| 2 |  | Al Smith | DE | SR | 240 | Harlem, N.Y. | Cardinal Hayes | ||
| 7 |  | Jake Henzes | CB | SR | 185 | Clarks Summit, Pa. | Abington Heights | ||
| 9 |  | Brendan McCloskey | FS | SR | 205 | Lincoln University, Pa. | St. Elizabeth | ||
| 26 |  | Bobby Lewis | RB | SR | 204 | Bronx, N.Y. | Iona Prep | ||
| 30 |  | Kai Brandford | FS | SR | 175 | Baltimore, Md. | Archbishop Curley | ||
| 70 |  | John Deveney | OL | SR | 295 | Ewing, N.J. | Notre Dame | ||
| 84 |  | C | Matthew Woods | TE | SR | 232 | Latham, N.Y. | Shaker | |
| 99 |  | Sean Moore | DT | SR | 275 | Bohemia, N.Y. | Connetquot | ||
 | Jack Koch | ASST | SR | 220 | New City, N.Y. | Bergen Catholic |
This is one of the smallest SR classes Hobart has had in some time and certainly represents the changing of the guard and the challenges the Statesmen have dealt with this and in prior years. Credit to these players for sticking with their team and their contributions over the last four seasons won't be forgotten.
The Statesmen are 5-26 all-time against the Bombers, but the vast majority of those Ithaca wins pre-date this century. Hobart and Ithaca have played much more evenly in the past couple of decades, as the Statesmen have a 4-4 record against the Bombers (6-2, 3-1) going back to 2000.
Apparently Hobart may have an advantage Saturday given they are 4-0 against Ithaca at the Boz in even years, having defeated the Bombers 19-0 in 2000, 17-6 in 2002, 22-15 in 2014 in Round 1 of the NCAA playoffs and 23-3 in 2016.
Interestingly enough, Ithaca got the better of Hobart in the odd years of 2001, 2003, 2015 and 2017 - winning those games 52-14, 14-7, 24-6 and 24-21. The Statesmen had an extra week of preparation, which, in theory, should help as well.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the first ever Hobart win of the series was in 1983, a 23-20 victory for Hobart at (where else?) the Boz.
Scouting the Bombers
Ithaca is very strong football team that combines a balanced offense with a gritty, tough defense. The offense, which is averaging a modest 22 PPG, is led by SO QB Wahid Nabi. Nabi's struggled a little with injuries this season, but appears healthy going into this game. He's passed for almost 1,400 yards with close to a 60% completion percentage. He's thrown eight TDs, but has also struggled with turnovers, having been intercepted seven times.
The Bombers have two good RBs in JR RB Kendall Anderson and JR RB Isaiah D'Haiti. These two have combined for nearly 600 rush yards and 11 TDs. Anderson has carried the load of late with D'Haiti being more of a short yardage (and TD) specialist.
Nabi's favorite target is JR WR Will Gladney, who was pegged as an All-American candidate in the preseason. He missed a couple of games this season due to injury also, but is back and leads the team with 543 receiving yards and 5 TDs. SO WR Andrew Vito leads the team with 46 receptions and has added 473 yards and three scores. What he lacks in size (5' 9" 160 lbs) he makes up in toughness. HC Dan Swanstrom describes Vito as one of, if not the hardest workers on his squad.
The OL is led by SR RT Jake Bernstein, one of Ithaca's co-captains. JR DL Michael Conley has converted to play C, and Bernstein is joined on the right side by SR OL Bobby Puckey. The left side is manned by JR OL Kyle Berna and big (325 lbs) SO OL Matt Healey.
The Bombers defense is one of the best in the East, if not the nation, only allowing 227 YPG (which is currently ranked 11th nationally) and 9.1 PPG (ranked 9th). SR LB Pat Minogue leads this unit with 66 tackles and 9.5 TFL. The Bombers use a five-man front and have held opposing offenses to a paltry 58.2 RYPG and only two rushing TDs all season. They are tough to pass on as well, and have picked off opposing QBs 11 times this season to go with 168.4 YPG passing and seven TDs allowed statistics. SR DL Brian Pacholec has 4.5 sacks to go with six TFL and two FF this season, so the Hobart OL will need to be focused on keeping their blocks on him.
On special teams Ithaca has leaned on FY PK Brian Fallon of late. He's averaging 53.4 YPKO and has gone 3-6 on FGs with a long of 42 yards. Minogue does double duty as the team's punter, averaging a little of 36 YPP.
Keys to the Game
1. Get to the Red Zone - The Statesmen are 1st in the nation in red zone offense. They have scored on every single trip (24) they've made this season. A big part of that has been the reliability of SO PK Kyle Hackett, and Hobart will need to take points from Ithaca when and wherever they can get them.
2. Defuse the Bombers Offense - The RPI-IC game provides a good template on how to beat the Bombers. Ithaca out-gained RPI by a pretty large amount, but RPI sacked SR QB Peter Pawczewski (who filled in while Nabi was injured) three times and intercepted him once. The Engineers defense also eliminated the threat of the Ithaca run game, forcing them to be one-dimensional.
3. Keep Fighting - Ithaca was literally seconds away from being 8-0. They trailed by 6 with 1:38 to go against #3 Brockport and were a missed 2-point play away from upsetting RPI. The Statesmen will need to be prepared to go to the wire in this one. The Bombers will be for sure.
Prediction:
I think this one will be a low-scoring, defensive battle between two pretty evenly matched teams. Both offenses have strong passing games and the Hobart defense has steadily improved. The Statesmen will need to avoid the same slow start that cost them a chance to beat RPI before the bye week, however, and may need to relay on special teams, as it's an area Hobart clearly has an advantage compared to Ithaca. While I think it's ok to trade blows and field position with the Bombers, Hobart simply can't afford to fall too far behind against a defense of this caliber.
With RPI (7-0, 3-0) pretty much being a lock to beat SLU (2-6, 1-2) Saturday and claiming the LL title and Pool A bid, Ithaca is out of the playoff race and could be caught looking ahead to their annual rivalry game against a surging Cortland State (7-1, 5-1) team that will be playing for the E8 title against Brockport Saturday.
I'll take a win any way Hobart can get it, and I think they'll surprise Ithaca at the Boz in a close 15-13 Senior Day win.
Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!
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