Happy Leap Year!
I hope everyone has been enjoying the start of 2012. Hard to believe it's already (almost) March 1st (at least on the west coast it's still 2/29). Although it's still a long way off to the start of this year's college football season, I thought I'd check in with a brief update on the Statesmen football team. The football roster for 2012 is up (http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football) and I noticed a couple of players are not listed. The players in question were two starters from the 2011 squad, SO FB Juan O'Farrill and SO FS Chad Dorrance, but according to my sources they will not be on the team this fall.
O'Farrill was one of a handful of Florida natives on the Statesmen and appeared in eight games last season. O'Farrill was splitting time with fellow Floridian FY Dominque Ellis (39 carries for 195 yards and one touchdown) at FB. Ellis eventually took over the starting job after a wrist injury suffered in the Rochester game kept O'Farrill out of the line up for the Wesley game. O'Farrill carried 34 times for 115 yards and one touchdown and added three pass receptions for 27 yards in 2011. In 2010, the West Palm Beach native played in all nine games, carrying a season-high six times for a season-high 52 yards and a touchdown against WPI. Although the loss of O'Farrill is buffered by Ellis, he was a solid contributor to the program, especially in the running game, opening holes for SO RB Steven Webb and JR RB Bobby Dougherty.
Dorrance settled in to start at FS following the graduation of former team captain John Kelliher '11. A native of Cazenovia, NY, Dorrance played in seven games in 2010. He made a season-high four tackles against St. John Fisher and blocked an extra point against WPI. In 2011 Dorrance tallied five tackles including a fumble recovery and one pass break up. It's likely Dorrance's departure will equally be mitigated due to the fact that classmate SO FS Jolyon Davis appeared in all eight of Hobart's games, including starts against Union College and the Merchant Marine Academy. Although Dorrance's presence and experience in the defensive backfield will be missed, Davis contributed more tackles (17, including 11 solo) and one more pass break up than Dorrance last season.
That said fans of the program have criticized the Statesmen secondary in recent years. Outside of future Hobart Hall of Famer Drake Woodard '12, the rest of the secondary has struggled in coverage against strong passing teams. Some would even say that this problem has persisted for several seasons now, but has been less apparent given Woodard and the fact that the Statesmen's strong pass rush (bolstered by the additions of players such as SO OLB Devin Worthington and FY DE Tyre Coleman) doesn't give many teams enough time to exploit open receivers.
The blog will likely remain dormant for a bit but check back from time to time as information regarding incoming recruits comes forth in the coming months.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Hobart to Host Six Home Games in 2012
What a difference a year makes!
After suffering through a number of scheduling challenges and snafus in 2011, the Statesmen will enjoy an extra home game this fall in a sudden, but welcome, change of plans.
This sixth home game is primarily due to the pending expansion of the President's Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2013. The aforementioned change (and how appropriate considering its almost President's Day!) necessitated that the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes renege on a previously agreed upon two year series with Hobart in order to add a new conference game next year.
Fortunately Geneva (College) quickly notified the Statesmen of this change and added the gracious offer (since they canceled the series) to travel to north to Geneva (NY) for the only time the Statesmen will play them (at least in the near future). This luck of the draw benefits Hobart with not only the home field advantage in the contest against the Tornadoes, but also enables the Statesmen to play three of their first four games of the season at home (after hosting only three home games overall in 2011). In fact, given the add of local Empire 8 conference foe Utica College (just outside of Syracuse), Hobart really doesn't have a significant road trip (mileage wise anyway) until the fifth game of the season, a 300+ mile trip to Worcester, MA to play the WPI Engineers.
The Statesmen's revised schedule can be found on the football website:
http://www.hwsathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=football&schedule=956
Plans to schedule a new opponent for the 9/14/13 open date is apparently confirmed but hasn't been announced just yet. Stay tuned and go 'Bart!
After suffering through a number of scheduling challenges and snafus in 2011, the Statesmen will enjoy an extra home game this fall in a sudden, but welcome, change of plans.
This sixth home game is primarily due to the pending expansion of the President's Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2013. The aforementioned change (and how appropriate considering its almost President's Day!) necessitated that the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes renege on a previously agreed upon two year series with Hobart in order to add a new conference game next year.
Fortunately Geneva (College) quickly notified the Statesmen of this change and added the gracious offer (since they canceled the series) to travel to north to Geneva (NY) for the only time the Statesmen will play them (at least in the near future). This luck of the draw benefits Hobart with not only the home field advantage in the contest against the Tornadoes, but also enables the Statesmen to play three of their first four games of the season at home (after hosting only three home games overall in 2011). In fact, given the add of local Empire 8 conference foe Utica College (just outside of Syracuse), Hobart really doesn't have a significant road trip (mileage wise anyway) until the fifth game of the season, a 300+ mile trip to Worcester, MA to play the WPI Engineers.
The Statesmen's revised schedule can be found on the football website:
http://www.hwsathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=football&schedule=956
Plans to schedule a new opponent for the 9/14/13 open date is apparently confirmed but hasn't been announced just yet. Stay tuned and go 'Bart!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Mamaroneck QB Parker Thelander to Attend Hobart
Section1Recruiting.com reports that Mamaroneck SR QB / S Parker Thelander will head upstate and play for the Statesmen this fall. The 6 foot, 185 pounder lead the Tigers to a 4-5 record last season, completing 62.1% of his passes for 1251 yards including 11 passing TDs. Thelander also added three rushing TDs in his senior campaign. Section1Recruiting.com rates Thelander the #4 overall best QB prospect in AA, the largest school section in the region.
Parker's highlight reel is listed below and demonstrates his strong arm and ability to move around in the pocket and escape would-be tacklers:
http://www.ncsasports.org/college-recruiting-videos-highlights/parker-thelander
I'd like to be the first to welcome Parker to Hobart. Welcome Parker!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Caban "signs" with Hobart
Christian Caban, a slot receiver out of Wilcox Tech of Meriden, CT has committed to attending Hobart this fall. Caban is wrapping up a post-graduate year at Tabor Academy in Marion, MA. Caban is 5' 9" and 185 lbs according to the recruiting website Maxpreps.com. Although he suffered a knee injury in his senior season at Wilcox, it appears as though he has recuperated and will be looking to compete for playing time this fall in Geneva.
Christian's highlight reel can be found below:
and a link to the story from his hometown paper is here:
Welcome to Hobart Christian!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
RPI Head Coach Resigns After One Season
Happy New Year.
Although this first post of 2012 isn't Hobart Football related, it is newsworthy in that for the second straight year a Liberty League football program is making headlines in the off season (and not for reasons the school's administration, alumni and fan base are happy about).
Yesterday RPI Head Football Coach Tim Landis resigned citing "personal reasons" according to RPI Athletic Director Jim Knowlton. That said local news and other sources indicated Landis was fired for "alcohol-related issues" and/or incidents on campus.
The RPI Engineers finished 4-5 overall, 3-3 in the LL; their biggest win of 2011 being the dramatic come from behind victory over our Statesmen, 29-28 at Boswell Field.
With Landis stepping down, RPI will conduct a national search for a new Head Coach. In the interim, Offensive Coordinator Guido Falbo will assuming the Head Coaching duties for the 2012 season. This is obviously a blow to the Engineers team and family at a crucial time given the recruiting season. While it's difficult to gauge whether or not this will impact the incoming RPI freshman football class, the timing is obviously not great and will require a good deal of damage control by Knowlton, Falbo and the remaining RPI football staff.
On a personal note, I hope Coach Landis overcomes these personal issues and gets his life back on track. I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of times on "In The HuddLLe" (www.inthehuddlle.com), my weekly Division III radio and highlight show, and always found him to be an upstanding guy. His prior track record showed he was dedicated to coaching at top academic schools (prior to RPI he lead the Davidson, Bucknell and other D1AA or FCS programs). Hopefully with help from his family and loved ones he'll be back on the sidelines again sometime soon.
More information on Hobart recruits and other Statesmen news will be posted in future.
Related links:
RPI's official release:
http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/2/3/FB_0203125106.aspx?path=football
Fox News story:
http://www.fox23news.com/sports/custom/localsports/story/UPDATE-RPI-Football-Coach-Tim-Landis-Resigns/cAzArPRhvkyPN7hZIw05SA.cspx
Although this first post of 2012 isn't Hobart Football related, it is newsworthy in that for the second straight year a Liberty League football program is making headlines in the off season (and not for reasons the school's administration, alumni and fan base are happy about).
Yesterday RPI Head Football Coach Tim Landis resigned citing "personal reasons" according to RPI Athletic Director Jim Knowlton. That said local news and other sources indicated Landis was fired for "alcohol-related issues" and/or incidents on campus.
The RPI Engineers finished 4-5 overall, 3-3 in the LL; their biggest win of 2011 being the dramatic come from behind victory over our Statesmen, 29-28 at Boswell Field.
With Landis stepping down, RPI will conduct a national search for a new Head Coach. In the interim, Offensive Coordinator Guido Falbo will assuming the Head Coaching duties for the 2012 season. This is obviously a blow to the Engineers team and family at a crucial time given the recruiting season. While it's difficult to gauge whether or not this will impact the incoming RPI freshman football class, the timing is obviously not great and will require a good deal of damage control by Knowlton, Falbo and the remaining RPI football staff.
On a personal note, I hope Coach Landis overcomes these personal issues and gets his life back on track. I had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of times on "In The HuddLLe" (www.inthehuddlle.com), my weekly Division III radio and highlight show, and always found him to be an upstanding guy. His prior track record showed he was dedicated to coaching at top academic schools (prior to RPI he lead the Davidson, Bucknell and other D1AA or FCS programs). Hopefully with help from his family and loved ones he'll be back on the sidelines again sometime soon.
More information on Hobart recruits and other Statesmen news will be posted in future.
Related links:
RPI's official release:
http://www.rpiathletics.com/news/2012/2/3/FB_0203125106.aspx?path=football
Fox News story:
http://www.fox23news.com/sports/custom/localsports/story/UPDATE-RPI-Football-Coach-Tim-Landis-Resigns/cAzArPRhvkyPN7hZIw05SA.cspx
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