Hobart All-Decade Team (2010-19)

With the corona virus basically shutting the country down, it'll likely be a while before we have any HFB or D3FB news. Frank and I did record some interviews with affected college presidents, coaches and players which you can watch on our In the D3FB Huddle channel if you're interested.

That said I have pulled together my attempt at recognizing the best Hobart College Football players of the last decade. 2010-19 was a historic run for the Statesmen, who elevated their program from a solid regional to a national one.

The list below was one I did ask former HC Mike Cragg for input on, as well as a few of my own picks. Please comment below if you feel I may have missed out one of your favorite players.

QB

Shane Sweeney '18 - While a case can certainly be made for guys like Nick Strang '13 and Patrick Conlan '15 based on their winning percentage alone, at the end of the day, Sweeney rewrote the Hobart record books for QB play. He passed for 7,385 yards and 71 TDs over his 27 game career. He led the "cardiac kids" which was one of the most exciting seasons (2016) in Hobart history, going toe-to-toe with Mount Union in the playoffs. 

OL

Ali Marpet '15 - You might of heard of this guy, being he was and remains the highest D3 draft pick in NFL history. Ali was a two-time captain during one of the best runs in Statesmen history, including three undefeated regular seasons. He apparently will be blocking for some guy named Brady in his day job in Tampa this fall. Marpet appeared in 41 games for the Statesmen, starting in at least 35, helping his team amass an incredible 41-5 record over that four-year run. Ali's class and teammate DeAndre' Smith '15 deserves mention here as does his predecessor Brendan Hatlee '12 and current assistant coaches, Art Garvey '13 and Michael Green '14.

RB

Steven Webb '14 - Webb had amazing speed and field vision, racking up an incredible 3,976 rushing yards and 53 TDs over his 42 game career. He had back-to-back 1K+ rushing yard seasons his JR and SR year, including some epic runs of 60+ yards. He added at least 100 yards receiving each of his four seasons, including three TDs. What makes Webb's accomplishments even more impressive is the fact he shared the load with Bobby Dougherty '13 who ran for over 1K yards and scored 19 rushing TDs in the 2012 season. 

WR

Brandon Shed '18 - This FLA native broke and set multiple Hobart receiving records over his 42 game career, nearly going over 3K in yardage to go along with 32 TDs. His best season was his JR year, earning him first team All-American honors. The proverbial deep threat, Shed had receptions of 63, 75, 81 and 83 yards in his impressive college career. 

FB

Dominique Ellis '15 - Given today's RPO and spread offenses you don't see these guys much anymore, but there was a time Hobart used a fullback, a lot. Ellis only missed three starts over his career, appearing in 43 of 46 games. He rushed for over 1,300 yards and added 19 TDs. He bulldozed the opposition, paving the way for big seasons for teammates like Webb and Doughtery. A true throwback, we will probably not see a player like "Dom" again. 

TE

Mike Berkowitz '15 - "Berk" is one of my all-time favorite Statesmen players. Although he was mostly used as a run blocker over his 42 game career, Mike had a knack for making big catches in key moments of close games (the above being one of them). He had 45 receptions for 562 yards and 17 TDs in his career, the latter being the most at his position in Hobart history and tied for sixth all-time in TD receptions. I'll add Zach Withers '18 as well given his stats (67 catches, 783 receiving yards, 8 TDs in 31 games as a TE - he also played in 10 games as FY on STs), not to mention his 8 catch, 2 TD day vs. Mt. Union in the 2016 NCAA playoffs.

DE

Tyre Coleman '15 - Easily the best pass rusher in school history, Coleman terrorized opposing QBs for four years, ending his career as the 2014 D3football.com DPOY. He started in every game of his career (all 46) and finished with 224 total tackles and 51 sacks, setting a national record his SR season. I was lucky enough to be there in person to see Tyre set the Hobart record for sacks during a dominating 49-21 win at Springfield back in 2013. I even did a quick game recap afterwards.

DT

Nick Auriemma '13 & Troy Johnson '15 - An anchor of the Statesmen's DL from 09-12, Auriemma played in 40 games in his career, amassing 115 total tackles, 7.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks. He had an INT against Wesley in the first round of the 2011 playoffs and was a big part of Hobart's strong rush defense that held opponents to under 100 RYPG. Johnson had 129 tackles, 21.5 TFL and 11 sacks in his 44 game career. Here's Troy talking about the exciting 29-27 win over SLU in 2014. 

ILB

Trayvon Toney '16 & Jacob Stanley '16 - A true dynamic duo, Toney had 270 total tackles, 15.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks and 2 INTs in his 45 game career. Trayvon's first career INT was a pick six for 37 yards against WPI as a FY. Stanley's career was shortened due to a torn ACL his SR season but he and Toney led the 2014 defense with 93 total tackles. Stanley totaled 132 stops along with 15.5 TFL, 8 sacks and 2 INTs. Stanley even returned two punts, which is pretty rare for ILBs, but he was that athletic to do it. I was also reminded about Andrew Klindera '13 and Reggie Robinson '12 who each had at least 200 career tackles. Andrew's interview I did about his playing semi-pro football in Germany is still the 3rd most viewed on this site. 

OLB 

Devin Worthington '14 - "Bam Bam" regularly dropped the hammer on opposing QBs and offenses. As fierce as Coleman, Worthington ended his 42 game career as one of the most decorated Statesmen in program history. Devin tallied 217 total tackles as well as 62.5 TFL (!!!), 30.5 sacks, 3 INTs and 3 scoop and score TDs in his impressive career.

DB

Drake Woodard '12 & Tommy D'Antonio '18 - Woodard is a player who had a breakthrough rookie season (2008) and went to to have one of the best careers a Hobart DB has ever had. In fact he earned a spot on my prior All Decade team, which I wrote back in January of 2011. A true lock-down corner, opposing teams rarely challenged him after he finished 14th in the nation in INTs. He earned conference 1st team awards all four years of his 37 game career. D'Antonio was another strong cover man for the Statesmen secondary in an era where opposing teams really threw the ball - a lot. Tommy finished his 41 game career with 164 tackles, 8 TFL, 4 INTs and a 72-yard scoop and score TD against Springfield in 2015.

ST

Kyle Hackett '21 & Rio Schmidt '18 - Hackett struggled in the 2019 season after having an All-American season in 2018. He's accounted for 208 points in his career, going 31-36 on FGs and is now the top ranked PK in Hobart history. Schmidt transferred to Hobart as a SO from Colby and appeared in 31 career games as a Statesman. He booted the ball 128 times for 5,017 yards over his career earning multiple conference and national awards as a punter. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I did pulling it together. Hopefully things will be back to normal soon. In the meantime, thanks as always for reading this blog and go 'Bart!