Cheshire Academy's Leif Colberg Commits to Hobart

The Cheshire Herald reports that Cheshire Academy's Leif Colberg will attend Hobart this fall.  This is great news for Statesmen fans given the recent departures (due to graduation or otherwise) of half the Hobart secondary.  Colberg is originally from Madison, CT and played high school football at Daniel Hand before enrolling at Cheshire as a post-graduate student.  Colberg helped the Cheshire Cats to their first undefeated season since 1960, winning the Colonial League Championship and defeating Choate Rosemary Hall 35-14 in the NEPSAC bowl game.

Colberg should bolster the secondary and special teams units given his size (6' 1", 190 lbs) and speed (runs a 4.5).  At Cheshire Colberg had 43 tackles (33 solo) and four interceptions, including a 99 yarder against St. Thomas Moore, on defense last fall.  As a receiver, Colberg caught 23 passes for 531 yards and seven TDs.  Colberg also handled punt and kickoff returns for the Cats, tallying 161 yards on nine punts (a long of 85 which he returned for a TD vs. the Gunnery) and 200 yards (long of 74 vs. Suffield Academy) on 11 kickoffs. 

Additional stats on Colberg, photos, etc can be found at MaxPreps.com:

http://www.maxpreps.com/athletes/NEzwAU90wEaxtRmp2i9u4g/football-fall-11/stats-leif-colberg.htm#scoring

Colberg's highlight reel is below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHhHMgkIyQ

All in all, Leif looks like a great addition to the Statesmen.  Welcome to Hobart Leif and go 'Bart!

Palm Beach Linebacker to Enroll at Hobart

Matt Porter (@Mattyports) of the Palm Beach Post reports that SR OLB Jacob Stanley of Palm Beach Garden HS has committed to attend Hobart.  Stanley will be the second Floridian (joining American Heritage DE/TE Ryan Bennett) to join the Statesmen from the Sunshine State.

Stanley was captain for the PBG Gators team that went 9-4-1 and advanced to the Class 8A regional finals.  Jacob appears to play in a SS/OLB position similar to rising JR OLB and LL Defensive Player of the Year Devin Worthington (they even share the same #5). 

Stanley's highlight reel is attached below:

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/679585/jacob-stanley#

Stanley racked up 83 tackles, including 14 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in his SR season.

Please join me in welcoming Jacob to the Class of 2016!

Hobart Picks Up Two More Recruits

WRGB in Albany reports that Albany SR QB Conner Hartigan will attend Hobart this fall.  A link to the story is below:

http://www.cbs6albany.com/shared/sports/features/local/stories/wrgb_vid_34.shtml

A prolific runner, Hartigan lead Albany with nearly 1700 rushing yards and 27 rushing TDs.  He also passed for almost 600 yards and added five passing TDs.  It is expected Hartigan will play RB for the Statesmen.  Conner's highlight reel is attached below as is a good article on him from the Troy Record:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N8GjdCWS9c

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2011/12/24/sports/doc4ef64de6dfada897322268.txt

In other news, Section1Recruiting tweeted that Rye Country Day School's SR RB Samuel Stern will attend Hobart.  At RCDS he earned a spot on the New York State Sportswriters Association Class B All-State football first team (per the Daily Rye, see link below).

http://www.thedailyrye.com/sports/rye-country-day%E2%80%99s-stern-first-team-all-state-pick?mq=0

More information on these recent commits will be provided later this week.

Congratulations to Conner and Samuel and welcome to Hobart!

Statesmen Elect Team Captains for 2012

For the first time ever in program history the Hobart Statesmen have elected five SR Co-Captains to lead the team.

The 2012 Captains are:

SR RB Bobby Doughtery
SR OL Art Garvey
SR LB Andrew Klindera
SR QB Nick Strang
SR LB Nick Zapp

Congratulations to these team leaders.  More on incoming recruits in the coming weeks.

Go 'Bart!

OH QB Cooper Merrill to Attend Hobart

The Burning River News reports that Jackson HS QB Cooper Merrill of Massillon, OH will attend Hobart this fall.  Merrill, also a first team All-Region in 2011 and Honorable Mention All-State in lacrosse, is the Jackson High senior lacrosse captain and may consider playing both sports in college.

That said Cooper's passion is football and what Merrill lacks in size (6' 175-180 lbs) he makes up for in speed, leadership and overall athleticism.  He was very successful running the Polar Bears' option offense earning him a place on the 2011 Stark All County Division 1-2 team as a QB.

Merrill completed 55% of his passes for 821 yards and seven passing TDs and rushed for an impressive 1,383 yards (averaging 5.8 yards per carry) and eight TDs during his SR season leading the Polar Bears to a 6-4 overall record.  His JR season he passed for 1,017 yards and three TDs, adding 206 rushes for 704 yards and six TDs.

His athletic success not withstanding, Cooper is also a very good student and was considering (and nominated) to the US Naval and Military Academies.  Luckily for Statesmen fans, Cooper will pursue his undergraduate education at Hobart.

Cooper's highlight reel is below:

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/535326/cooper-merrill

It's great to see another Buckeye join the Statesmen.  Welcome Cooper!