From Brighton to the Bart, Gudell Joins Statesmen

According to the "twitterverse" Brighton HS SR LB Justin Gudell (Rochester, NY) plans to matriculate at Hobart College. Gudell joins what is already shaping up to be a very talented incoming Class of 2018, especially at the LB position, for the Statesmen.

Gudell is 6' tall, 210 lbs and as my buddy and former Hobart LB said to me recently, "sniffs out run plays well", which is key in the Statesmen's 4-4 defense. Gudell, who earned First Team All Monroe County honors at LB was also an All-Rochester defensive standout in lacrosse which shows he has talents that go beyond the gridiron.

His highlight reel can be seen here.

Please join me in welcoming Justin into the Hobart Football family. Less than 40 days until kickoff!

Go 'Bart!

Islip's Sheppard Selects Statesmen

Hobart's defense will be bolstered by the addition of Islip Varsity HS's (NY) DE Patrick Sheppard. A powerful and quick pass rusher, Sheppard uses his speed (4.85 40 yard dash) and stocky frame (6' 250 lbs) to work his way around blockers. An accomplished heavyweight wrestler, Patrick has an excellent understanding of leverage and how to attack the OL en route to the QB.

Named one of the Top HS players on Long Island as a SO, Sheppard helped lead Islip to a 7-2 season, including a 7-1 conference mark, in 2013.

You can see Sheppard in action on this highlight reel.

 

Please join me in welcoming Patrick into the Hobart Statesmen family. Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Ranked 12th in D3football.com Preseason Poll

D3football.com released their 2014 Preseason Top 25 yesterday and the Hobart College Statesmen landed at #12. Not surprisingly defending champion UWW unanimously earned the #1 position. The Top 6-7 are the "usual suspects" if you are familiar with the D3FB landscape as well.

Hobart was one of four "East Region" teams (i.e., West of OH and North of PA) to land in the Top 25. Saint John Fisher landed at #9, Rowan at #15 and nearby Ithaca was #23. A handful of other "Eastern teams" like Cortland and Framingham landed in the "receiving votes" categories.

A link to the poll can be found here but a run down is also listed below. I also recommend spending the low price of $11 for the D3FB.com Preseason preview "Kickoff 2014" covering all 245 teams in D3. I bought my subscription already.

Entering the 2014 season:

#	School (1st votes)	Rec	Pts	Prev.	Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan will rank all 245 teams in Kickoff 2014! Find out how you can subscribe.
1	UW-Whitewater (25)	15-0	625	1
2	Mary Hardin-Baylor	13-1	583	2
3	Mount Union	14-1	580	3
4	Linfield	11-1	510	4
5	Wesley	10-3	505	7
6	North Central (Ill.)	13-1	500	5
7	Bethel	12-1	491	6
8	UW-Platteville	10-2	434	9
9	St. John Fisher	10-3	376	8
10	John Carroll	9-2	330	13
11	St. Thomas	8-2	316	20
12	Hobart	10-1	294	14
13	Wittenberg	10-2	244	10
14	Johns Hopkins	10-1	226	12
15	Rowan	9-3	201	23
16	Wabash	9-1	191	22
17	Wartburg	9-3	175	15
18	UW-Oshkosh	8-2	171	11
19	Pacific Lutheran	8-2	169	17
20	Heidelberg	8-2	165	21
21	Hampden-Sydney	9-3	164	18
22	Thomas More	9-1	145	25
23	Ithaca	9-3	140	16
24	Wheaton (Ill.)	8-2	139	--
25	Franklin	8-4	75	19

Others receiving votes: Millsaps 47; Illinois Wesleyan 43; Maryville 35; Lycoming 34; Concordia-Moorhead 32; Redlands 29; Washington and Jefferson 23; St. John's 21; Salisbury 21; Chapman 20; Texas Lutheran 18; Willamette 16; Cortland State 15; Cal Lutheran 9; Guilford 5; Framingham State 2; Muhlenberg 2; Louisiana College 2; Washington U. 1; Wesleyan 1.

The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly

Roy C. Ketcham's Tierney Will Take His Talents to Hobart

More recruiting news from the Lower Hudson Valley as Roy C. Ketcham Senior HS's (Wappingers Falls, NY) Roddy Tierney has selected Hobart to continue his academic and athletic careers. Tierney starred at RB and Safety for the Ketcham Indians, talling 42 tackles, including 10 TFL. At 6'1" 200 lbs he'll likely line up as an OLB in Hobart's 4-4 system.

His Coach Pat Keevins described Tierney to the Poughkeepsie Journal as "one of the most physical players I’ve coached, [Tierney] really set the tone for us being more physical than we have been in the past. I believe it was our defense that really separated us this year. It was Roddy’s play that really set the tone.”

Roddy's play on both sides of the ball (he rushed for five TDs and caught three as a RB) sparked Ketcham to a Section 1 Class AA League 1 title. Tierney's athletism and aggressive play is readily apparent in his highlight reel. I have to say this kid looks like he may be one of the best incoming players in the Hobart Class of 2018.

Please join me in welcoming Roddy into the Statesmen Football Family.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!



John Jay Linebacker Sanchez Will Become A Statesman

We're 60 days away from the first game of the 2014 season! In the meantime, more good news on the recruiting front:

Jared Sanchez of John Jay HS (Hopewell Junction, NY) has commited to play ILB at Hobart. Sanchez led a 7-2 Patriots team that won the Section 1 AA League 2 title and a defense that only allowed 16.4 PPG in the 2013 season. Sanchez also led the team with 61 tackles and nine sacks. For his efforts he was named a Defensive All-Star by the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Sanchez has good size at 6', 220lbs and a good nose for the ball based on his highlight reel. Sanchez was named All-Section by the "LoHud.com" (for Lower Hudson) Varsity Insider.

The Statesmen have had success with student athletes from the John Jay program in the past. I seem to recall that QB Nick Strang '13 (JJHS '09) was pretty good if memory serves ;)

Please join me in welcoming Jared into the Hobart Football family! Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

(60 days!!!)

West Morris' Maciejewski Joins Statesmen

Joining a number of other NJ HS All-Stars, West Morris Central HS's John Maciejewski (Hackettstown, NJ) has chosen to continue his academic and athletic career at Hobart. Maciejewski played DL, OL and LB at WMCHS, but plans to convert to FB in college.

Standing 6' and weighing in at 230 lbs Maciejewski has protypical size and speed (4.8) to be successful opening holes for Statesmen RBs in Hobart's I-back offense.

John's highlight reel can be found here.

In the classroom and community Maciejewski leads by example earning honor roll recognition as an AP student and serving as a youth minister for his church.

It looks and sounds like John is the complete package and could become a solid contributor to the Statesmen in the near future.

Please join me in welcoming John to the Hobart family!

Have a great, happy and safe Independence Day weekend. More recruiting news early next week.

Thanks for reading and Go 'Bart!