I hope everyone enjoyed a very healthy and happy holiday season. Now that all the Christmas decorations are all packed up, I finally have some time to reflect back on what was a successful 126th season for Hobart Football.
I'll do my best to provide some perspective, providing a little constructive criticism here and there, as we look back on Hobart's 9-2 overall campaign. My initial take away is that this was a young team with a lot of defensive talent that came into it's own after struggling to find an identity in 2018. While there are certainly a few positions that need to be bolstered via spring camp and recruiting, overall the Statesmen punctuated the decade a postseason berth and win.
The 2010's saw Hobart elevate from a strong, mid-tier regional program to an elite, national one. Even national sportswriters such as Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner on Twitter) noticed, and he "gave" Hobart the "New York State Championship" primarily due to winning five conference titles. While it wasn't part of his "formula", the Statesmen finished the last 10 seasons with an impressive 81-23 mark (77.88%).
Later this month I'll do an All-Decade team type of look back, like I did in 2011. I'll also see what I can find out about the Statesmen's 2020 schedule and post recruiting updates as they come up. Early Decision applicants have already come in and there was at least one Hobart commit I saw during the break. More on that later.
So what can we say about the 2019 season? A lot, actually.
Award Winners
First off, let's recognize a few Hobart players who earned All-Region and All-American awards after the 2019 season concluded.
JR OLB Emmett Forde earned first team All-Region and All-American awards from D3football.com. He also earned a first team All-American nod from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). The Associated Press (AP) awarded Forde a second team All-American spot as well.
Forde was joined on the All-Region teams by JR OL Dillon Carey (second team), JR CB Jared Leake (second team) and FY RB Rayshawn Boswell (third team as a RET specialist).
The 2019 season had it's ups and downs,
but it was great to get a postseason win, the first since 2014!
2019 Year-In-Review
There was optimism, but also uncertainty, going into 2019 after a disappointing 5-4 record in 2018. Hobart had one of the most difficult schedules in the nation (when all was said and done, the Statesmen had the 15th most difficult SOS in the nation per D3football.com, but it didn't factor in the Cortland game), and I think in the long run that long grind, including injuries, finally caught up to them in mid-October.
Still, to open September with wins over nationally ranked Brockport and a couple of NJAC teams was impressive. Certainly one of the overall highlights from 2019 was Hobart going 3-0 against the Top 3 teams from the Empire 8. Don't get me started on Brockport finishing 9-3 overall and being ranked 25th while the Statesmen received zero votes....
After a difficult gauntlet of non-conference games, the Statesmen had the disadvantage of having to travel to Union and Ithaca - and both were times where the Dutchmen and Bombers had an extra week of preparation over Hobart. While I was surprised at the time by the loss to Union, the Dutchmen ended up having one of their best seasons (11-1 overall, ending up ranked 12th in the final D3football.com Top 25) in over a decade. Their offense was ultimately better than Hobart's and a couple of ill-timed turnovers ended the Statesmen's chance of a win in Schenectady.
The Ithaca game was another tough one to watch as an ill-fated tackle / decision by JR OLB Emmett Forde got him disqualified from the game and the Statesmen pretty much lost their composure shortly afterwards. I can't say I blame them, given the officials and some extracurricular things going on from the stands thanks to some Bombers parents / fans. Needless to say I complained to the IC's Athletic Director later in the season about this and another incident which occurred after the Union-Ithaca game.
Regardless, a big reason for the loss was simply SR QB Joe Germiniero, Jr. just seeming to have Hobart's number these past three seasons. Statesmen fans should be happy to never have to play against "Joey G" again. Germiniero's career line vs. Hobart? It's 75-99 (75.7%) passing for 1,040 yards, 7 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD and zero INTs. He was a true Statesmen Assassin in every sense.
Aside from Germiniero, the loss also had to do with some bad officiating and the Statesmen making a few big mistakes - like a missed FG and an unsportsmanlike / late hit penalty which basically gave Ithaca a scoring drive at the end of the first half. That became the difference between a 7-3 and 14-0 halftime score. The latter was especially frustrating.
In spite of the loss, the Statesmen would never look back after their bye week, going 4-0 to end the season. During that final run, Hobart won by an average of 25 PPG and held their opposition to 14 PPG. In the LL, Hobart would finish the season ranked fourth in scoring (28.3 PPG), sixth in total yards (345.6 YPG), fourth in rushing (121.1 YPG), sixth in passing (224.5 YPG) and offensive efficiency (119.6). Defensively the Statesmen were stronger, ranking second in scoring (17.4 PPG allowed), second in total yards (328.5 YPG - including a league best 23 TDs allowed), third in rushing (107.3 YPG), second in passing (221.2 YPG) and basically tied for first in defensive efficiency with Union (110.6).
Special teams had a record setting year with FY RB Rayshawn Boswell's two KO return TDs and the second most KOR yardage in program history. SR WR/PK John DelliSanti would finish second in the LL in net punting with an average of 36.7. JR PK Kyle Hackett didn't meet his preseason All-American expectations, unfortunately. He went 12-17 overall on FGs (ranked fifth in the LL for FG %) and 35-39 on PATs after nearly perfect 2017 and 2018 seasons. That said I'm sure Kyle will rebound for his SR year.
The Statesmen OL gradually improved over the course of the season and all the starters from that unit should be back in the fall. QB and a couple WR roles will be up for grabs during spring practice given graduation of a handful of SR players at those positions. Boswell and FY RB Tim Denham, Jr. finished strong and look like future stars. JR WR Mike Giacobbe really cemented himself as a go to and possession receiver as well, finishing second on the team with 548 receiving yards and tying SR WR Ray Conley for a team high 6 receiving TDs. The defense will need to replace the production of SR OLB David McCarthy, SR CB Jayson Prince, SR FS Andrew Koonz and SR DE Colin Hudgins, but overall the Statesmen return several other top defenders across the board.
Looking Ahead
Given graduations at other schools, Hobart will be a preseason favorite in the LL going into 2020. Union will likely get picked to win the conference as most of their top ranked offensive players return. The question marks for the Dutchmen will be on defense. I'll be curious to see where that game falls on the calendar, especially if it's the conference opener like last season.
Overall there's a lot to look forward to during the off-season. I'll do my best to keep you up to date on recruiting and any other HFB news I can find.
Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!
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