FY RB Tim Denham broke an 80-yd KOR for a TD to open the second half and Hobart (7-2, 3-2) never looked back. Denham scored earlier in the game on a 17-yd pass from Hofmann. SR WR Ray Conley and JR WR Mike Giacobbe also had TD catches on the night. SR WR Jake Catalioto had 102 receiving yards in his final home game as well. The defense was led by SO ILB Bryan Aguilar with eight tackles, 1 TFL, a sack and a FF. SR CB Jayson Prince added six tackles, five solo, on the night.
The Statesmen just need to dispatch a win-less Rochester (0-9, 0-5) squad this Saturday for another Centennial Cup win and hope they earn some form of post-season bid. The NCAA playoffs are unfortunately not possible at all given the amount of likely 9-1 teams in the Pool C race and the Statesmen's head-to-head loss to Ithaca (7-2, 3-2) keeping them down in the eyes of the East Region RAC - even with the head-to-head win over now Empire 8 Champions and #22 Brockport (8-1).
The most likely scenario I can see is with Ithaca's surprise upset loss to RPI (6-3, 3-2) last Saturday and the Bombers declaration for a bid to the ECACs, the Statesmen are in the running for the second ever New York State Bowl game, on the road, against Cortland. Alfred (5-4), who also has declared for an ECAC game, may be a possibility also, but I believe the Red Dragons will lose to Ithaca after really struggling to stop Hartwick (1-8) last Saturday.
The Dragons (8-1) run defense looked terrible, giving up 133 yards to what's mostly a pass-first Hawks squad. Hobart's run game has really started to click in the past couple of weeks, the OL has improved and Statesmen fans should be optimistic for the future. 9 out of 11 starters will return on defense and the entire OL should be back with rising stars like Denham and FY RB Rayshawn Boswell in the backfield. The Statesmen lose some strong WR talent, but the roster is deep there and it'll be interesting to see who ultimately replaces Hofmann after he graduates.
Hofmann and his 11 SR Statesmen teammates still have at least one more game left, however, so I'll work on a Rochester preview a little later this week.
Thanks for reading as always and go 'Bart!
Congratulations to the team for a great performance Sat. night, to the Sr.s on their night and to the author on his close prediction. It is a pity that Hobart College AND the Hobart football program does so little to recognize the men who have represented their school with pride and respect everywhere they go and of course the Seniors who have done so for four years. There are a lot of reasons why not everyone makes it all the way(and no disrespect is intended here)...these 12 "finishers" who started in a class of 36 their Freshman year crossed the finish line. Great job guys and good luck in your regular season finale this weekend! Hopefully the post season cards will fall in your favor so you can strap it up one more time.
ReplyDeleteAssuming Hobart wins this weekend, Is there any way that we would not get the invite to the Bowl game seeing that Ithaca is out of the picture and we beat RPI? Even if Ithaca was still around would they want to play Cortland in Cortland a second weeks in a row having just played them at MetLife Stadium?
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