The HWS community will miss you.

Update from hws.edu -

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2011/4/23/gen_0423115841.aspx?path=gen

and from the Finger Lakes Times:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/fltimes/obituary.aspx?n=f-douglas-reeland&pid=150588724

Contributions in Doug's memory can be made to the Hobart Statesmen Athletic Association Memorial Fund to support Hobart and William Smith Sports Medicine or to the American Cancer Society .

Columbia High's Mcgriff to Play Football at Hobart

2011-04-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Steve Tober of Sidelinechatter.com reports that Columbia High School (NJ)'s senior co-captain Matt Mcgriff will attend Hobart this fall.

Mcgriff is a 5' 10" 185lb fullback / linebacker that helped lead Columbia to a 9-1, 7-0 conference record this past fall. Mcgriff averaged 10 tackles per game and rushed 31 times for 211 yards and four TDs for the Cougars.

A link to the article is below:

http://www.sidelinechatter.com/sport1.htm

Welcome Matt!

Fairfield Warde's 3-Sport Standout Coming to Hobart

2011-04-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

The CT Post reports that Alex Delany of Fairfield Warde High School will be coming to Hobart this fall. The 5' 7" 190 lb RB and SS will look to continue his academic and athletic career as a Statesman.

Delany had a career night back on October 1 when he ran for 234 yards, scoring on long runs of 58 and 74 yards in the first quarter, en route to a 31-7 Mustang win over Bassick.

Delany is also a standout in wrestling, finishing in second in Class LL (the largest school division in the state of CT), third at the FCIAC championships and fifth at the State Open in the 171-pound weight class. Delany posted season record of 43-12 and holds career record of 115-40 for the Mustang wrestling team.

Oh yeah, Alex also stars on the Mustang lacrosse team as a long stick middie. Attached below is a picture from 2009 when Alex was named MVP of the annual Fairfield Thanksgiving Day game.

http://fairfieldmustang.vnsports.com/photos/show.asp?id=649503

Welcome to Hobart Alex!

New Jersey Football Star to Join Statesmen

2011-04-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

According to North Jersey.com's Doug Scancarella, Wayne Valley's Andrew DeFillipis has committed to becoming a Hobart Statesmen this fall.

Andrew, who played both OT and MLB for the Indians intends to be a pre-med major at Hobart. DeFillipis led the team in tackles in both his JR (82) and SR (128) seasons.

He was also recently named team MVP and will join another Wayne Valley classmate (not identified yet but I'll track him down eventually ;) in Geneva as part of the Class of 2015.

A copy of the article is listed below:

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/116794063_Valley_s_DeFillipis_signs_with_Hobart.html

Welcome Andrew - looking forward to following your career @ Hobart!

Hastings Tackle to Become a Statesman

2011-04-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Another scoop from Section1Recruiting.com is that Ali Marpet, an OT/DT from Hastings, is going to Hobart in the fall. The 6' 3" 250lb tackle helped pave the way for Yellow Jackets runners to the tune of a 6-3 season. Marpet also racked up 34 tackles and 6 sacks according to MaxPreps.com en route to being named a second team Class B NY All-State defensive player:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/_r9UtlGWoUytbe96E81acA/football-fall-10/profile-ali-marpet.htm

Ali's highlight reel is below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwCD4Lcx1ms

Welcome to Hobart Ali!

NY All-State Defensive Lineman Signs with Statesmen

2011-04-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

Tyre Coleman, a Section 1 Class A NY All-State DL from Poughkeepsie, has committed to play for Hobart in this fall according to Section1Recruiting.com. The 6' 1" 235lb defensive and tight end helped lead the Pioneers to a 6-3 season averaging 9 tackles and 1 sack per game according to Max Preps:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/rFYoM6J6EEWWN4-MVnhVtQ/football-fall-10/profile-tyre-coleman.htm

Below is Tyre's highlight reel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2Nbcb_GuO4

Looks like he'll be terrorizing LL offenses for the next four years.

Welcome Tyre!!!

Hobart adds Sunshine State prospect to its fall roster

2011-04-13T10:54:00.001-07:00

Northeast High's Dominque Ellis will be coming to play football at Hobart this fall. The FB/LB helped lead his team to second place finish in Class 5A, District 9 FL HS football championships.

The St. Petersburg native will be the third from Florida to play for the Statesmen next year (SO FB Juan O'Farrill and SO OL Michael Green being the others...they are from West Palm Beach and Clearwater, respectively).

His highlight reel is attached below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHzTqscTUr4

Credit Tampa Bay.com's Bob Putnam with the scoop.

Thanks Bob and welcome Dominque!

Go 'Bart!

South Hadley (MA) Football Star Coming to Hobart

2011-04-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice article on Troy Johnson, a stand out student athlete from Western, MA who has overcome a great deal of adversity:

http://highschoolsports.masslive.com/news/article/-3503249514879402334/troy-johnson-feels-at-home-at-south-hadley-and-as-francis-x-keating-award-winner/

Welcome to the Statesmen family Troy! Looking forward to following your career at Hobart.

Hobart to Play Big Red in 2011, Utica in 2012-13

2011-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Given scheduling challenges due to the fact football games are arranged many years in advance, it appears as though the Hobart Statesmen Football team will only have eight regular season games in 2011. Although Hobart considered a few offers (and was turned down by a number of schools as well), there were no teams willing to play in the NCAA East Region who still had an opening that worked with the Statesmen's schedule.

However, a ninth "contest" is in the works for September that could be an interesting test for the Hobart gridders.

Word from Geneva is that the Statesmen may face off against the Big Red of Cornell University's "sub-varsity" team this fall. More good news is, after this fall, Hobart has their schedule set for the next two years having added the Utica College Pioneers in 2012 and 2013.

This game, plus the Geneva College season opener and the addition of Springfield to the LL, means Hobart will once again play a 10 game regular season - something that hasn't happened since 1997.

Although it's a shame that the Statesmen will have a shorter season in 2011, football scheduling is done so far in advance that any curveball like the one received in late January makes it almost impossible to find suitable alternative opponents.

That said a contest vs. Cornell would be nice consolation to say the least and a great tune up prior to the Fisher game on 9/24. I've made an inquiry to determine whether or not this "game" will receive any WEOS coverage. More to come on this one.

Go 'Bart!

Hobart says "Thanks but no thanks" to Wesley game

2011-02-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

Hobart was recently approached by the Wesley Wolverines regarding a potential mutual open date for an out of conference (OOC) game this upcoming season. Hobart has only eight games on the 2011 schedule so far due to a cancellation by Widener and thus has THREE WEEKS in between their season opener (9/3/11 vs. Dickinson) and their next game (9/24/11 vs. Saint John Fisher in Rochester). Hobart's first home game isn't actually until 10/1/11!

The Statesmen declined Wesley's offer due to fact the Wolverines are (although technically located in Dover, DE) a "South Region" team. Hobart would rather play against an "East Region" team for playoff seeding and other reasons.

Wesley was the NCAA's #1 overall seed in the 2010 Football tournament and was ranked as high as #3 in the nation in the D3football.com Top 25 polls. The Wolverines lost 27-7 to eventual national champion, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (UWW), in the national semi finals.

Hobart currently has Dickinson and Fisher on the OOC in 2011. It does not appear at the moment the Dickinson and Fisher games will resume in 2012 given Springfield College (MA) will join the Liberty League and Hobart has a series scheduled with Geneva College (PA) starting that year. Of the aforementioned series, Hobart's longest has been against Dickinson. The Statesmen have played the Red Devils every year since the 1992 season.

Hobart All-Decade Team

2011-01-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

D3football.com recently released their "All-Decade Team" and one Hobart player, Alex Bell '05, made the list (on the third team).

While Hobart's been playing football for about 117 seasons, it really wasn't until the 2000's they got on the national radar.

Anyway, given it's the off season, the above made me wonder who were the best Statesmen over the same time period (2000-10).

Below is my take on the "Hobart All-Decade Team":

QB - Shawn Mizro '07 - #1 all time in pass attempts (826), completions (455), yards (6097), TDs (61) and total offense (6135 yards) and TOPG (175.3 YPG). Tied for 3rd in completion % (55.1), 2nd in pass efficiency (134.9) and YPG (174.2) Set several records in 2004, including passing TDs (30), for best all-time season. While Andrew Strom '08 broke several of Mizro's records, he only played in the 2007 season.

RB - Ty Godinho '05 - #1 all rushing attempts (840), 2nd all time rushing leader (3807 yards), TDs (38), scoring (234) and APY (4466).

While I could have easily gone with Keith Brandon '01 here given he is #1 in scoring, TDs, etc.; he only played one season in this decade (Hobart's first ever NCAA appearance). That year he lead 'Bart with 884 rushing yards and 9 TDs, and had 141 yards in the second NCAA round game vs. Widener, but felt Godinho deserved the overall nod given "more work" from 2000-10.

WR - Dan Suozzi '05 - #1 all time with 2843 receiving yards, receptions (181), recepts per game (4.79), all purpose (4614), kick returns (44) and receiving TDs (26). #2 all in punt returns (77), yardage (804) and kick return yds (943).

TE - Tough call given the Statesmen rarely use TEs other than as blockers. Nico Karagosian would be the "all time" winner, but he graduated in 97. That said, I will give the nod to Jeremy Archer '03 who is the only Hobart TE to be named all first team UCAA/LL in the past decade.

OL - Will give Alex Bell '05 the nod, but guys like Brian Monaco '10 (first team all LL in 09 and first team ESPN academic All-American twice) and Adam Tumilowicz '03 (three year first team all UCAA selections from 00-02) deserve mention as well.

LB (tie) Justin Hager '09 and Jeff Sanders '09 - #1 and #2 all time in total tackles with 288 and 285, respectively. Hager tied his own the all game record for tackles in 2008 with 20 vs. Mount Union and finished that year with 134 total tackles which is #1 all time. Sanders is #1 all time in assisted tackles (175). Honorable mention goes to Nolan Robinson '07 (#2 all time in solo tackles).

DL - Have to go with Ryan Aruck '09 based on his overall size (6' 2", 300 lbs) and the fact he's fifth all time with 268 total tackles and second in assists with 170.

DB - Tough call here, but I will go with Drake Woodard '12, first team all LL 08-10. Dyshwan Washington '05 and James Alexander '08 are also very good candidates given their stats (#1 and 2 all time in pass break ups, Alexander was first team all LL in 06-07), but Woodard was top 10 in the nation in interceptions in 2008 and has reliably been Hobart's best cover man in quite some time.

PK (tie) Dom Ancona '08 and Eric Ampuja '05 - Ampuja was a first team all UCAA/LL in 01, 02 and 04, and Ancona was first team all LL K in 07 and P in 06-7. Ancona had a better FG overall completion % (71.4 vs. 50%) and also doubled as punter and is #1 all time in avg yds per punt with 40.24. Ampuja is #1 all time in FG (19) and PAT (123) made. Ancona was the LL ST POY in 2007.

In spite of the recent NCAA sanctions, the 2000s were a great decade for Hobart Football. Looking forward another decade filled with LL titles, NCAA berths and hopefully, maybe a National Championship!

Dubious start for Hobart in 2011

2011-01-07T11:55:00.001-08:00

The Statesmen Football and Lacrosse teams are facing numerous sanctions due to self-reported infractions of NCAA rules. Below is an article that covers off on the issue at hand as well as the formal report made by the NCAA:

http://centralny.ynn.com/content/sports/529223/hobart-penalized-for-ncaa-violations/

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/47262e00455277ea9c22bec8c7999200/20110106+Hobart+D1+Pub+Report.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=47262e00455277ea9c22bec8c7999200

The football team remains playoff eligible but will have all wins vacated from the 2006 and 2007 seasons, which is a shame.

Season Retrospective / Looking to 2011

2010-11-29T21:16:00.000-08:00

Although this year's 5-4 campaign fell below expectations, there were some positive aspects to 2010 for Hobart. That said, below is my “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly” for the Statesmen's 2010 season:

The Good:

The additions of FY's Steven Webb (783 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns) and Devin Worthington (LL Rookie of the Year).

A crowd of 4,000 strong at Homecoming (not to mention a brand new, state of the art, field turf Boswell Field) and the first ever night game in Hobart's 115+ year history.

The emergence of SO QB Nick Strang who threw for 405 yards and 5 touchdowns, including the game winning rushing touchdown to beat Union in 2OT.

Finishing the season #1 in the LL in scoring offense (31.3 PPG), pass offense (233.7 YPG), total offense (378.8 YPG and 35 TD), and red zone offense (24 scores in 30 tries).

Special teams – going a perfect 35-35 on PATs, #1 in kickoff coverage and punt returns.

Getting 18 players on All LL team.

The Bad:

In spite of the record crowd, Hobart simply played one of their worst games, if not the worst, against Saint John Fisher going 0 for 10 on third down and committing three turnovers.

The two picks in final minute vs. SLU to end the hopes of a Statesmen comeback.

Losing on last second FG to RPI (a game that also featured four Hobart turnovers)

Losing in 2OT to Rochester to end the season.

Finishing the season #1 in the LL in penalties (52.6 YPG average).

Only converting five of nine on field goals.

Hobart's worst reg season finish since 2003, worst overall since 1999.

The Ugly:

Finishing dead last in the LL with a -7 turnover margin (the worst for a Hobart team in well over 10 seasons). It's an understatement to say turnovers cost the Statesmen the LL title this season.

Looking to 2011:

Getting back to the positive – the Statesmen do return a large core of this season's team in 2011.

On offense the Statesmen bring back the vast majority of their skill position players and more than half of this season's offensive line. The returning offensive players includes:

QB - Doug Vella and Nick Strang.

FB - Juan O’Farrill, who backed up Matt Howard '10 appeared in all nine games this season and accounted for 126 rushing and one rushing touchdown is the likely starter for Hobart at this position for the next several seasons.

TB - Webb, Bobby Dougherty and Kyle Tritten.

WR - Junior Woodard, Garth Muratori and Yosh Karbowniczak (who also served as punter) meaning either Vella and/or Strang will have at least a couple of seasoned receivers to throw to in 2011.

TE - Hobart returns all their tight ends, although they were often rarely used, Matt Marsh (key catch in the Rochester game) and Greg Clifford (two touchdowns) each made big plays in 2010.

OL - Anthony Coletta (missed several games due to injury but appeared in four of Hobart's final six games), Art Garvey (starter and 2nd team All LL), Max Janoff (will compete for a starting role), Jarrid Blades (backed up Co-Captain Kelvin Cruz and is likely to take over at center in 2011), Kyle Sandy (started eight games) and Brendan Hatlee (unanimous first team All-LL selection).

DE - This is an area of concern as the Statesmen graduated both starters. There are several underclassmen that will vie for these open positions with a slight nod to Tim Murray (6' 4”, 225 lbs.) who appeared to have played the most snaps / made the most tackles as a back-up.

DT - Nick Auriemma, Dane Wilcoxen, Gianni Contro, and Jordan Sisti either started or had significant playing time this season so this should be a area of strength for Hobart in 2011.

OLB - The Statesmen lose several key players here but do return ROY Devin Worthington (really a strong safety). One player that did see some action in 2010 and should see more in 2011 is Bobby Marrafa.

ILB - Hobart always has fielded strong linebacker squads under Coach Cragg and 2011 looks like it won't be any exception with Andrew Klindera (had eight tackles vs. Rochester), first team All-LL Reggie Robinson and Nick Zapp (played in all nine games for Hobart at LB).

FS - Chad Dorrance played in seven games and started in place for Sr Co-Captain John Kelliher while he was out with a hand injury capably and is likely the starter at free safety for the Statesmen heading into 2011.

CB - Another strong suit for the Statesmen with unanimous All-League Drake Woodard as well as Connor Garrett (who pretty much started at CB for Hobart from the Union game on). Kevin Hearon will also compete for time at the CB position opposite Woodard.

On special teams Hobart returns pretty much all their specialists save for long snapper.

H - Vella

K - Conor Callahan and Reyes Guevara

P - Karbowniczak

PR - Junior Woodard

KR - Dougherty and Webb

All in all, Hobart looks pretty good on paper. Questions will remain around whether or not the Statesmen can cure the ills that hurt them this season, mainly turnovers and penalties.

It's a long off-season, so a long way to go until then, but until next year – go 'Bart and thanks for reading!

Happy holidays.....

Seven Statesmen Named 1st Team All Liberty League, Worthington ROY

2010-11-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen football team was honored with seven first team selections to the All-Liberty League team today.

FY OLB/S Devin Worthington took home the "Rookie of the Year" award after leading the LL in tackles for loss and sacks. Worthington ranked 5th in nation in tackles for loss and 7th in sacks (based on NCAA data thru 11/6/10). His 19 tackles for loss ranks second all-time on the Hobart single-season list.

The Statesmen on the First Team consisted of the following players:

Offense
QB Doug Vella
RB Steven Webb
OL Brendan Hatlee*

Defense
LB Reggie Robinson
LB Devin Worthington
DB Drake Woodard*

Special Teams
RS Junior Woodard
*unanimous decision

Statesmen on the Second Team roster included:

Offense
WR Junior Woodard
FB Matt Howard
OL Art Garvey

Defense
DL Chris Luber
DB John Kelliher

Special Teams
P Yosh Karbowniczak

Statesmen receiving Honorable Mention included:

Offense:

WR Garth Muratori

Defense:
DL Nick Auriemma DL
LB Kyle O'Laughlin
DL James Rayhill

Special Teams:
K Conor Callahan

Congratulations to these Hobart honorees!

Hobart gamble doesn't pay off, loses to Rochester 35-34 in 2OT

2010-11-13T19:52:00.001-08:00

The Rochester Yellow Jackets came to Geneva this Saturday riding a league best three game winning streak while the Hobart Statesmen were looking to send off the 12 members of its football senior class with a win on Senior Day and Hall of Fame weekend.

The Statesmen would field a short kickoff and begin their first drive from their own 42 yard line. Hobart would use a balanced attack to get to the Yellow Jacket 10, but the Rochester defense would hold on third down forcing the hosts to settle for a 27 yard Conor Callahan field goal with 8:43 to play in the first.

The Yellow Jackets would take the ensuing possession on a short field as well, starting at their 49 yard line after a 24 yard kickoff by freshman Reyes Guevara. Rochester drove down the field and capped an eight play drive when quarterback Braezen Subick found Thomas Norman for a 10 yard touchdown pass with 3:56 to play in the first quarter. The White-Stellato point after was good posting the visitors to a 7-3 advantage.

The Statesmen and Jackets traded possessions until Hobart caught a break when Subick shanked a punt off the side of his foot for seven yards giving the Statesmen the ball on their own 47 yard line. Hobart made the most of the opportunity driving eight plays to the Rochester one yard line when on second down, freshman Steven Webb scored his 12th rushing TD of the season. The point after was good giving Hobart a 10-7 lead with 6:39 remaining in the first half.

Rochester would swarm right back however, converting two fourth down conversions to drive the ball to the Statesmen's eight yard line. On the 14th play of the drive Subick would connect with Norman for their second TD on the day, this time an eight yard pass on 3rd and goal. With the point after, the Jackets were back in front by a score of 14-10 with 16 seconds remaining in the first half.

To Hobart's credit, they made the most of the time remaining, taking another short kickoff to their 49 yard line. Quarterback Doug Vella would find wide receiver Garth Muratori on back-to-back 15 yard pass plays to advance the ball to the Rochester 21 with only four seconds to go in the half. Reyes Guevara would attempt his first career field goal and had just enough to convert the 38 yarder as time expired on the first half. The FG would pull the Statesmen within one, making the score 14-13 Rochester at the half.

The second half would be a defensive battle as both teams struggled to move the ball. Rochester however controlled the time of possession to a 10:24 to 4:36 advantage in the period.

The fourth quarter had an auspicious start for Hobart. Freshman Yosh Karbowniczak failed to convert a fake punt on fourth down giving Rochester the ball on the Hobart 43. The Statesmen would appear to catch a break however when three plays later Chris Bickford fumbled on a short yardage play giving Hobart the ball at the 35. The good luck would be short lived though as Vella would lose control of the ball on a play fake and fumble himself, returning the ball to right back to Rochester at the same spot the Statesmen initially received it.

The Jackets would fail to gain any yardage on their initial three snaps, running for no gain and throwing two incomplete passes setting up a 4th and 10. Subick would find Tony Messana for a 13 yard gain and a first down. On the ensuing first down, Subick would find Norman for the third TD of the day. This time on a 22 yard reception to make it 21-13 with 11:18 to play in the game.

The game would remain deadlocked at this point with both teams attempting and failing to convert fourth downs on successive drives. Hobart had the ball with a first and goal from the Rochester five yard line but failed to find the end zone. This gave the Yellow Jackets the ball with just over three minutes to play with a chance to ice the game – but from their own three.

Hobart would allow Rochester to escape the shadow of their goal line, but eventually clamp down leading to a critical fourth and one with 1:28 to play. Instead of punting the ball away, Yellow Jacket Scott Greene called for another Bickford short yardage play. The Statesmen stuffed the Rochester offense and gave the offense the ball on the Jacket 29 yard line.

Vella would drive the offense to the end zone, hitting Muratori twice on the drive – first on an improbable throw that bounced off a Hobart player's shoulder pads and went straight up in the air. Rochester, who looked poised to make the easy interception, somehow missed the ball and it dropped right into the hands of a prone Muratori, who had fallen to the turf, for a 20-yard gain. On the second pass, Vella hit Muratori for 12 yards and a TD. On the ensuing possession, Hobart's Junior Woodard was wide open in the end zone for the two point conversion, tying the game at 21 all with 34 seconds to play.

After a loss on the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, Rochester kneeled on the ball and the teams were headed to overtime.

The Yellow Jackets won the toss and elected to go on defense first. After completing two short passes, Vella handed off to Webb who took off for 22 yards and the TD. The point after was good and Hobart had a 28-21 lead.

Rochester would send the game into a second overtime when Subick called his own number on a one yard TD run.

The second overtime began with an incomplete pass from Subick, but he found Byron Saggese for 19 yards to the Hobart six. Three RJ Napadono rushes later and the Jackets were back on top 35-28.

The Statesmen called Webb's number for a three yard gain on first down, but the Rochester defense would throw Webb for a loss on second down. Facing a third and 10, Vella would scramble for eight yards setting up a 4th and 2 from the Rochester 17. On the ensuing play, Vella completed a 13 yard pass to junior Matt Marsh – his first catch of the season – which was good for a first and goal from the Jacket four.

Webb would score on the next play to make it 35-34. Head Coach Mike Cragg – who was honored at halftime along with his fellow Hobart Athletics Hall of Fame inductees – decided to play for the win.

Unfortunately, the Vella pass would be just out of reach for Muratori giving Rochester a 35-34 double overtime win. It was the first time Rochester had beaten Hobart since 2003, which was the last time the Statesmen only had five regular season wins, and only the second time in Hobart history the Statesmen had lost in overtime.

The Yellow Jackets were lead by Subick who completed 21-of-31 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns, all to junior tight end Thomas Norman who made seven catches for 76 yards.

The Yellowjacket defense kept Vella under pressure throughout the game, logging six sacks. Junior end Cainaan Webb led the charge counting three sacks among his five tackles. First-year linebacker Tony Ortega led Rochester with 10 stops (7 solo).

Vella was 22-of-35 for 222 yards and a TD. Muratori finished the game with 10 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. Webb rushed for a game-high 98 yards and three touchdowns.

The Hobart defense was led by senior linebacker and co-captain Kyle O’Laughlin and junior linebacker Reggie Robinson with 12 tackles a piece. First-year strong safety Devin Worthington added eight tackles and a sack. Senior free safety and co-captain John Kelliher had nine tackles and a forced fumble.

With its fourth straight win Rochester improves to 4-5 on the season and 3-3 in the league. Hobart drops to 5-4 overall (the first time Hobart hasn't won six games since 1999) and 3-3 in the league as well.

Although Hobart did receive an ECAC bid in 2003 with a 5-4 record (which they in turn took and defeated Norwich 34-18), that seems very unlikely given the number of teams with better records and the amount of bids submitted (only six teams will be given ECAC berths).

That said, barring a miracle tomorrow when ECAC games are announced, it would appear the 2010 Statesmen season is over.

More analysis to follow and you can catch further discussion on this game, the DIII national playoffs and much more tomorrow night on ITH - www.inthehuddlle.com - we're on at 7:30 PM ET.

Centennial Cup / Rochester Preview

2010-11-10T20:17:00.000-08:00

The Hobart Statesmen (5-3, 3-2) will be playing for pride and for a potential, but not guaranteed, shot at an ECAC “regional bowl” when they host their oldest rivals, the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets (3-5, 2-3). This Saturday at Boswell Field, the Statesmen will recognize their graduating senior class which includes the following student athletes:

7 WR Mike Lazore
18 SS Fernando Jones
21 FB Matt Howard
22 CB Nick Bianchi
29 FB Shlomo Gelernter
30 FS and Co-Capt John Kelliher
31 WR Kevin Grogan
39 OLB and Co-Capt Kyle O’Laughlin
55 OL and Co-Capt Sean Kluber
57 DE Chris Luber
64 OL and Co-Capt Kelvin Cruz
97 DE James Rayhill

Hobart and Rochester will face off for the “Centennial Cup” in the 103rd game between the two schools. The rivalry dates back to 1892 and the Statesmen have a slight 48-47-7 edge overall in the series, mostly in part to the fact Hobart has won six straight against the Yellow Jackets. The Statesmen defeated Rochester 34-20 at Fauver Stadium last season. The Yellow Jackets’ last win came in 2003, a 17-13 win at Boswell Field.

After a tough start to the 2010 season, including the loss of their All-League RB Clarence Onyiriuka, the Jackets have won their last three straight, including a dominating 34-14 win of LL champions Saint Lawrence (4-5, 4-1). In fact, including the 24-14 victory over Alfred (who won the Empire 8 after a convincing 31-16 win over Ithaca last Saturday); Rochester has knocked off two NCAA qualifiers in the last two weeks.

The Yellow Jackets defense has been the primary reason holding their last three opponents to only two touchdowns a game. The rush defense has also seen a resurgence as Rochester has allowed only 20 and 52 yards rushing, respectively, in the last two games.

Keys to the Game:

1. Turnovers – Hobart committed 4 turnovers in last week’s loss to RPI. The Statesmen had five turnovers in their loss to SLU. In general this category has really hurt Hobart all season and they are ranked at -7 in turnover margin, the worst in the LL. WEOS play-by-play man Ted Baker emailed me the following stats which shows that Hobart to the extent turnovers have steadily increased in the past few seasons:

2009: +3, ranked 4th in the LL in turnover margin
2008: +4, 3rd
2007: +18, 1st
2006: +4, 3rd
2005: +12, 1st
2004: +19, 1st
2003: +11, 2nd

On a more positive note, Hobart has been less turnover prone at home, e.g., of Doug Vella's 11 interceptions on the season, only two have occurred at Boswell Field.

2. Air it out – The Statesmen's #1 passing offense (averaging 235.1 YPG) should look to test Rochester’s pass defense given it ranks last in the LL allowing 206.4 YPG and 13 passing TDs (also last in the LL).

3. Bend, but don’t break – Hobart will need to brace itself for a Yellow Jacket offense that has risen to third in the conference gaining 302.9 YPG. In spite of this success, Rochester has only punched in 15 TDs, compared to the Statesmen’s 31. If the Hobart defense can clamp down – especially in the red zone where Rochester is second only to the Statesmen in red zone offense (75% - 15 scores, including 12 TDs and three FGs in 20 trips - compared to Hobart’s 80% - 17 TDs and three FGs on 25 trips) – the Statesmen should prevail.

4. Senior Day / Hall of Fame Weekend – Hobart is a much better home than road team and this weekend also marks Head Coach Mike Cragg’s induction into the Hobart Athletics Hall of Fame which is a rare and unique, but also well deserved, accomplishment for an active coach. Hobart has also not finished a regular season with less than six wins since 1999, so here’s hoping that trend continues on Saturday.

Prediction:

As I stated last Sunday on “In the HuddLLe” (www.inthehuddlle.com) I have to give a slight edge to Rochester given how well they have played in recent weeks. The Statesmen have been inconsistent during the same time frame – looking dominant, but letting Merchant Marine come back from a 23-0 deficit, dominating WPI, then turning the ball over four times against RPI en route to a heart breaking loss.

That said, I will take a leap of (partisan) faith and assume that Boswell Field, Senior Day, HOF weekend and the fact a potential berth into an ECAC game is on the line will allow the Statesmen to prevail in a close contest.

I’ll take Hobart to rebound and to win this weekend, 31-20.

Kickoff is 12 PM ET.

We’ll be recapping this game as well as welcoming the Chair of the DIII Football Championship Selection Committee onto “In the HuddLLe” as well as getting reactions to the ECAC bids (also out on Sunday night with Hobart hopefully getting a bid) so hope you can tune into our show at 7:30 PM ET on BlogTalkRadio.com!

Thanks for reading and go ‘Bart!

RPI kills Hobart's NCAA hopes on last second FG, Statesmen fall 24-21

2010-11-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

Both the Engineers and Statesmen looked to keep their NCAA playoff hopes alive when they faced off Saturday at the East Campus Athletic Village Saturday in Troy, NY.

The visitors struck first as Hobart drove 60 yards and capped an eight play drive when junior quarterback Doug Vella scored on a 1 yard run with 8:45 to play in the first quarter. The Statesmen's momentum looked to continue into the second quarter when the Hobart defense blocked a 29 yard Peter Nilson field goal attempt. Hobart would fail to cash in on the opportunity, as Vella had a pass batted down by RPI defensive lineman Darryl Brown and intercepted by Mike Kukesh.

Sophomore quarterback Mike Hermann would get the Engineers on the board completing a one play, 42 yard TD from WR Ray Davis on the option pass on the ensuing possession.

After the Nilson point after was good, the score was knotted at 7-7 with 9:34 to play in the second quarter. The Engineers would hit pay dirt again when Bryan Carmody hauled in a 3 yard pass from Hermann capping a 13 play, 71 yards drive with 22 seconds to play in the half. Although Hobart's Steven Webb's kickoff return gave the Statesmen (who still had all three time outs) a shot to score, Brown sacked Vella on the ensuing play and the Statesmen elected to kneel on the ball to end the half with the Engineers ahead by a score of 14-7

In the second half RPI would cash in on another Hobart miscue, this time on a muffed punt with the Statesmen backed up to their end zone. Dustin Schuld pounced on the ball for the touchdown giving the hosts a 21-7 advantage with 12:33 to play in the third quarter.

To Hobart's credit, they came back, overcoming a Vella fumble thanks to the Statesmen defense and special teams units. After holding RPI on their ensuing possession, Hobart returned the Engineer's punt to the 50 yard line. The Statesmen would drive the short field on nine plays leading to Vella's second TD run.

With the extra point made by freshman Reyes Guevara, who was filling in for junior kicker Conor Callahan, Hobart cut the Engineer lead to 21-14 with 3:25 to play in the third.

The remainder of the third and much of the fourth quarter would remain a defensive battle. The Statesmen would take advantage of another short field and drove 51 yards in six plays capped by Webb's first touchdown on the day, his 11th rushing touchdown of the season.

The score would tie the game at 21 a piece with only 1:20 remaining in the game.

Although the Hobart defense had been stout all game, Hermann lead the Engineers down the field to set up another potential game winner for Nilson, who kicked a 37 yarder two weeks ago to knock off then #20 Alfred.

Nilson hit the 34 yarder as time expired in the game and on the Statesmen's NCAA hopes. Saint Lawrence had lost earlier in the day, but the loss effectively handed the Saints the title and Hobart with its second year in a row of losing two LL games.

RPI was lead on offense by Hermann who passed for 181 yards and one touchdown. Just like last week, senior wide out Pat McCarthy was Hermann's favorite target, collecting six catches for 77 yards.

The Engineer “black shirt” defense was lead by graduate student Colin King with 10 tackles, but Ray Pasco (8 tackles, including 3 sacks and an interception) and Darryl Brown (8 tackles, one for a loss) also came up big for RPI.

Hobart was lead by Webb who gained 83 yards and a touchdown. Although Vella threw for 238 yards and accounted for two of Hobart's rushing TDs, he also was responsible for three turnovers in the game.

The Statesmen's defense was once again lead by freshman safety Devin Worthington who tallied eight tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks.

With the win RPI improves to 5-3, 3-2 in the league and Hobart drops to the same record. Next week the Statesmen host Rochester in Geneva for the annual Centennial Cup game. RPI wraps up its regular season in Kings Point, Long Island vs. the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

We'll be recapping this game, among others, tomorrow night on In the HuddLLe (www.inthehuddlle.com).

RPI Game Preview

2010-11-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (5-2, 3-1) will take on another group of Engineers, this time the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (4-3, 2-2), on Saturday in Troy, NY. The Statesmen’s league leading scoring and total offense will look to best the league’s current #1 scoring and #2 total defense in Saturday’s showdown at the “ECAV”. RPI is holding their opposition to 16.3 points per game (PPG) and has allowed the fewest number of touchdowns (15 TDs) in the Liberty League.

Last year Hobart blanked the Engineers by a score of 10-0 at Boswell Field in a defensive struggle that saw both offenses complete only two third down conversions (out of 32) the entire game. Overall the Statesmen and RPI have faced off 52 times since 1910 with the Engineers enjoying a slight edge in the series (26-25-1), but Hobart has had RPI’s number of late. The Statesmen went 8-2 vs. the Engineers in the last decade and haven’t lost to the men from Troy since former QB Jimmy Robertson took advantage of a soft Hobart prevent defense to the tune of 67 yards in 35 seconds to lead the Engineers a 35-31 victory in the final 48 seconds of that game.

This season RPI is lead on offense by SO QB Mike Hermann. This QB is a big guy (6’ 6”, 240 lbs) who is first in the LL in total offense with 212.7 yards per game (YPG). Hermann has passed for 1159 yards, including nine passing touchdowns compared to five interceptions. Hermann is also a threat to run the ball and currently ranks seventh in rushing in the LL, posting 330 yards rushing and one touchdown on the season.

Hermann’s favorite target is SR WR Pat McCarthy who racked up LL Offensive Player of the Week honors due to a game-high eight catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns in last weekend’s “Dutchman Shoes” game, a 21-7 victory over Union College (2-5, 2-3). McCarthy is complimented by a duo of dynamic receivers including SO WR Austin Caswell (24 catches for 218 yards and four TDs) and SR WR Ray Davis (13 catches for 130 yards and one TD).

When Hermann is not passing or calling his own number in the running game, the Engineers feature a tandem of backs. SO RB Matt Wood has carried the ball 54 times for 220 yards and SR RB Nick Costa has carried 68 times for 202 yards. Both Wood and Costa have scored one rushing touchdown a piece. Wood also handles return duties for the Engineers.

On defense the Engineers are lead by SR LB Jeff McCormick who’s tallied 72 total tackles including six and a half tackles for a loss (TFL) and a sack. Graduate student and LB Colin King, nephew of RPI HC Joe King, has added 56 tackles including five TFL and a sack and an interception.

Special teams is also a strength of RPI as they boast one of the LL’s best kickers, SR Peter Nilson, who is tied for first in field goal percentage making seven of 11 tries with a long of 37 yards.

Keys to the game:
1. Turnovers – RPI ranks second in the LL with a +4 turnover margin. Last season Hobart took advantage of two Engineer turnovers – first being a fumble on a punt that set up a 28 yard Conor Callahan FG and the second being a John Kelliher interception of Hermann at the Hobart 46 and returning it 43 yards to the RPI 11. A few plays later, RB Andrew Marlier ‘10 punched in the only TD for either team on the day. Hermann was picked three times in last year’s contest, but he’s a year older and wiser coming into this game. Although Hermann trails Vella in passing yards, touchdowns and efficiency; the SO has thrown four less interceptions than the Hobart QB.

2. Balance – Hobart and RPI’s rushing and pass defense are virtually even, with the Engineers allowing a few less YPG than the Statesmen. The difference in the game could be Hobart’s passing attack as the Statesmen are currently #1 in the LL averaging 233 YPG thru the air. That said I wouldn’t be surprised to see a defensive struggle with Hobart having to grind out tough yards like they did in 2009. Hobart racked up 156 yards rushing in that game. The Engineers made the passing game virtually non-existent holding QB Doug Vella to a season low 37 yards passing and an interception. However, RPI has only allowed five rushing TDs this season, so FY RB Steven Webb may not see the end zone as much as he has in prior weeks, thus putting the game in the hands of Vella and his trio of WRs Muratori, Woodard and Lazore. Last season Hobart negated McCarthy holding him to only two catches for 14 yards. If the Statesmen can force Hermann to try and run the ball himself, we could see some hurried throws (or fumbles) that could lead to turnovers for RPI.

3. Focus (i.e., just win) – The Statesmen will likely know the outcome of the Rochester vs. Saint Lawrence game as early as the first quarter given the later kickoff against RPI (this game is 2 pm start, while the Saints and Jackets game starts at 12 pm). It is possible that the Statesmen could have a letdown if the Saints win and know their NCAA hopes are dashed. Obviously the Statesmen would be bolstered by a Saints loss, but it is my hope that Hobart will remain focused regardless of the outcome.

Prediction:
I think this game will come down to quarterback play and the respective defenses. Hobart put together one its most dominant defensive games of the season forcing five WPI turnovers, including a fumble return for a TD. RPI’s defensive is equally stout and hasn’t given up more than three touchdowns all season since a 42-21 loss to Utica College back in September. By comparison, the Engineer offense is only averaging 15 PPG, less than half what the Statesmen have been scoring each week.

Needless to say, something’s got to give in this game.

That said I’ll take Hobart in close one 24-17 and hope the Saints get stung by Yellow Jackets keeping Hobart’s NCAA hopes on life support until the regular season finale.

Robinson, defense leads Statesmen past Engineers, 38-13

2010-11-01T09:56:00.001-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (5-2, 3-1) used a combination of turnovers and a balanced offensive game to defeat visiting WPI (3-5, 1-4) last Saturday at Boswell Field.

It was a very impressive defensive performance by the Statesmen who ended up collecting seven turnovers off of the Engineers including three interceptions, two fumbles, and two stands on 4th down. Hobart also held the #1 rushing offense in WPI to only 116 yards - a season low for the Engineers.

JR LB Reggie Robinson made several big plays including returning a 41 yard interception return to the WPI 9 yard line which set up FY RB Steven Webb's second TD on the day. Robinson also forced a fumble that was returned 53 yards by FY S Devin Worthington to post the Statesmen to 21-0 halftime lead. This fumble return for a TD was the longest by a Statesman in over 10 years!

SR S John Kelliher returned from injury and had two interceptions off of the newly minted WPI starting QB Johny Antonopolous (who was a lone bright spot for the Engineers rushing for 52 yards and passing for 198 and two TDs). SR LB Kyle O'Laughlin lead the Hobart defense with 10 tackles and a forced fumble.

Although WPI out gained the Statesmen 324 yards to 294, most of that yardage came in "garbage time" with the Statesmen ahead by a comfortable margin.

While the Hobart offense did struggle a bit (only accumulating 137 passing yards) against the #1 pass defense in the nation; given the field position and big plays afforded by the defense, didn't matter at the end of the day. The Statesmen rushed for 163 yards and were lead by Steven Webb (12 carries for 60 yards and two TDs). Webb's classmate, FB Juan O'Farrill scored his first career TD and SO RB Bobby Dougherty scored a TD as well.

Perhaps my favorite stat of the game is this one:

Penalties: Number-Yards 4-30

This tied the season low for number of penalties and was the lowest amount of penalty yards that the Statesmen have been flagged for all season. Hopefully this will become the norm for Hobart going forward.

Looking ahead

WEOS play-by-man Ted Baker got Coach Cragg to state that the ECACs "were possibility" for the Statesmen this year in the event Saint Lawrence (4-4, 4-0) wins one of its last two games and thus clinching the Liberty League title. The Statesmen will need to win out as well to benefit from a SLU stumble for a NCAA berth.

The Saints' next opponent is the Rochester Yellow Jackets (2-5, 1-3) who upset #20 Alfred University (6-2, 3-0) 24-14 at Alfred last Saturday.

Hobart will travel to league rival RPI (4-3, 2-2) who regained the "Dutchman Shoes" trophy from rival Union College (2-5, 2-3) at the ECAV in Troy, NY.

I'll have more on that game later this week - you can also catch a preview of said game from the "In the HuddLLe" (http://www.inthehuddlle.com/) archive.

Until then, thanks and go 'Bart!

WPI Game Preview

2010-10-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

It will be another case of the unstoppable force vs. the immovable object when Hobart and their Liberty League (LL) leading scoring offense, averaging 31.5 points per game (PPG), faces the leading scoring defense (14.7 PPG – good for top 20 in all of DIII) of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute this Saturday at Boswell Field.

After a promising start to 2010, WPI (3-4, 1-3) has stumbled of late losing three in a row after a somewhat surprising 24-10 victory over RPI on 9/25. The Statesmen (4-2, 3-1) lead the all-time series 6-0 and defeated the Engineers with relative ease last season in Worcester by a 41-20 margin.

That said WPI has a new head coach in Chris Robertson who specializes in defense. WPI’s pass defense is tops in the league allowing only 100.9 YPG through the air. The Engineers also lead the LL in total defense (240.7 YPG) and have only allowed 13 touchdowns over seven games.

SO LB Chris O’Connor leads all WPI defenders with 52 total tackles, while SRs DL Brendan Gove and co-captains LB Michael Oliveri and FS Jack Mulhern have 39, 33 and 31 tackles, respectively. Gove and Oliveri also both have 2.5 sacks a piece on the year.

Another area that WPI excels in is turnover margin, where they lead the LL with an impressive +12 compared to Hobart’s -7 (second to last in the LL). They are also the second least penalized team in the LL whereas the Statesmen are the most. JR DB John Perron is third in the LL with 4 interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.

That said the problem for WPI in recent weeks has been the offense, which has averaged less than 14 PPG during their current losing streak. The Engineers are last in the LL in passing, throwing for a paltry 81 YPG. However, where the Engineers excel is in the running game, where they are currently #1 in the LL averaging 190.9 YPG. By comparison Hobart is second with 154.3 YPG. The WPI rushing attack is lead by JR RB Ernie Mello who has racked up 530 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Mello leads the LL in yards per carry (5.2). JR QB Pat McAuley has gone 58 for 133 for 533 passing yards, including 5 TD and 4 INT. The JR QB has also rushed for 311 yards and 1 touchdown.

On special teams, JR PK Cody Beckel has booted eight FGs on the season, which is good for a #2 ranking in the LL, with a long of 30 yards.

Keys to game:
1. Shut down the run; force the pass – WPI will likely focus on rushing the ball so look for Hobart to stack the line with their linebackers and blitz FY S Devin Worthington regularly. The Statesmen will likely bring pressure on most plays, but need to be careful not to get sloppy on contain assignments if McAuley decides to run. If Hobart is successful in limiting the run game, the Statesmen could have some opportunities to pick off McAuley given his relative inexperience as a passing QB.

2. Avoid turnovers and penalties – Hobart’s achilles heel has been this category all season and it will likely ultimately cost them a NCAA berth if they lose another game and/or Saint Lawrence doesn’t win one of its last two games. Given WPI’s opportunistic defense’s ability to force turnovers, the Statesmen will need to be extra careful with the ball. The interceptions last week in the MMA game gave the Mariners new life in a game that Hobart otherwise was completely dominating.

3. Run to set up play action – Last season Statesmen QB Doug Vella only completed nine passes against this Engineer team, but did throw for 192 yards and a touchdown. Vella was fairly effective last week, other than the two interceptions in the third quarter, throwing for 305 yards and four touchdowns. I imagine JR WR Garth Muratori will get more looks downfield given last week’s 129 yard and three touchdown performance against MMA, but given the strength of the WPI pass defense, it may make sense for Vella to hand the ball off and look for shorter patterns to his TEs and RBs coming out of the backfield. Hopefully Steven Webb and the stable of Statesmen runners will get many opportunities to carry the ball. Last season Hobart had eight different ball carriers en route to a 198 yard rushing day that tallied five rushing touchdowns.

Prediction:

I like Hobart to get another win at the “Boz” this weekend as they hang on for dear life in the LL playoff race. WPI’s defense will be tough, but the Engineer offense just isn’t potent enough to keep up with the Statesmen’s.

Therefore, I’ll take Hobart 28-14 in this one. Kickoff is Saturday at noon. Game notes are up and can be accessed here:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/documents/2010/10/27/WPInotes.pdf

Go ‘Bart!

SO QB Nick Strang Out for the Season - More MMA Game Highlights

2010-10-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

I received word that the mononucleosis that has befallen SO QB Nick Strang will sideline him for the remainder of the 2010 season. Looks like JR QB Doug Vella will retain his starting role (and let's hope his knee holds up!).

HWS also has posted these highlight clips from last Saturday's MMA game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lmSewg8qIE&feature=player_embedded#1

Will have a WPI game preview up in the next 48 hours.

Go 'Bart!

Hobart builds big lead but turnovers keep it close against the Merchant Marine, 40-33

2010-10-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (4-2, 3-1) won their seventh straight over the United States Merchant Marine Academy (3-5, 2-2) in mixed fashion this past Saturday in Kings Point, Long Island.

The Statesmen looked completely in control early on in the game en route to jumping out to 23-0 lead behind a 24 yard FY RB Steven Webb TD run, a FY S Devin Worthington sack that lead to a two point safety and two JR QB Doug Vella (who started given SO QB Nick Strang was apparently out with mono) to JR WR Garth Muratori TD passes for 41 and 23 yards.

To the Mariners credit, they didn't go away quietly and responded with 13 of their own unanswered points to pull within 10 with 4:16 to play in the first half. The second of these two scores came off a Hobart fumble - the first of three turnovers on the day - which gave the MMA the ball on the Statesmen 21 yard line. SO RB JL Gosselin would run untouched to the end zone on the ensuing play.

Muratori would get the "hat trick" when he caught his third TD pass from Vella with 35 seconds to go in the half to post the Statesmen to a 30-13 lead. The plucky Mariners however would notch a 41 yard FG to go into the half down 30-16.

The second half started off promising for the Statesmen thanks to Vella's fourth TD pass of the day, this time to SR WR Mike Lazore for a 27 yard TD. Unfortunately, Vella's otherwise solid performance was marred by two back-to-back interceptions allowed the Mariners with short fields and enabled them to crawl back into the game. The MMA would score on both possessions - the first a SR RB Karl Heimbrock three yard TD run and the second a 31 yard FG - to pull within nine points of the Statesmen with 5:58 to play in the third.

The Hobart offense would close out their day with a short Conor Callahan FG late in the fourth quarter, but the Mariner offense would make things interesting after a 13 yard Ventre to Dunn TD pass would pull the MMA within a TD with 2:39 to play in the game. The Statesmen would recover the onside kick and almost run out the clock, but the Mariners did get one last play with four seconds to go. Fortunately after a lateral, SR LB Kyle O'Laughlin tackled the ball carrier and ensured the Hobart victory, 40-33.

Analysis

I have to view this game from two perspectives:

Glass half full - Hobart truly dominated in the first half and once again finished with over 400 yards of total offense. Vella connected on 18 of 33 attempts passing for 305 yards, finding Muratori for three of his four TD throws. The defense forced two fumbles and a safety and Devin Worthington (2.5 sacks) and Reggie Robinson (10 tackles) were down right unstoppable.

Glass half empty - Vella once again threw some questionable passes that lead to easy interceptions for MMA which allowed them to stay in the game. The Statesmen continued to play sloppy football, getting flagged 10 times for 83 yards. The team was particularly inept in the third quarter (when the two interceptions occurred) losing the time of possession battle by a 11:12 to 3:48 margin.

Hobart posted a short but interesting interview of Coach Cragg following the game which can be accessed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8MXMLiRClo&feature=player_embedded

Bottom line

With only three weeks of the regular season to go Hobart is already on the brink of NCAA elimination. Saint Lawrence (4-4, 4-0) continues to sweep it's Liberty League opposition, most recently taking down RPI (3-3, 1-2) 14-3 on Saturday. Unless the Saints lose their FINAL TWO GAMES (against 1-5 Rochester and 3-4 WPI), Hobart is out of the NCAA conversation for the second consecutive season.

That said, I am guessing Hobart will continue to play out their schedule with the goal of finishing 7-2. While it's not certain whether the team will put in a bid for a possible ECAC game based on last year's experience, the only hope for the Statesmen at this point is keeping winning and for SLU to somehow shoot themselves in the foot down the home stretch.

Hobart vs. Merchant Marine Preview

2010-10-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

I had a full travel week for work so my attempt at a mid season review and a full on preview for this week was thwarted. Below is a quick synopsis of this weekend's game and more information can be gleaned from the Hobart game notes which were posted earlier today:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/documents/2010/10/20/MMAnotes.pdf

The Hobart Statesmen (3-2, 1-1) resume the 2010 season coming off their bye week to face the Mariners of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (3-4, 2-1) in Kings Point, Long Island. The Statesmen have four games remaining on their schedule and need to win out and hope Saint Lawrence, now 3-0 in the League after a 23-14 triumph over Union College, loses at least one LL game in the next four weeks.

This weekend SLU will face RPI (2-2, 1-1) who upset then #21 Alfred (5-1) after SR PK Peter Nilson connected on a 37 yard FG with less than 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. The Engineers held onto the 27-24 victory and will host Hobart in Troy, NY in two weeks.

After struggling with injuries and an early season losing streak, the USMMA has won two in a row, outscoring their opposition 74-27 over that same time period. That said, the Statesmen have enjoyed a six game win streak over the Mariners, and have shut them out twice since 2007. Needless to say, when we interviewed USMMA Coach Mike Toop last Sunday on “In the HuddLLe” (www.inthehuddLLe.com) he was very focused on getting on the board against Hobart.

The Mariners recently overhauled their offense to a triple option and so far the move has paid off. The Statesmen have not played any triple option schools this season; the closest would have been the Wing T they saw at Carnegie Mellon.

The USMMA’s rushing attack is lead by SO RB JL Gosselin (had a career high 157 yards against Rochester last weekend) and SR co-captain and RB Karl Heimbrock, who just returned from a knee injury. QB Derrek Ventre rarely throws, but is generally accurate when he does.

The Mariners defense has given up some big points - particularly in the 64-0 undressing by Springfield College - and in the past has been susceptible to the Statesmen passing game.

A few interesting observations based on the 2 deep are as follows:

•It appears as though Doug Vella’s knee still has not healed (he's not listed on the travel roster) so it appears as though SO QB Nick Strang is set for his second straight start
•SR Co-captain and FS John Kelliher is also not in the line up for the defensive backfield. FY Chad Dorrance will start at FS as will FY CB Connor Garrett.
•SR Kyle O’Laughlin will stay at OLB and SO LB Andrew Klindera will remain as the starting ILB.

Keys to game:

1. Bend but don’t break vs. the triple option - At 5' 10" and 225 lbs, JL Gosselin is a load and a quick one at that (he claimed to run a 4.5 40 yard dash when we interviewed him after the WPI win on ITH). If Hobart's defense can bottle up Gosselin, they'll be on their way to ensuring a seventh straight win over the USMMA.
2. Remember the shut outs - The Statesmen's D has had some of its best days against this Mariner squad, so they should be very confident. Hopefully Hobart will channel that energy into Saturday's game, but I don't expect them to have as easy a time with the triple option....
3. Continue to focus on fundamentals – Hobart leads the Liberty League in penalties received and is second to last with a -6 turnover margin. Simply put, the Statesmen have to quit turning the ball over and making as many mental mistakes as they have in the prior five games if they expect to have a shot at winning their next four games and have a shot at going back to the NCAAs.

Prediction:

Given the past history of this series I like Hobart's chances, but nothing is a guarantee this year. The USMMA will likely get some yards and a few scores but I don't think their defense can keep up with a Hobart offense that's averaging over 400 yards and nearly 30 points per game.

That said I'll take the Statesmen in this one 31-19.

Kickoff is at 1 PM ET on WEOS.

Go 'Bart!

SO QB Nick Strang Scores Six TDs as Statesmen Outlast Union in 2OT, 41-34

2010-10-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (3-2, 1-1) breathed new life into their 2010 season overcoming six turnovers to defeat the Union College Dutchmen (2-2, 1-1). The Statesmen began this pivotal game with several key players out due to injury including SR Co-captain and S John Kelliher and starting QB JR Doug Vella.

Stepping in for Vella was SO QB Nick Strang. Needless to say we may have a QB controversy after this performance.

Both teams exchanged possessions in a scoreless first quarter. The fireworks began early in the second as Hobart jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to a 61 yard and 20 yard receptions by WRs Junior Woodard and Garth Muratori, respectively.

Union would respond with their own long TD pass, as JR QB Drew Connolly used his feet to improvise until he found SR RB Chris Coney on a 46 yarder to make it 14-7. Strang fired right back, finding JR TE Greg Clifford on a 42 yard strike to push the Statesmen lead to 21-7. The Dutchmen would score again almost immediately as Connolly turned another broken play into a 65 yard SR WR Justin Gallo TD. The PAT failed and the 21-13 score stood at halftime.

The tide turned in Union's favor in the second half as the SO QB from Hopewell Junction made a few rookie mistakes and the Dutchmen converted blocked Hobart FG into points. Union posted a five yard TD run by Coney as well as a another Connolly to Gallo TD to post Union to a 28-21 lead, its first of the game, early in the fourth quarter.

Strang would rebound and find Junior Woodard for a 70 yard TD catch and run to tie it at 28-28. Another turnover would threaten to break the Statesmen, as a (what would appeared to have been a downed) Hobart receiver was stripped of the ball by Union S JP Sticco and returned for a 49 TD, posting the Dutchmen to a 35-28 lead with only 2:58 to play in the game.

That would be plenty of time for Strang to lead the Statesmen offense down the field. The drive covered 59 yards and was capped by another Muratori TD reception, this time for 10 yards with just under a minute to play.

Not surprisingly Coach Cragg would go for broke, opting to go for two and the Statesmen succeeded until an illegal formation penalty (one of seven times Hobart was flagged - costing them -75 yards) killed the conversion. Callahan would convert on a 25 yard PAT to tie it. Callahan had missed FG attempts from 42 yards and had a 25 yarder blocked in the third quarter.

Union kicker Blaise Ancona missed a 55 yard FG attempt as time expired so the Statesmen and Dutchmen headed into overtime for the second time in the past six seasons.

Union won the toss and elected to start on defense - a move which almost paid off when Strang's fourth interception killing Hobart's initial drive. The Dutchmen would fail to take advantage, missing a potentially game winning 37 yard FG and giving the Statesmen the chance to win the game on the final possession of the second OT.

Ironically, on a day when Hobart turned over the ball six times, it would be a Union turnover - a fumble by Justin Gallo that gave the Statesmen the chance to win the game. Strang would score his sixth and final TD of the day on a seven yard rush up the middle to win it for Hobart, 41-34.

Strang finished his first start going 19-of-29 for 405 yards (good for third on Hobart's all time game record list), tying the Hobart record with five TD passes (which was set by Shawn Mizro '07 who had five TDs vs. Union in the 2004 OT thriller). He also rushed for 93 yards and the game winner making his 498 yards of total offense a single game record and his 12.4 yards per play average the highest in history for a single game.

Strang’s top target was Woodard, who caught five passes for 182 yards and two TD. His total ranks third on the single game receiving yards list.

Defensively, FY S Devin Worthington led the way with 12 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. SR OLB Kyle O’Laughlin and JR LB linebacker Reggie Robinson each had 11 tackles, Robinson also collected an interception.

Although Coney produced his 20th career 100-yard rushing game, finishing with 120 yards and a touchdown, this was his lowest output against the Statesmen. Connolly, who initially started 0 for 9, eventually went 13-of-29 for 248 yards and three TDs. Gallo lead all Dutchmen receivers with six catches for 141 yards and two TDs.

The Dutchmen defense was led by Anthony Cassese’s 11 tackles, while Alex Macchio and JP Sticco each logged two interceptions. Sticco accounted for the defensive TD on the fumble recovery.

With the loss the Dutchmen will need to beat first place Saint Lawrence (2-4, 2-0) next weekend to stay in the LL race. Hobart is idle until Oct 23 when they travel to Kings Point, Long Island to face the US Merchant Marine Academy (2-4, 1-1).

Analysis

This was probably the most exciting game in the past 20 years for Hobart fans. The 2004 OT game against Union arguably had more at stake, but that one didn't boast over 1,000 yards of offense and 10 TDs!!!

Still, the Statesmen got very lucky given how sloppily they played at times, what with all the turnovers (6) and penalties (-75 yards). So far this season Hobart has been flagged 39 times for -330 yards!! Compare that to the 2008 NCAA playoff team that was flagged 58 times for 478 yards IN 11 GAMES.

If Hobart is going to have hope at running the table in the LL and returning to the NCAAs, they really need to improve on the mental mistakes, turnovers and penalties.

Credit should go to this team for hanging in there and not getting down, especially when things started to go awry in the third quarter. Hobart's defense also played a really great game, practically shutting down the Union offense in the first quarter other than the blown coverages on the two first half TD plays.

Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether this Hobart offense can improve itself in putting up more points per game. It was pretty incredible that even with over 600 yards in total offense, Hobart found itself tailing late in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps with more reps, Strang will become a more consistent player and ultimately take this offense to the next level? In the meantime, it would appear Doug Vella's starting job is tenous at best. I don't know how the Statesmen coaching staff could bench a player after having such a big coming out party? Time, and practice over the next two weeks leading up to the MMA game will tell.

You can catch an interview with Nick Strang on yesterday's archived broadcast of In the HuddLLe (www.inthehuddLLe.com) and a tape delayed broadcast on WHWS 105.7 FM LP in Geneva (our first "affiliate", pretty cool if you ask me!).

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Union Game Preview - It's Now or Never for Hobart

2010-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (2-2, 0-1) host league rival Union College (2-1, 2-0) in what amounts to a must win game. Union has had the Statesmen’s number as of late, defeating Hobart three times in the past four seasons, including last year’s 31-20 victory in Schenectady (a game I had the pleasure of attending in person, at least for the first half). The Dutchmen lead the all-time series 50-41-2. Union and Hobart first squared off in 1896, making the Dutchmen the second oldest active Statesmen rival. The Statesmen’s last victory over the Garnet was back on November 3, 2007 when Hobart prevailed 30-20 at Union’s Frank Bailey Field.

This season Union has several key offensive players for the Statesmen defense to stop, but none that have given them as many fits as SR RB Chris Coney. Coney has burned the Statesmen for a grand total of 357 yards rushing and four TDs in his career. Coney leads the LL in rushing with 392 yards this season (130.7 YPG/average). JR QB Drew Connolly is 2-0 versus Hobart and has passed for 388 yards and five TDs against the Statesmen defense over that same time period.

Connolly is currently third in the LL in passing (154.7 YPG/average) and fourth in total offense (179 YPG/average). The JR QB has passed for 464 yards (34 completions on 75 attempts) with four TDs and 3 INTs. Connolly’s favorite target is the fleet footed SR WR Justin Gallo, the same Gallo who smoked the Hobart secondary for three TDs and 268 yards in last year’s match up. This year, Gallo has collected 15 passes for 233 yards and one TD. Gallo’s numbers make him the leader in receptions and receiving yards (77.7 YPG/average) per game in the LL. Gallo’s younger brother, JR WR Connor, has caught eight balls for 135 yards and two receiving TDs.

Coney eventually broke an otherwise stout WPI (3-2, 1-1) defense to the tune of 197 rushing yards (the 15th time Coney has broken the 100 yard milestone in his career) and combined with Connolly for four second half touchdowns to help Union rally back from a 14-0 third quarter deficit to defeat the Engineers 25-17 in Worcester last Saturday.

On defense the Dutchmen are lead by a duo of LBs SR AJ Rocchio (27 tackles, one TFL and one sack) and JR Steve Modliszewski (21 tackles, 1.5 TFL) and SR S Anthony Cassese (24 tackles, 1 INT).

Keys to the Game:
1. Contain Coney – The SR RB from Florida is the spark that fuels the Dutchmen offense. If the Statesmen are going to still be relevant in the LL race, they need to control Coney, tackle at first contact and penetrate the backfield much better than they did against Saint Lawrence.

2. Put Pressure on Connolly – Last weekend Connolly struggled mightily against a tough WPI defense and was held to a mere 52 yards passing, including two INTs. Hobart did not get any meaningful pass rush going against SLU (0 sacks) and it cost them – particularly on third and fourth downs – in key spots in the game. Although Hobart’s JR CB Drake Woodard tallied an interception against the Saints, the Statesmen failed to capitalize on that opportunity. If Hobart has success bottling up Coney, I am not sure if Connolly can win the game for the Dutchmen – the only caveat being if Gallo goes off again beats the secondary deep like he did three times in 2009.

3. Avoid (all those big) mistakes – Hobart has killed themselves the past two games losing turnover battles (-2, not including the blocked punt, vs. SJFC and -4 vs. SLU) and have been flagged 10 times for 115 yards over that same time period. Clearly the Statesmen can’t afford to make that many mistakes and expect to defeat the better teams in their league or otherwise. Hopefully Hobart has learned from the past two weeks and will play smarter against the Dutchmen – not to mention recalling the blown coverage that Gallo capitalized on en route to last year’s 268 yard and three TD performances.

4. Better play calling and execution – The Statesmen offense didn’t do itself any favors with the play calling in the SLU game. While I am willing to give the Saints defense the credit they deserve in bottling up FY RB Steven Webb, Hobart really should have moved away from the shotgun formation, especially in the second half. Vella is not really cut out to be a pure drop back passer like his predecessors (e.g., Doyle ‘09, Strom ‘08 and Mizro ‘07) so I would recommend his taking more snaps directly behind center and working short to intermediate routes to his RBs, FBs (FY Juan O’Farrill had a key reception that teed up the Webb TD in the fourth quarter) and WRs given he under threw several longer ones in last Saturday’s contest en route to his four interceptions. It would also be nice to see Hobart get some TE play going but it doesn’t appear that offensive coordinator Kevin DeWall ’00 has much confidence in his TEs other than blocking. So far Statesmen TEs have only one catch on the season - JR TE Greg Clifford tallied a five yard catch against Dickinson in the season opener.

5. Get on the board and go for the kill – The Union defense has not allowed a TD in over 90 minutes of football, so Hobart needs to be aggressive on defense to capitalize on Dutchmen turnovers as well as punch in some offensive scores early to get their confidence back after last weekend’s debacle in Canton. In the recent past it has been the Dutchmen who have found ways to win in these slug fests. Hobart needs to take a page from that book and find a way to put the game away if and when they have the opportunity to do so.

Prediction:

I am in a bit of quandary here given after the last two weeks, I am now unsure which Hobart team is going to show up on Saturday? The team from the first two games played virtually mistake-free, team and opportunistic football; making plays on all facets (i.e., offense, defense and special teams) of the game. The last two games the Statesmen have been the complete opposites of the team from Games 1 and 2.

That said, Hobart has not lost three straight since a similar skid ended the 1997 season when the Statesmen fell to Ithaca, Hartwick and RPI – the latter two by a mere three combined points. The Statesmen have traditionally played the Dutchmen tough at the Boz but actually haven’t beaten Union at home since 2004. That game was a thrilling 33-27 comeback and overtime victory that clinched Hobart’s and the first ever Liberty League championship behind a record setting 339 passing yards and five passing TDs by then SO QB Shawn Mizro.

Union is always a tough out, but they have had the Statesmen’s number as of late and I am certain they probably relish the opportunity to potentially provide the proverbial knockout punch to one of their primary league rivals, on Hobart’s home court no less.

Given Statesmen’s struggles and inconsistent play I am reticent to pick Hobart in this one (and trust me, this pains me a lot). That said I am going to have to swallow my Statesmen pride and pick Union 28-24.

Hobart has the most to lose this Saturday and hopefully they’ll play like their lives depend on it (because let’s be honest, in the event Hobart loses, it’s basically game over for the Statesmen for 2010). A loss in this game would certainly mean another year without a NCAA or post season berth, unless budgets (and final season records) provide Hobart with a possible ECAC game (i.e., the DIII equivalent to the NIT or “lower tier bowl game”).

If Hobart can win the game, they remain statistically viable to regain the LL title via various tie breaker scenarios down the road.

My classmate and friend, Matt Smith ’94 will be making the trip to Hobart all the way from Korea so I hope he brings some luck with him from the Far East. My colleague and co-host of “In the HuddLLe” Frank Rossi will be on the call for WABY AM, but I’ll probably have to go with Ted Baker and the WEOS broadcast as usual.

If the Statesmen ever (desperately) needed a win, it’s Saturday. Kickoff is at 12 PM ET.

Until then, good luck and go ‘Bart!

Saint Lawrence Recap

2010-10-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

All good things must come to an end, but I honestly wasn't expecting Saint Lawrence to break Hobart's 18 game winning streak this weekend. To the Saints credit, they made the big plays necessary to win the game.

The SLU defense basically shut down the Statesmen's running game and it was apparent later in the second half that the offense didn't quite know what to do and seemed to rely on running out of the shotgun formation (not a great option in my opinion).

Vella's four interceptions definitely were a back breaker but some of the blame could fall on the Statesmen defense who blew a few key one on one assignments (the Walker TDs) and rarely sacked Saint QB JP Kearney - particularly on third and fourth down when the Saints scored their first and last TDs.

That said, it's clear the Statesmen weren't 100% focused given six penalties for 70 yards - the final one giving the Saints the ball on the Hobart 35 with under two minutes to play and the game on the line.

Hobart was sloppy and deserved to lose, but ironically, even after the Sutton 33 yard TD catch; the Statesmen had one more chance to either tie or win the game. Fittingly, Vella was picked off twice when he under threw his receivers and the Saints hung on to win the game.

The bottom line is Hobart failed to protect the ball (-4 in turnover margin), continued their struggles on third down going six for 15 (40%), had zero sacks and failed to convert their only interception on defense into points.

I can only imagine how long a bus ride it was for the team last Saturday and this weekend it doesn't get any easier. The 0-1 hole means that for all intents and purposes, Union is a "must win" if Hobart harbors any hopes to make it back to the NCAAs. Even then, a win against Union is no guarantee the chips would fall into place for the Statesmen, who's only hope in winning the league (and the accompanying automatic bid) would be the (somewhat complex) LL tiebreaker rules.

Basically Hobart has to win out from here forward, but the Dutchmen have beaten Hobart three of the past four seasons, including two straight and are the de facto defending league champions.

I'll have more to say on this weekend's Union match up but unless the Statesmen correct some basic fundamentals, I think a third and season ending loss may be in store for Hobart....

Statesmen Stunned by Saints, 24-21

2010-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Four Doug Vella interceptions and a number of missed opportunties knocked off the Hobart Statesmen (2-2, 0-1) in Canton, NY. Saint Lawrence (2-3, 2-0) scored on three SR QB JP Kearney TD passes to defeat Hobart for the first time since 1991. It was also the first time since 2003 that the Statesmen have lost two consecutive games.

I'll have more analysis on this one later this week, but needless to say, Hobart's young season may already be over with this shocking defeat- their NCAA hopes potentially are with this loss barring certain LL tiebreaker scenarios.

Congrats to the Saints who all of a sudden are tied with Union, winners over WPI by the score of 25-17, for 2-0 in the LL.

Liberty League Opener - Saint Lawrence Game Preview

2010-09-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (2-1, 0-0) open their league play against one of their oldest rivals, the Saint Lawrence University Saints (1-3, 1-0). The Saints and Statesmen have squared off 82 times since 1901 with Hobart enjoying a 44-36-2 series lead. The Statesmen's series advantage has been bolstered in recent years, as Hobart hasn't lost to SLU since 1991 – the longest active winning streak (18) against any opponent.

Last season the Statesmen defeated the Saints 33-10 at Boswell Field to earn Coach Cragg's 100th career victory. It was also the debut of the Hobart “Wounded Warrior Project” camouflage football uniforms to raise funds and awareness for injured veterans of the Gulf Wars. The Statesmen racked up 373 yards of total offense and four touchdowns on the day – two by air (Vincent and Muratori) and two by the ground (Marlier). The defense sacked SLU QB JP Kearney six times and held Saint runners to a total of 72 yards on the day.

If Hobart's going to get win #19 against the scarlet and brown they will need to focus on breaking the Saints strong rush defense. SLU ranks third in the league allowing only 115 yards per game on the ground and second overall (based mostly on non-conference play) in total defense, allowing just under 300 yards per game. The Saints are especially tough when backed into a corner, as the defense has only allowed five scores on fifteen opponent visits to their red zone (33%).

The Saints have had a tough slate of games to start the season including Ithaca (3-1), #25 Alfred (3-0) and Norwich (3-1). SLU picked up its first win of the season, and the first win for new head coach Mark Raymond (previously the defensive coordinator at Ithaca), last Saturday against the Merchant Marine Academy (1-3, 0-1) by the score of 13-6 in Kings Point. The Saints were lead by JR WR Ethan Sutton who scored both of SLU's touchdowns – the first on an 80 yard fake punt in the first quarter and the second on a 75 yard catch and run with 6:06 to play in the game. A clip of the game winning touchdown can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GPxPsxaH0t8

The Saints were paced by JR RB Ramon Mignott who finished with a career-high 127 yards rushing for St. Lawrence on 23 carries. The SLU defense also answered the call, led by senior linebackers Ryan Fedo (leads the Saints with 37 tackles, including five TFL) and captain Ben Cryts (21 tackles, 2.5 TFL and two sacks), holding the Mariner offense without a touchdown and Fedo sacked the quarterback a career-high three times (the Saints had nine sacks total on the day).

Keys to the Game:

1. Quick start – The Saints have only allowed 26 points total in the first quarter of their games this season. Thus if Hobart can attack and post a couple of scores early in the game, it will put added pressure onto a SLU offense that's really struggled in scoring – currently averaging only 11.5 points per game.

2. Get back to basics – Hobart went 0 for 10 on third down against a tough St. John Fisher defense last Saturday. Obviously the key to a win this Saturday is sustained drives and moving the chains. Expect a healthy mix of passes from Doug Vella and runs by FY phenom Steven Webb (six rushing touchdowns this season). The Statesmen OL will also need to step up to protect Vella against a SLU pass rush that leads the league in sacks.

3. Get the defense's swagger back – Hobart gave up 24 points in the first half last Saturday after only allowing seven in their first two games combined. Given SLU's offensive struggles, this game could be a great opportunity for the Statesmen defense to flex their collective muscles and potentially shut out, if not shut down the Saints.

Prediction:

I like Hobart to run away with this one, both literally and figuratively, the Saints defensive prowess notwithstanding. That said, I'll pick Hobart to win this one 35-10.

Kick-off is Saturday at 2 PM ET. Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Homecoming Weekend Recap, Hobart Falls to Fisher 34-14

2010-09-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

I am just getting the cob webs out after arriving home from New York last night after 12 AM PT.

I am scraped and bruised from the HWS Fall Nationals (aka soap box car racing), where I commandeered, then subsequently crashed, the Hobart Alumni Association car. A picture of me prior to the disaster is posted on the HWS website:

http://www.hws.edu/experience/twip/photo231/

The box car is the 12th photo in. There are also a few clips my classmates and I playing some live rock n' roll (as "The Rum Runner Band") prior to the SJFC-Hobart game as well.

Needless to say, the campus looked great and the weather was pretty good. Unfortunately the Cardinals spoiled the Statesmen's Homecoming and looked very much like one of the Top 25 teams in all of DIII.

Anyway, here's a recap of last Sunday's game. Will post more regarding the upcoming match up against Saint Lawrence and the commencement of Liberty League play later this week:

Homecoming Game Recap

The first night football game ever played on Boswell Field would be a battle of the unbeatens, as the Hobart Statesmen hosted the St John Fisher Cardinals last Saturday in Geneva, NY.

Both teams took the field for the standing-room-only crowd of 3,903 on Hobart's Homecoming and Family Weekend.

The Statesmen won the coin toss and elected to take the ball. Hobart had a chance to put points on the board, but Conor Callahan's 37-yard field goal attempt was no good.

The vaunted Cardinal offense wasted little time and countered with a 12-play, 74-yard drive, but the Statesmen defense held and so Fisher settled for a 23-yard field goal - which was good - by placekicker Chad Monheim giving Fisher an early 3-0 lead.

Hobart's second offensive possession also stalled and Fisher would take advantage capping a seven-play, 81-yard drive with a FuQuan Borum 8 yard touchdown run.

Down 10-0 the Statesmen advanced to the St. John Fisher 25 on their ensuing drive, but rather than attempt another field goal, failed to convert and turned the ball over on downs.

Hobart defense forced the Cardinals to punt on their next possession, but the Fisher made a big play, recovering a Statesmen fumble to set them up at the Hobart 42. Nine plays later, Borum barreled in from 2 yards out to post Fisher to 17-0 lead.

Hobart went three-and-out again, but Kyle Macey busted through the middle of the line and blocked the Statesmen punt out of bounds at the Hobart 41.

With another short field, Fisher once again only needed seven plays to return to the end zone. Cardinals’ quarterback Tim Bailey threw a 3-yard pass to Scott Biehl to make it a 24-0 lead and the rout was on.

Hobart finally responded with a two-play, 63-yard drive that featured Steven Webb making one of the most athletic plays I've been in a live football game since I watched Reggie Bush at USC. Webb caught a short pass on second and eight and burned the Cardinal defense for a 61-yard touchdown, closing out the first half scoring.

Both teams traded possessions for most of the third quarter until Fisher connected on it's second field goal of the game - a 25 yarder - to push the Cardinal lead to 27-7 with 3:09 remaining in the third quarter.

FuQuan Borum scored his third and Fisher's final touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter.

Hobart's Steven Webb would score his second touchdown of the game capping a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a 7-yard run to the end zone for his sixth rushing TD of the season. Still, the night belonged to the Cardinals and they took the win by a 34-14 final.

Fisher out gained Hobart 473 to 400 yards. Borum lead the Cardinal ground attack posted 177 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns.

Quarterback Tim Bailey threw for 248 yards and one touchdown, completing 23 of 39 attempts.

Webb finished with 103 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries and three receptions for a game-high 109 yards and a TD. Webb is the first Hobart player in more than a decade to gain 100 rushing and receiving in the same game.

Statesmen quarterback completed 17 of 32 attempts for 243 yards and one touchdown and an interception.

Statesmen senior Kyle O’Laughlin and junior Reggie Robinson shared game-high honors with 10 tackles apiece.

Brendan Moore had nine stops for Fisher.

The Cardinals improved to 4-0 and will open their Empire 8 play against 4-0 Utica College next Saturday.

With the loss Hobart drops to 2-1 and the Statesmen will look to rebound when they begin Liberty League play next Saturday, when the Hobart travels to St. Lawrence.

You can check out the archive of last Sunday night's "In the HuddLLe" show at http://www.inthehuddlle.com/ where I was "surprise guest" given I called in from the Atlanta airport en route back to California. We covered the Hobart-Fisher game, among others, and previewed the upcoming weekends' games.

Brief analysis on the Fisher game

While the Cardinals deserved to win the game and were the better team, the Statesmen didn't do themselves any favors with four major mistakes that ultimately Fisher took advantage of to put the game out of reach.

These plays included the following miscues by Hobart:

Missed 37 yard field goal on the opening possession
Fumbled punt return, giving the Cardinals a short field (took over from the Statesmen 42 yard line)
Overthrowing on 4th down from the Fisher 25
Giving up the punt block which gave the Cardinals the ball near the Hobart 40

The Hobart offense especially stuggled on third down where they were 0 for 10 on the day. These struggles, compounded by the turnovers, gave Fisher a 17:43 to 12:17 advantage in time of possession in the first half which ultimately put the game away. The Cardinals rode Borum to a career day and the Fisher OL seemed to man handle the Hobart front four with most of the Statesmen linebackers playing off the ball and not blitzing very often due to the concerns around Bailey and the Fisher passing attack.

Hopefully the Statesmen will learn from this game and fortunately start with a clean slate (0-0) in Liberty League play on Saturday.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Homecoming Preview - St. John Fisher

2010-09-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (2-0) will host the Saint John Fisher College Cardinals (3-0) in the first ever night football game at newly remodeled Boswell Field and Caird Center for Sports and Recreation. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM. Fisher brings one of the most potent offenses in the east region averaging over 52 points and almost 500 yards of offense per game. The Statesmen have 10-5 edge in the all time series against the Cardinals, but the Cardinals have won the last three head-to-head match ups with the Statesmen, including the first round of the NCAA playoffs in 2007. Hobart’s last victory over Fisher came back in 2001.

St. John Fisher has now advanced to the postseason each of the last eight years and has enjoyed eight straight winning seasons. Fisher entered the 2010 season with a 55-16 record (77.46%) over the last six years. Hobart, by comparison has a 49-14 record (77.77%). Head coach Paul Vosburgh enters his 20th season at Fisher, and like Mike Cragg, earned his 100th victory in 2009.

The Cardinals passing attack is lead by SR QB Tim Bailey who is off to an incredible start to 2010. He’s already passed for 874 yards (a 291.3 YPG average) completing 66.3% of his attempts and 14 TDs. Last week Bailey passed for 315 yards and four TDs in a 49-21 victory over the Rochester Yellow Jackets (0-2). Although Bailey was picked off twice by the Jackets, his performance secured the win for the Cardinals in the second half and ultimately took him over the 6,000 yard mark for his career.

JR RB FuQuan Borum is the Cardinals’ leading rusher, having tallied 242 yards on 56 attempts (4.3 average) and tallying four rushing TDs. Bailey has multiple targets including an explosive tandem of JR WRs - Ryan Schmidt (22 catches, 333 yards and six TDs) and speedster Ryan Francis (13 catches for 274 yards and three TDs). These Ryan’s are also kick return treats and have combined for 270 return yards and a 86 yard TD to open last weekend’s game against Rochester. SR HB Scott Biehl has only received a few targets, but has made the most of those opportunities, converting two of his four catches into scores.

The Fisher defense has allowed 19.7 PPG and 362.7 YPG on average and are lead by JR LB Joe Leavell (30 tackles), JR FS Adam Burdick (19 tackles) and JR SS Dave Vosburgh (18 tackles). The Cardinals have been opportunistic in the areas of turnovers and have picked off opposing QBs six times, including one returned for a TD. The Cardinals also seem to be especially strong against the run, allowing opponents an average of 110 YPG and four rushing TDs.

Keys to the game:
1. Win the time of possession and turnover battles – I think it goes without saying that the best defense to Fisher’s high octane offense is to keep Bailey and the Cardinals on the Boswell sidelines. While the Statesmen are no slouches on offense – averaging 36.5 PPG and 331.5 YPG in total offense – or on defense – having held teams to only 14 points on average I don’t think they can afford to get into a shoot out with Fisher. That said, I expect healthy doses of FY RB Steven Webb (178 yards rushing, five TDs) behind Hobart’s big and experienced offensive linemen. To do this the Statesmen will need to improve upon their 31% (eight for 26) third down conversion percentage and keep moving the chains (and the clock). Both teams are +4 (Hobart) and +6 (Fisher) in turnover margin, respectively, so something will have to give Saturday. Doug Vella threw his first interception of the season against Carnegie Mellon last Saturday, but was otherwise fairly accurate going 15 for 29 (51.7%) and 274 yards. The Hobart OL will need to keep the pressure off of Vella as the Fisher defense has tallied seven sacks and 17 tackles for a loss so far this season.

2. Establish the Defense Early – Fisher has scored 102 of its 158 points (64.5%) in the first half of this season. Rochester had a good deal of success in the first half and was able to move the ball effectively against the Cardinal defense scoring 21 points, but they also allowed 35 points. The Statesmen tend to defer when they win the coin toss to start the game and I would expect Fisher to want the ball regardless, so the Hobart defense has an opportunity to set the tone of the game if they can limit the Cardinal offense to shorter and (most importantly) low or non-scoring possessions early in the first quarter. The Statesmen DL has been better than expected, especially in pressuring the QB. Hobart has tallied 10 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in its first two games. Obviously the more hits they can make on Bailey – who’s been very well protected by his OL (only two sacks so far over three games) – the better.

3. Make (and Don’t Allow) the Big Play(s) – The Statesmen have broke open their past two games with big plays on offense – the fake punt conversion and 90 yard kickoff return for a TD in the Dickinson game and the intentional onside kick in the CMU game – and defense (the punt block for TD in CMU game) this season. That said, there is greater risk going for it against a team like Fisher, and the Hobart defense and special teams will want avoid the mistakes Rochester made (e.g., the Francis 86 yard kickoff return for a TD and the 84 yard Bailey to Francis TD pass). Needless to say, the Francis vs. JR CB Drake Woodard match up will have a huge impact on this game.

4. Home Sweet Home – Hobart hasn’t lost a game at Boswell Field since October of 2008 (three FG misses costing them a win over Union College). There is a lot of excitement around Geneva over it being the first ever football night game in Hobart history and Homecoming weekend. Fisher being in nearby Rochester will likely mean a decent travel crowd for the visitors. That said, hopefully the team and the home crowd can channel that energy (and related noise from cheering) and disrupt the Fisher offense on Saturday night.

Prediction:
As I stated on last Sunday’s (9/19) “In the HuddLLe” broadcast, this is a tough call for me. On one hand I want to go with my heart that believes Hobart can pull off the “upset”. On the other hand, the statistical analysis, QB comparisons and other data point to a potential 10 or 14 point Cardinal victory. I don’t expect Fisher to hit their season average with respect to points given I believe the Hobart defense is the best unit they have faced to date. Still, the same is true for the Cardinal defense for the Statesmen offense, so QB Doug Vella’s ability to drive Hobart down the field and limit mistakes will be just as significant.

That said, in the interest of being objective, I am going to predict a 35-24 Fisher win over the Statesmen on Saturday night. Hopefully Hobart will rise to the occasion and prove me wrong! I know I am certainly looking forward to being in attendance and seeing my first football game at the new Boz (and first home football game since 1997).

For those you alumni/ae coming back – look for me and my former college band (The "Rum Runner Band" which consists of Brady Shelsy, Jim Mastrianni and Chris Hamlen) as we’ll be performing right next to Boswell Field about and hour (starting at 5:30 PM ET) as part of the pregame Homecoming festivities.

Go ‘Bart!

Hobart runs away from Carnegie Mellon, 35-21

2010-09-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen improved to 2-0 on the season with a resounding 35-21 victory over the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans (1-2) today in Pittsburgh.

The hosts would score on their opening possession, capping a seven play, 53 yard drive via a 10 yard Rob Kalkstein to Chris Garcia TD.

Hobart would respond with 35 unanswered points including three TD runs, including a long of 73 yards, for FY RB Steven Webb. The Statesmen struck with big plays including an onside kick in the second quarter that set up a 49 yard Vella to Muratori strike to post Hobart to a 21-7 lead going into the half.

CMU would score a couple of TDs late in the fourth quarter, but the day was all Statesmen. Hobart racked up nearly 470 yards of offense and the defense collected 10 tackles for losses, including eight sacks. DE James Rayhill lead Statesmen tacklers with 11, including 3 TFL and 2.5 sacks.

Hobart's Vella had a banner day throwing for 274 yards and two TDs. The star once again was FY phenom Steven Webb whose hat trick lead lead the Statesmen ground attack with 120 yards on 13 carries.

Hobart will face off against area rival St John Fisher under the lights - the first ever night game in Hobart Football's 100+ year history - AND I WILL BE THERE!!!!

Will post more analysis on this one and preview the big SJFC match up later this week.

Go 'Bart!

Carnegie Mellon Game Preview

2010-09-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

“Carnegie Mellon is a totally different bear that we’ve got to go after, but we’re a little better than I thought we were, which I feel very good about.” — Hobart head coach Mike Cragg (“Hobart’s dandy debut,” Greg McNall, Finger Lakes Times, 9-13-10)

The Hobart Statesmen (1-0) will embark their longest road trip of the season to Pittsburgh, PA to face the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans (1-1) of the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Statesmen have won all three games dating back to the series opener in 2007, but all have been very competitive games usually decided by a touchdown or less. CMU opened their season with a victory over Grove City College (1-1) but lost last weekend 34-27 against Allegheny College (2-0).

Last season Hobart defeated the Tartans by a score of 24-16 at the “Boz”. The Statesmen produced 321 yards of offense in the game, including 216 yards passing from Doug Vella (16-of-26 with two TDs). Hobart RB Andrew Marlier '10 ran a kickoff 85 yards for a TD for the first kickoff return by a Statesman since Sept. 30, 2000, when Dyshaun Washington ’04 ran back the opening kickoff against St. Lawrence a school record 97 yards. The game was back and forth with Hobart hanging onto a one point lead (thanks in part to a blocked PAT by the Statesmen after CMU scored with 11:21 to play) in the fourth quarter until a short Vella to WR Paul Overdorf '10 TD pass put the Statesmen up 24-16 with 7:36 to play in the game.

This season the Tartans return 14 starters (six offensive and eight defensive) from last season’s (5-5, 1-2) squad. On offense CMU is lead by All-UAA SR FB Justin Pratt and All-UAA JR RB back Chris Garcia. This tandem of backs accounted for 1,200 of the Tartans’ 1,769 rushing yards in 2009. Pratt finished the 2009 campaign with a team-leading 11 rushing TDs while Garcia found the end zone three times on the ground and three TD receptions. Garcia was the team’s second-leading receiver with 18 receptions for 268 yards.

The 2010 Tartan defense includes three players who made the All-UAA Team – SR LB Mike Shedlosky (currently leads CMU in tackles with 32 over the past two games) SR DLs Jason Stearns and David O’Connor. Shedlosky led the Tartans with 68 tackles and Sterns and O’Connor combined for five of the Tartans’ 13 sacks in 2009.

Also returning for CMU is SR All-UAA punter Richard Pattison and All-UAA return specialist Dan Miller. For the second straight season, Pattison is coming off a standout performance after ranking nationally all season in punt average. He ended the season with an average of 40.5 yards per punt on 48 punts, ranking fifth in the nation. He placed 15 punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and had nine punts of 50 yards or more with a career-long of 68 yards at Kenyon. Miller had a season-long return of 26 yards last season against Ohio Wesleyan.

Keys to the Game:
1. Make CMU one dimensional on offense – The Tartans lost their prior QB starter, Phil Pantalone, to graduation last spring so they have a FY QB to run their Wing-T offense in 2010. For those not familiar with the “Wing,” it is a system predicated on forcing the opposing defense into multiple adjustments throughout the game due to the varying position of the wingback. The wingback can be any player in this four back running system and this formation forces the secondary to play at least three deep, due to the possibility of three deep receiving threats. FY QB Rob Kalkstein has been fairly effective and efficient (15 of 25) in his first two starts throwing for 274 yards and three TDs. He appears to be somewhat mobile having called his own number 16 times this season but only gaining 43 (net) yards. If the Statesmen can take away the pass, they will be able to be more aggressive at the point of attack like they were in the Dickinson game and force three and outs. RBs Chris Garcia and Justin Pratt have only averaged ~47 and 24 yards per game so far this season, so neither appears to be a big run threat.

2. Win the field position battle – With a punter like Pattison, Hobart needs to watch having getting pinned back in their own side of the field which leads to:

3. Attack the Tartan defense – The Statesmen should look to challenge a CMU defense that’s allowing an average of 421.5 yards per game (214.5 rushing yards per game and 207 passing yards on average, respectively). Last week Hobart didn’t need much offense given the play of the defense and special teams. Barring plays like blocked punts and kickoff return TDs; however, the Statesmen should look to move the chains and score on each possession, putting more pressure on the young Kalkstein to keep up.

4. Red zone defense – The Tartans are 8 for 8 (100%) in the red zone scoring six TDs and 2 FGs (long of 40). While Dickinson had limited opportunities, last season Hobart ranked 5th in the LL in this category allowing 13 scores (10 TDs, 3 FGs) scores on 18 attempts (72.9%) so they could certainly afford to improve on that statistic in 2010.

Prediction:
Given the fact the average scores between these teams have been 24-19 the past three seasons, I went out on a limb last Sunday night when I predicted a 21-7 Hobart win. That said I am confident the Statesmen are a much better squad than last season and CMU was picked to finish last in the UAA this year - perhaps given the losses at QB and other key positions on offense. This confidence is bolstered by the apparent struggles the Tartans are having on defense (e.g., giving up a lot of yards and a points – 27.5 PPG on average) and the emergence of game breaking players such as Statesman FY RB Steven Webb (3 TDs) and OLB Devin Worthington (10 tackles and a punt block).

Hopefully I’ll be right and Hobart will take care of business this Saturday (and not be looking past CMU to the big St John Fisher / Homecoming game the following weekend).

Kickoff for this Saturday’s game is at 12:00 PM ET. Go ‘Bart!

Hobart Dominates Devils in Season Opener, 38-7

2010-09-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen opened their 2010 season and the newly remodeled Boswell Field by hosting the Red Devils of Dickinson College. The Statesmen came into the game looking for payback after last season's 26-3 defeat at the hands of the Devils.

Defense looked to the name of the game early on for both teams as each teams' opening drives went three and out. Dickinson's second possession appeared more promising until Red Devil QB Jordan Kaufman was picked off by Hobart LB Reggie Robinson at the HOB 48 yard line.

Once again it looked like the Statesmen drive would stall, but FY punter Yosh Karbowniczak channeled his inner Tyler Vincent and ran a fake punt on 4th down for 17 yards giving Hobart a 1st and 10 at the Dickinson 28 yard line.

Hobart would drive the ball down to the Dickinson 1 yard line and on 2 and goal FY RB Steven Webb would dive into the end zone for his first collegiate TD. A Conor Callahan kick was good and with 6:05 to play in the first quarter it was 7-0 Hobart.

The Hobart and Dickinson defenses continued to assert themselves well into the second quarter. A booming 54 yard punt by Karbowniczak pinned the Devils at their own 6 yard line and a stop by the Statesmen defense helped the offense take a short field to start their next drive from the Dickinson 32 yard line.

In spite of some strong running by Hobart SO RB Bobby Dougherty, the Devils' defense held - forcing the Statesmen to settle for a 30 yard Callahan FG with 8:13 to go in the first half to make it 10-0 Hobart.

After both offenses traded possessions, the Hobart's special teams second big play of the game came when FY OLB Devin Worthington blocked a Gordon Craig punt and JR CB Drake Woodard ran it in for the score with 3:35 to play in the first half. Callahan PAT was good, and Hobart was up 17-0.

An excessive celebration penalty would force Hobart to kickoff from their 15 yard line, giving Dickinson their best field position of the day. Kaufman completed two big pass plays – a 28 and 19 yard strikes to bring the Devils to the Hobart 15. The Statesmen defense held and Dickinson's Gordon Craig missed a 30 yard FG keeping it a shut out for Hobart going into halftime.

The Statesmen came out of the break and effectively broke the game open on a 90 yard Steven Webb kickoff return for a touchdown. Callahan's extra point was good and it was 24-0 Hobart with 14:46 to play in the third quarter.

After another three and out by the Devils, Hobart collected a punt and had a short field, beginning the drive from the Dickinson 27. The Statesmen drove down the field in three plays culminating with QB Doug Vella finding classmate TE Greg Clifford on a 5 yard TD pass. With only 12:21 to play in the third, Hobart was up 31-0.

Hobart dominated the remainder of the game and won easily by a margin of 38-7. The Devils got on the board after back up QB Ricky Martz capped a 12 play, 74 yard drive with 10:20 to play in the fourth quarter.

Hobart was out gained by Dickinson 268 to 198 in total yardage but it was the Statesmen who made all the big plays on the day, including collecting 4 Red Devil turnovers. FY RB Steve Webb lead the Hobart rushing attack with 7 carries for 58 yards and 2 TDs. QB Doug Vella went 8-14 for 65 yards and 1 TD. Dickinson's Evan Fink lead all Devils with 29 yards rushing on 7 carries. Dickinson's Qbs combined for a 12 of 24 for 154 yards and 1 interception. Hobart FY Devin Worthington lead all Statesmen tacklers with 10 stops, including three TFL and the blocked punt. Dickinson's Andrew Fink and Scott Sullivan lead the Devils' defense with 8 tackles a piece.

The loss drops Dickinson to 0-1. Hobart will take their 1-0 mark to Pittsburgh next week when they play the Carnegie Mellon Tartans of the UAA.

All in all, a great start for the Statesmen who christened the new "Boz" with a solid win. Will post more analysis later this week and preview the upcoming game against Carnegie Mellon.

Congrats to the Statesmen on an encouraging start to 2010!

Remembering 9/11

2010-09-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Although it's exciting to kickoff another football season, it is bittersweet as we remember the events of 9/11/01. That day we lost three Statesmen, Scott Rohner '01Michael Simon '83 and my former teammate Andrew Glokin '93.

The Statesmen bell will ring solemnly in their honor prior to today's game.

God bless these Statesmen and America.

Hobart Official (HWS) Preseason Preview is Online

2010-09-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

You can download the 2010 Hobart Football Media Guide at the following link:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/sports/2008/10/21/HFB_1021084839.aspx?path=football

For a preview on this weekend's opponent, the Dickinson Red Devils, you can check out:

http://www2.dickinson.edu/sports/statistics/mfb/2010dcfbpreview.pdf

Go 'Bart!

Dickinson Game Preview

2010-09-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen will host the Dickinson College Red Devils in their respective season openers this weekend. This game will also be the much anticipated debut of the newly remodeled Boswell Field at the Caird (H56) Center for Sports and Recreation. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 PM ET.

The Statesmen will be looking to avenge last season’s 26-3 bedeviling defeat to Dickinson in Carlisle, PA. The Red Devils literally ran all over the Statesmen on that day to the tune of 298 yards rushing. Although the Statesmen kept stand out WR Pat O’Connor in check, Hobart continually made mistakes, including a fumble and two unsportsmanlike penalties as they struggled to get anything going on offense. The Statesmen kept the game close in the first half and went into the break only down 7-3, but Dickinson came out in the second half firing on all cylinders and effectively put the game away with 32 seconds to play in the third quarter on a 19 yard QB Ian Mitchell TD run, his second of the day. The win was Dickinson’s tenth in the 19 game series between the two schools. The Devils have defeated the Statesmen twice in the past three seasons.

Although the Red Devils have lost several key players to graduation on offense including Mitchell (first QB in the history of the Centennial Conference to both rush for over 2,000 yards and pass for over 5,000 yards in his college career) and O’Connor (lead the Devils with 579 yards receiving and is Dickinson’s career leader for receptions with 167 for 2,548 yards and 18 TDs); they return the bulk of their defense (eight starters) which held Hobart to its lowest scoring output in over 15 seasons.

Key offensive players returning for the Devils includes SR RB Greg Lord who’s made a nice living running on the Statesmen defense the past two seasons. Lord lead all Dickinson rushers with 117 yards on 14 carries (one TD) in last season’s win over Hobart. Lord also racked up 108 yards on 19 carries (two TDs), albeit in a 28-21 loss, against the Statesmen in 2008. That said Lord wasn’t even Dickinson’s first (Mitchell) or second (SR RB Tim Smith who rushed for 606 yards on 123 carries and four TDs) leading rusher in 2009!

Given this stable of backs, not to mention Mitchell’s ability as a mobile QB, the Devils ranked 15th (out of 238) in the nation in rushing offense (243.8 YPG) last season. Needless to say I think Hobart can expect a healthy running game from Dickinson this Saturday – especially given the competition for the starting QB between JR QBs Rick Bowie, Jordan Kaufman and Ricky Martz is “wide open” per Dickinson Head Coach Darwin Breaux.

On defensive side of the ball the Red Devils are lead by LB Kevin Wood (leading tackler with 69 total stops, including 3 TFL) and SS Pat McNeal (66 tackles, one sack, four INTs). Also returning are LBs Pete Hamill (66 tackles, 6.5 TFL), Jack Connolly (60 tackles, 8.5 TFL), CB Andrew Fink (63 tackles) as well as DLs Corwyn Gordon (55 tackles, team high 9.5 TFL), Josh Harrison and Adam Farrell (six TFL, four sacks).

On special teams, Dickinson returns PK Gordon Craig (37 of 39 on PATs and 9 of 10 on FGs).

Keys to the game:
1. The Hobart Front Four – Given a new starting QB, Dickinson will likely play to its strength which will be to challenge the “brand new” Statesmen DL with a great deal of running plays. Last season the Red Devils called 44 running (72%) vs. 17 passing plays and I expect this year’s team will follow a similar strategy. If the DL struggles, expect a long day and busy day for the Hobart LB and DBs.

2. Ball control / limit mistakes – Hobart lost the turnover and the penalty battle in last year’s game costing the Statesmen a couple of scoring opportunities. Needless to say the Statesmen need to avoid handing over the ball to a Red Devil offense that’s prone to long, clock-killing drives. Last year, although they fought to the end, the Hobart defense eventually wore down in the second half due to losing the time of possession battle 17:26 to 12:34.

3. Build confidence on offense – Last season Vella only passed for 65 yards against a Dickinson secondary that gave up nearly 300 yards passing to Grove City the week before. Given Hobart will likely be challenged to move the ball on the ground against the Red Devils, Vella will need to be patient, make his reads and challenge Dickinson down field. That said I expect the Devils to blitz Vella constantly, so TE Matt Marsh and the Statesmen RBs will need to probably need to stay on their blocks or at least make some initial contact before releasing into the flat. The Statesmen OL and WRs will need to do a better job than they did last season – albeit some pundits claimed Vella was quick to give up on the pass and run the ball himself (he did lead all Statesmen rushers with 79 yards on 15 attempts). Having spoken directly to the JR QB a few weeks ago, I doubt this will be an issue. He said he’s matured a great deal and has a lot of confidence in his receivers (i.e., expect Muratori to have an active role in this game).

Prediction:
While I expect Dickinson to gain more than their fair share of rushing yards, I also think the Hobart offense will have a better passing day against the Devils this season. The Statesmen will be looking for pay back for last season so I am expecting Hobart to attack early and often on offense. That said I do expect this to be a slightly lower scoring game than those in recent years between these two teams. Ultimately if the Hobart defense keeps the Red Devil running game at bay in / near the red zone, I like the Statesmen’s chances to win the game.

That said I am picking Hobart to win their home opener (they were 4-0 at home last season) 24-14.

Are you ready for some football??!?!?!

2010-09-02T08:10:00.001-07:00

Although the Statesmen's home opener is still over a week away, today is the "official" kick off of the 2010 football season. Liberty League teams such as St. Lawrence and WPI have games this weekend (assuming Hurricane Earl doesn't affect them).

With that in mind, my co-hosts and I will preview the LL season, including an interview with Hobart's JR QB Doug Vella. You can access the show live at www.inthehuddlle.com beginning at 8 PM ET. A recording of the show will be available for download shortly after the live broadcast wraps.

Next week I'll post my Dickinson game preview.

Go 'Bart!

Season 3 of "In the HuddLLe" on BlogTalkRadio.com begins on Thursday, Sept 2!!

2010-08-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

Along with my co-hosts Eric Ren and Frank Rossi, I will be returning to covering the Liberty League football action on "In the HuddLLe" starting with our Preseason Kickoff Show next Thursday, Sept 2 at 7:30 PM.

Please log into: www.inthehuddle.com to hear all the preseason news, player (including Hobart QB Doug Vella) and coach interviews, along with predictions and other LL and national DIII football talk.

We'll start going to our regular format (i.e., Sunday nights at 7:30 PM ET) starting on Sunday, Sept. 5th.

Hope you'll tune in, join our online chat and/or give us a call during the show!

Statesmen Open Camp, New Field

2010-08-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the Finger Lakes Times article below on the opening of the new Boswell Field at the Caird Center for Sports and Recreation:

http://fltimes.com/articles/2010/08/20/sports/doc4c6eb708d4566332406563.txt

Also note the new Hobart uniforms (white jerseys with "Hobart" on front, blue pants) on the updated roster page on hwsathletics.com:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

2010 Season Preview

2010-08-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Hobart Statesmen (6-3, 5-2) are looking to rebound from a somewhat disappointing 2009 campaign that ended their five consecutive appearances in the NCAA play-offs / post-season. 2009 also was a season in which Hobart lost two Liberty League (LL) games for the first time since 2001. Financial difficulties also barred the Statesmen, who were eligible to play, from the post-season as Hobart declined to participate in one of several Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) “bowl games” due to cost cutting. On the bright side, the Statesmen ended the season with four straight victories, outscoring their opponents by a combined 113 to 40. Hobart will look to continue that positive momentum into 2010 by bringing back a talented roster of over 30 returning upperclassmen to Geneva.

The Statesmen return the majority of their offense (which averaged 337.4 yards and 22.7 points per game) from 2009, lead by JR QB Doug Vella. The JR QB started all nine games last season throwing for 1,369 yards and seven TDs. Vella initially struggled to start the season and occasionally seemed more inclined to make plays with his feet (he was second on the team in rushing with 275 yards on 98 attempts, including three rushing TDs) than his arm. Over time however, Vella settled into a solid, if not reliable, signal caller for Hobart.

To say Hobart’s success on offense hinges on Vella is a bit of an understatement. A lot of eyes will be on the JR field commander this fall given he is the returning starter. That scrutiny will be amplified by the fact that Vella’s understudies from last year - SO QB Chris Rose and Illinois State transfer Preston Earl- are no longer on the roster. While it’s not clear whether Rose transferred and Earl graduated/used up his eligibility; it would appear that the likely heir apparent would be SO QB Nick Strang who saw very limited action (appeared in the SLU and MMA games but did not attempt a pass) in 2009. SO Kelly Olney and JR Will Connery will also compete for the opportunity to back up Vella in 2010. Needless to say, keeping Vella healthy given the lack of proven QBs on the Statesmen’s roster will be a top priority for Hobart in 2010.

With the graduation of leading rusher Andrew Marlier you can probably expect another “platoon” of Hobart running backs lead by (speedster) JR Kyle Tritten and (between the tackles running of) JR Pat Julian. Julian actually started the Dickinson game last season but after fumbling early on in the game eventually became relegated to third string. These Statesmen rushed for 258 and 148 yards, respectively in 2009 and tallied a total of four rushing touchdowns.

Fortunately for these runners (and Vella) the Statesmen return the bulk, literally and figuratively, of their offensive line. Returning players/starters include SR RT and Captain Sean Kluber (taking over for graduated Captain OL Brian Monaco), JR RG Brendan Hatlee, SR C and Captain Kelvin Cruz and JR LG Kyle Sandy. Expect JR Anthony Coletta to be the lead candidate for the LT position vacated by the graduation of Angelo Catalano, but other talented players, such as SO Tyler Garvey, JR Jarrid Blades and JR Hunter LaCroix will compete and receive significant playing time in this line up. FY OL Max Janoff may also see time given his size (305 lbs) and skill (four year varsity letterman, two-time all-conference and area selection at Morristown-Beard).

Another benefit for Hobart’s offense is that SR FB Matt Howard will resume his role as the team’s lead blocker. Howard started seven games last season and tallied 24 yards rushing and caught two passes (a long of 34 in the Saint Lawrence game) for 48 yards.

There will be plenty of targets for Vella as JR TE Matt Marsh returns as does SR WRs Andy Schettine and Mike Lazore along with JR Garth Muratori. This trio of wide outs tallied 59, 190 and 441 yards last season, respectively. In fact, Muratori was second on the team in receiving and receiving TDs (two) and will replace Vincent as Vella’s go-to receiver. Lazore, who also plays on the Statesmen’s DI lacrosse team, will likely be the other starter, but don’t be surprised if Schettine (whose output declined from 2008) gets his fair share of looks down field.

The loss of LB Orlando Patterson, LB Ryan Robinson, and CB Chris Szymanski notwithstanding, the Hobart defense returns an experienced and deep linebacker and secondary corp. This unit, lead by SR Captain ILB Kyle O’Laughlin (lead team in tackles with 77 including one interception, two forced fumbles and one recovery) and Captain SR FS John Kelliher (29 tackles and two INTs), finished 2009 as the #1 scoring (15.9 PPG average) and total (303.1 YPG average) defense in the LL. Also returning for the Statesmen are JR ILB Reggie Robinson (37 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble) and JR CB Drake Woodard (32 tackles, one forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, two blocked kicks). Also expected to compete at OLB is SR Fernando Jones who appeared in six games last season. Heralded recruit, LB Juan Breton, will also look to gain playing time in 2010.

One of the possible reasons for the Statesmen’s drop off in 2009 could be attributed to Hobart’s lack of production with respect to creating turnovers. For example, Woodard, who was in the top 10 in the nation in 2008 for interceptions saw a significant drop off last season (from seven to zero). Overall, the Statesmen were not as successful in the “ball hawking” department and it showed - the number of interceptions from 2008 to 2009 dropped by 11 (19 vs. 8).

That said the biggest question mark for this Hobart defense going into 2010 is the status of their defensive line. Last season’s entire starting front four (Guidetti, Faracca, Arduini and Lovell) were lost to graduation (as was key reserve DT Anthony Shaw who appeared in all nine games and contributed 14 tackles), but returning players such as SR DE Chris Luber, SO DT Nick Auriemma and SR DE James Rayhill saw a good deal of action for the Statesmen and recorded 20, 5 and 26 tackles, respectively. Luber lead the team in sacks with three and a half, while Rayhill also tallied three tackles for a loss (TFL). Hobart saw a sizable decline in TFLs from 2008 to 2009 (from 53 to 43) but sacks remained relatively constant (16 compared to 15). Expect JR DT Dane Wilcoxen (appeared in six games, tallying two stops) to compete for a starting job along with SO Jordan Sisti and JR Gianni Contro.

On special teams Hobart will need to find a replacement for the kicking and occasional trickery of punter Tyler Vincent. JR PK Conor Callahan is back after going six for nine in field goal attempts (66.66% with a long of 28 yards) and 17 of 19 (89%) in PATs. While his range is limited, Callahan was second (tied) in the LL in FG percentage and fourth in scoring. Backing up Callahan will be FY PK Reyes Guevara.

Hobart will open the 2010 season hosting Centennial Conference (CC) runner up Dickinson College (8-2, 6-2) at the newly renovated Boswell Field at the Caird Athletic Complex. The week following Hobart will travel to Pittsburgh to play the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon (5-5, 1-2) of the University Athletic Association (UAA). Given their defection to the CC, the Statesmen will replace Susquehanna by renewing its thruway rivalry with nearby (Rochester) Saint John Fisher College (7-3, 4-1) from the Empire 8 (E8). Adding additional intrigue to the SJF game is the game it will be the first night football game played at Boswell Field. This game also doubles as Homecoming for which I am excited to say I will be in attendance.

Going into October, Hobart travels to Canton, NY for its league opener against the Saint Lawrence Saints (3-7, 2-5), then returns to Geneva for the ever pivotal rivalry game against Union College (8-3, 6-1). From there, the Statesmen head down to Kings Point to take on the Mariners of the Merchant Marine (2-5, 4-6), then host the Engineers of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (0-7, 3-7). The 2010 wraps with a final road trip to RPI (3-4, 5-4) before the regular season finale at Boswell for the Centennial Cup against oldest rival Rochester (4-3, 4-6).

Overall the Statesmen have an ambitious out of conference slate prior to their league schedule. One advantage going into this season is the fact Hobart plays five home games. The reason this is such an advantage is that the Statesmen were undefeated at the “Boz" in 2009, outscoring the opposition by a margin of 95 to 26, and have only lost three games (including the play-offs) in the past five seasons at home.

I’ll post some additional preseason and Week 1 commentary and predictions in the coming weeks as well as keep you posted on the third season of my DIII football talk radio show, “In the Huddle”.

Thanks and go ‘Bart!

2010 Team Captains Named

2010-08-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hobart Football Coach Cragg announced the 2010 Statesmen have elected the following student-athletes to lead the team this fall. The newly elected Captains are:

SR OL Kelvin Cruz (Geneva, NY)

SR FS John Kelliher (Hingham, MA)

SR OL Sean Kluber (Ridge, NY)

SR LB Kyle O'Laughlin (Syracuse, NY)

The announcement can be accessed via this link:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/news/2010/7/29/HFB_0729101811.aspx

Congratulations and good luck to these Statesmen leaders!

Less than 60 days until kickoff

2010-07-13T16:06:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Statesmen roster is up and has some nice new features (i.e., sortable by POS, CL, etc.

http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

There are 39 incoming FY in what amounts to mostly skill players vs. interior guys....

FY of note (thx to Sean McGlynn for the inside info) seems to be these 5 guys:

Juan Breton LB from NYC (did a PG year @KUA in NH - was on Sacred Heart's preseason roster but apparently jumped to the 'Bart)
Leo Cohen TE (6-4, 245 lbs) from Rutland, VT (also an All-State lax defenseman based on this and his size guessing he'll be a two-sport athlete for Hobart)
Max Janoff OL (305 lbs - effectively making him one of the biggest kids on this fall's team) from Morristown-Beard
Steven Webb RB from Dundee (had 300 yards vs. DeSales)
Devin Worthington OLB/SS from Aquinas/Rochester like Breton did a PGY at Worchester Academy (I wonder if WPI and/or UofR had this kid on their radar?)

Other things to note is Marlier graduated/is gone as is Chris Rose (was 3rd string QB). My best guess is that Strang and Olney will vie for back-up QB duties. Initial prognosis is that Hobart's season really hinges on Vella's health (and consistency which is equally important).

Otherwise team is pretty deep - especially at LB, DB, WR, FB, TE and OL. RB will probably still be by committee barring Tritten taking off (he certainly has the potential). Julian had the starting job to open 2009 but he literally fumbled it away in the Dickinson game and was never really a factor after that.

There are a number of DT and DEs (16) on the roster, but not many guys who saw significant action from last season save for Luber (DE) and Auriemma (DT).

That's all I've got at this point. 59 days and counting til kick-off.....

2009 Season Retrospective

2009-11-23T23:43:00.000-08:00

Hobart came off their fifth consecutive NCAA berth (including a first round victory over the Middle Atlantic Conference Champion Lycoming) another league championship and a program record-tying 9 wins in 2008. That said expectations (and the accompanying #15 pre-season national ranking) were very high to say the least.

It was clear out of the gate; however, that this year would be a “rebuilding” one for the Statesmen. Hobart would drop the season opener to a strong Dickinson team. Although the Statesmen kept it close at the half, the powerful offense of the Red Devils wore down the Hobart defense as the game wore on. Dickinson would go on to compete for the Centennial Conference title falling just short losing to eventual champion and NCAA participant John Hopkins (first round winners over Hampton-Sydney). A season ending 35-32 loss to Ursinus effectively ended the Red Devil’s NCAA hopes as an 8-2 overall record would not be enough for an at-large bid based on the NCAA’s criteria.

The 26-3 loss would be the lowest offensive point total for the Statesmen since 1993. Fortunately Hobart bounced back the following weekend with a well played 24-16 victory over Carnegie Mellon University (5-5, 1-2).

The Statesmen’s season turned for the worse against eventual league champion Susquehanna in a frustrating 20-10 loss in Selinsgrove, PA. The offense once again struggled to score points and questions arose over SO QB Doug Vella’s ability to run the Statesmen’s offense. Although considered an upset at the time, Susquehanna would end up having an 8-2 season, winning the league’s “Pool A” bid (and share of the LL championship) with a victory over Union College in the season finale.

The cure for the Statesmen’s ills would come the following week back at home in Geneva. Hobart won in resounding fashion 33-10 over Saint Lawrence behind four rushing and one passing touchdowns.

The next week was the highly anticipated show-down between Union and Hobart. The Dutchmen were the only blemish on the Statesmen’s 2008 regular season record and both teams came into the game vying for the 2009 LL title. For the first time since probably 1997 I was actually in attendance for the first half for a live Statesmen game (and had a great view from the press box thanks to my friend and “In the HuddLLe” co-host Frank Rossi who has been calling Union games for WABY since 1994).

Although Hobart controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the game and scored 21 points in the first half, the Statesmen failed to stop the deep ball and Union torched the Hobart defense on plays that covered 41 yards, 42 yards, 70 yards and 76 yards en route to a 31-21 victory. This loss would effectively end the Statesmen’s bid for a sixth consecutive NCAA bid and put Union in the driver’s seat for the LL title leading up to their season ending show down with Susquehanna. Although Union would lose their head-to-head clash with the Crusaders, the Dutchmen improved to 8-3, 6-1 on the season; including an ECAC bowl bid and victory over Hartwick, and captured a share of the LL title just a year after finishing 5-4, 4-3. With Susquehanna departing the LL for the Centennial Conference, expect Union to be a pre-season favorite to win the LL in 2010.

At the season’s midpoint the Statesmen caught fire and won their final four games by a combined 113-40, including shutting out the Merchant Marine Academy (4-6, 2-5) and RPI (5-4, 3-4). The shut out of RPI was the first over the Engineers since 2000, but was a relatively ugly offensive game. Both teams were a combined 2 for 33 on third downs and it was really the Hobart special teams (fumbled punt recovery) and defense (three interceptions) that won the game for the Statesmen.

The Hobart offense came out of its funk in the season finale rattling off 24 first half points to retain the Centennial Cup against their oldest rival, Rochester (4-6, 5-2). Although the 2009 regular season ended on a good note, there would be no post-season football for Hobart for the first time since the 2001 season. The Statesmen would have qualified were denied the opportunity to compete in an ECAC bowl game due to financial considerations cited by the HWS administration. This was an unfortunate sign of the times, but one the team and specifically the graduating 19 seniors seemed to take well given the circumstances.

Although Hobart had not lost two league games since 2001 (back when the LL was the UCAA), the Statesmen finished strong and have a lot of momentum heading into 2010. Based on my count the Statesmen will return 16 offensive, 11 defensive and 1 special teams (place kicker Conor Callahan) letter men (based on the two-deep roster at the time of the Rochester game).

QB Doug Vella now has a full season under his belt and all three of the Statesmen RB’s (Andrew Marlier, Kyle Tritton and Pat Julian) return as does the starting FB Matt Howard. The OL loses stalwarts such as Co-Captain Brian Monaco and Angelo Catalano to graduation, but Coach DeWall has a solid core group of starters in Kelvin Cruz, Brendan Hatlee and Kyle Sandy as well as Sean Kluber who was a starter until he was injured in the Susquehanna game.

The biggest gap that Hobart needs to fill is on the defensive line given the graduations of Kwame Lovell, Tony Guidetti, Mike Ardiuni, Mike Faracca and Anthony Shaw. There is also the loss of linebackers Orlando Patterson (29 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one interception and two fumble recoveries) and Co-Captain Ryan Robinson who was second on the team with 57 total tackles. No small task, but I trust Coach Cragg is hitting the recruiting trail hard this winter and we will likely see some role players such as FY DT Nick Auriemma and SO DT Dane Wilcoxen be the likely starters. Other key defensive returning letterman are leading tackler Kyle O’Laughlin (77 tackles) and third leading tackler Reggie Robinson (37). The Statesmen return most of their defensive secondary including first team all-league DB Drake Woodard (32 tackles).

Still, Hobart has a tough start to the 2010 with three out of conference games against Dickinson (8-2), @ Carnegie Mellon (5-5) and St John Fisher (7-3). Fortunately both the Dickinson and SJFC games are at the Boz (which will be upgraded to field turf among other stadium improvements prior to the 2010 season) where the Statesmen were 4-0 in 2009. For the Statesmen to make another run at the play-offs in 2009, Hobart will need to improve upon their 2-3 road record from 2009.

The LL schedule commences with Hobart traveling to Saint Lawrence, home against rival Union College, traveling to Kings Point, home against WPI, away at RPI before hosting Rochester in the season finale.

I am certainly looking forward to another year of Statesmen football. Until then, thanks for reading these posts and go ‘Bart!