Coach DeWall Announces Class of 2023 - Part Five

The final group (last but certainly not least) of commitments to the Hobart College Class of 2023 were announced this week by HC Kevin DeWall '00.

All in all, the Statesmen should have 29 FY players slated to for preseason camp. It's a smaller class than in past years, but the quality is high and with a large number of rising SO and JRs on the team there will be plenty of competition across the board.

Let's meet the "Final Four" student athletes that'll make up the Class of 2023:

Another "Strong Islander", GCHS DL Connor Gunn will be heading Upstate in the fall. At 6'3" 220 lbs Gunn will likely be looked at as a DE. His highlight reel shows his athleticism as an OL/DL. On defense he lined up both on the interior and the edge, and shows his potential as a pass rusher.

Making a much shorter drive to Geneva is PMHS WR Braydon Surra. His highlight reel shows he can line up wide or in the slot, runs good routes and uses his height (6'3" 175 lbs) to his advantage.

From the "Peach State" is a rare recruit in SFHS DB Josh Harps-Zhu (Alpharetta, GA which is just north of Atlanta). A rangy (6'2" 155 lbs) cover corner, JHZ's highlight reel can handle press coverage or lower the boom as a tackler. I'm trying to think, but don't recall Hobart ever enrolling a player from GA, so this could be a first.

Last but definitely not least is another recruit from my neck of the woods - Orlando! WHS QB Sean Robles is a tall (6'4" 200 lbs) and strong armed thrower. I noted in his highlight reel his completing passes against our local HS team (Winter Park). He'll join Cade Cecere as the second Orlando area player on this year's Statesmen squad.

That's it for recruiting updates. I'll post news as it comes up over the summer.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Players Take to Twitter to Commit to the Statesmen

Although we've gotten to know 24 members of the Class of 2023, the 25th ended up being the Pingree School's Vito Visconti (originally from North Andover, MA). His highlight reel shows Visconti is a real play maker. As a LB he quickly scrapes, plugs gaps and has an eye for the football. He caused several turnovers - FF, scoop and scores, and INTs for his team.

Here's his announcement on his commitment to Hobart:

One of his new teammates, who we previewed yesterday, PK Lucas Amaral (Danbury, CT), had this to say:

With a still about a handful more of new players yet to be introduced, we will keep you posted on these announcements as they are made later this week.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Coach DeWall Announces Class of 2023 - Part Four

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter and Passover.

Hobart Football HC Kevin DeWall '00 continued his daily social media announcements of the incoming FY class this morning, adding these four to last week's group.

I had previously noted Bishop Ireton HS LB Tyler Duckett back on March 12. While he's listed as a LB, he played more of a strong / deep safety role in HS. Standing 6'1" and weighing in at 195 lbs, he has a lot of upside and could be an asset at LB, OLB or SS.

The other three players are new to me, so let's meet them now:

JR PK Kyle Hackett may be re-writing the Statesmen record book this fall, but his successor in a couple of seasons could be Danbury HS PK Lucas Amaral. Hobart also will need a new punter after the graduation of SR WR John DelliSanti, so Amaral's timing appears to be is as good as his leg. His highlight reel shows he's pretty automatic inside 40 yards on FGs, PATs and does a nice job on KOs.

Staying very close to home is Geneva HS OL Nate Trowbridge. Although there wasn't much information on Trowbridge online football-wise (his hudl highlight reel is only a 10-second clip from a game against Waterloo HS), he's clearly a good student, having won the Finger Lakes Federal Credit Union Laurie Monahan Memorial Scholarship. While GHS sends kids to HWS every year, Nate will be the only Panthers grad on next season's squad.

While most of Zach William's highlight reel focuses on his playing OL, the Hobart coaching staff is bringing the THS grad in as a DE. He played both two and three technique, showing good pursuit and knack for making plays around the football.

Please join me in welcoming these four new Statesmen into the Hobart Football family!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Coach DeWall Announces Class of 2023 - Part Three

Today four more incoming FY recruits were announced by Hobart HC Kevin DeWall '00. Two of them - the Hun School DB Blake Hansen and Reedy HS QB Peyton Roberts - were previously profiled on this blog back on 2/9/19 and 3/25/19, respectively.

Not to downplay these strong additions - I could see Hansen especially making an impact in the secondary early in his college career - but let's meet two new recruits that haven't been covered yet on the blog:

Another player from the Nutmeg State, Brunswick's (Greenwich, CT) Eli Fowler played both interior DL and LT for the Bruins. His team featured a Gatorade State FB Athlete of the Year, finishing 8-2 overall. His highlight reel shows that Fowler uses his length (6'6") to hold off would be pass rushers. While a little undersized (250 lbs) to play T in college, he shows good potential as an OL recruit given his technique.

Hobart has had a good history of finding tough, hard-working players from "Strong Island" and Michael O'Grady is the latest. O'Grady appears to have been a hybrid player at CHS (Mineola, NY), as his highlight reel shows him lined up in two and three technique, on the interior of the DL, as well as occasionally lining up like a LB and blitzing. He has more of a LB build at 6' 215 lbs, so it'll be interesting to see how the coaching staff utilizes this versatile athlete.

That's the latest on the Class of 2023. 20 strong student athletes so far and more to come next week.

Wishing everyone a good Passover Week and Happy Easter weekend.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Coach DeWall Announces Class of 2023 - Part Two

As stated in my previous post, there were five incoming Hobart College Statesmen student athletes that somehow slipped past my recruiting radar. These players and a short synopsis of each is listed below:

Alex Barnosky comes to Hobart from Western (Sheffield) MA after a solid career as a FS / WR for BHS. His highlight reel shows he's a strong run stuffer and "center fielder" with good vision. At 6' 2" he's a bit taller than past Hobart DBs and the S&C program will add weight to his 170-175 lbs frame. He looks like he could be an asset to special teams as an incoming FY, given strong play as a PR and tackler on the BHS KO unit.

I'm always a fan of CT kids, and SR DHS WR Chris Bartosic is the first of two in this group. Bartosic's highlight reel shows he's a strong runner after the catch, especially on underneath, crossing routes. While on the smaller side at 5'11" 170 lbs, he plays much bigger and doesn't shy away from contact.

AOF SR DB Cameron Inwood comes from my hometown of Avon, CT. He'll join former teammate and rising SO OL Pierce Smyth as the second "Winged Beaver" (that's the unique AOF mascot) on the Hobart FB team. His highlight reel shows he can play both CB or SS, which will be helpful as Coach Hadley continues to improve the Statesmen secondary.

SR DL Dabryn Norris (Ashburn, VA) will be the second SBHS player on the Statesmen FB team this fall, joining rising JR OL Dillon Carey. Norris contributed 69 total tackles to go with 13 TFL and 12 sacks in his SR season. His highlight reel shows he can play inside or outside as either a DT or DE. He's a strong pass rusher with good size and wing span at 6'4" 265 lbs.

SR MLHS WR Jake Schicke is a tall (6'5") and rangy (195 lbs) who starred on the hardwood (as a small forward and shooting guard) as much as the gridiron. Jake's highlight reel shows him  making several leaping catches over smaller DBs. His height and wingspan will definitely make him a match up problem for opposing teams. He should be very comfortable in a Statesmen uniform, as it appears his HS and college color schemes are basically the same (not to mention there being over 10+ players from the Garden State on the current roster).

Please join me in welcoming these incoming FY student athletes to the Hobart Football family!

As always, thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Coach DeWall Announces Class of 2023 - Part One

The Hobart College Statesmen's latest incoming recruiting class has been released by the coaching staff over the past couple of days via social media. So far 16 FY student athletes have been announced with about another 10-14 or so on the way, based on a recent conversation I had with Coach DeWall '00.

11 of these 16 players are ones I had previously blogged about over the past couple of months, so you can scroll down to find out more information on these future Statesmen if you're interested.

They are, in alphabetical order:

Please join me in again welcoming these new Statesmen student athletes to the Hobart Football family! I'll have more on the handful of commits I wasn't able to previously track down in the next post and more to come as more incoming FY are announced through the end of this week (and into next).

Thanks again for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Name Captains for 2019 Campaign

Rising SR RB Brian Haeffner and SR OLB/DB Jayson Prince have been named captains for the Hobart College Statesmen for the 2019 season.

This is the second season Prince has assumed a leadership role for the team. Prince has tallied 88 tackles in his career including five sacks, 5.5 TFL, five forced fumbles and one FR for a TD in 29 career games.

Haeffner has rushed for 647 yards and eight TDs over his 29 game Statesmen career. After two seasons of relatively modest stats and some special teams play, Haeffner had breakthrough performances last season against Shenandoah (nine carries for 55 yards and two TDs), Rochester (nine carries for 81 yards and one TD) and SLU (28 carries for 200 yards and three TDs) in the season finale.

Please join me in congratulating these Statesmen leaders!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Governor's Cremers Selects Statesmen

Governor Academy (Newbury, MA) SR OL/DL Jos Cremers announced on twitter earlier today that he's decided to attend and play football at Hobart College. He stated:

Standing 6'5" and weighing 300 lbs., Jos held down the LT role at GA and excelled as an interior DL given his footwork and strength. You can check out his highlight reel here.

Please join me in welcoming the Cremers family to the Hobart Football one! Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart (and beat Cuse!).