Centennial Cup (and more) On the Line in Week 9

The Hobart College Statesmen will make the short trip down I-90 to take on the University of Rochester in the annual Centennial Cup game. One big difference this season is that this game is not the regular season finale for the first time in a couple of decades. 

This will be the 117th installment of the longest rivalry series between Hobart (2-5, 1-3) and Rochester (5-2, 2-2) that dates back to 1892. The Statesmen have recently enjoyed a 13-game winning streak over the Yellow Jackets. Rochester's last win in this season was back in 2010. Last season Hobart dispatched Rochester with relative ease, 37-7, in the 2024 regular season finale. 

This season is a totally different story as you can argue the Yellow Jackets are coming into this game as the favorites, in spite of the recent history between these two teams. This is a must win for Hobart who is looking to avoid their first losing season in 30 years. 

Beating Rochester will take a full team effort, not unlike what we saw against Saint Lawrence.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets

Rochester is led by Hobart graduate and former Statesmen QB Chad Martinovich '94. He's built the Yellow Jackets into a run-first offensive and tough defensive team since taking over the program after taking MIT to the NCAA playoffs.

Rochester averages about 24 PPG on offense and has called 245 rushing compared to 177 passing plays (58 to 42%). The Yellow Jackets average five yards per carry and about the same per completion (5.3). Defensively the have held teams to under 14 PPG on average, and most notably have only allowed 12 total TDs over seven games this season. 

The offense is led by FY QB Shawn Bellenger. He's gone 67-118 (56.78%) passing with three passing TDs compared to only two INTs. He took over from JR QB Victor Moran, but if needed, Moran has been effective at times - passing for 263 yards and five passing TDs with two INTs.

SO RB Cole Raux leads the rushing attack with 506 yards on 105 carries this season (4.8 YPR). He's tied with FY QB Jett Genovese and SR RB Jake Adelmann with three rushing TDs. Raux is a safety valve in the passing game, catching 15 passes for 66 yards and one TD.  

SR WR Aidan Papantonis is the leading receiver, catching 39 passes for 430 yards and six receiving TDs. While Papatonis is a proven go-to receiver, Rochester has three other WRs with at least 10 catches this season.

Defensively the Yellow Jackets are led by JR LB Jack Diggins and JR DB Braydon Felsinger with 62 and 60 tackles, respectively. 

Diggins has picked off opposing QB three times and forced one fumble. Felsinger has two INTs, four PBUs and one FF to go with four TFL. SR DL Victor Little (who's not that small at 6' 3" and 280 lbs.) leads Rochester with six TFL and four sacks up front. 

JR PK Kyle Brainard is the Yellow Jacket's primary special team's player. He handles KOs (53.7 YPKO), punting (38.4 YPP) and FGs (going 3-6 with a long of 35 yards). In the return game, Genovese has handled the majority of KOs and JR WR T.J. Shifflet (who went to the high school where I live in FL), has handled the majority of PRs for Rochester this season.

Keys to the Game:

1. Turnovers: Rochester has feasted on their opponent's mistakes this season, thanks to a +8 TOM. They've collected 10 INTs and forced 15 fumbles, recovering six. Hobart absolutely needs to protect the football and not let the Yellow Jackets offense, which averages over 300 YPG and has scored 22 TDs get any "freebies".

2. Bend Don't Break: Rochester has struggled in the red zone, converting only 14 trips into TDs on 28 tries. While I expect the Yellow Jackets offense to gain yards between the 20's, we need the Statesmen defense to keep their point total below their season average to win on Saturday. 

3. Start Fast and Keep Pushing: Hobart will do better if they start off with a lead. The offense finally clicked last weekend and should be confident going into this game. The defense needs to pressure this FY QB and the UofR OL has allowed 12 sacks this season (almost two per game). If the Statesmen can force the Yellow Jackets to play from behind and force a couple of turnovers, that will go a long way towards retaining the Cup for another year.

Final Thoughts:

This is the game that will define the 2025 season. Hobart will win its final two games against Hilbert (0-7, 0-5) and Buffalo State (1-6, 1-3), so the only thing keeping the Statesmen from their worst season in 30 years is this game. 

It won't be easy, and Rochester will view this as a big opportunity, but Hobart has the players and plan to come away with a needed win Saturday.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Set Records, Soar in 49-17 Win Over Saint Lawrence

The Hobart College Statesmen racked up an impressive 544 yards of offense while limiting the visiting Saint Lawrence Saints to only 194 total yards. 

SO QB Jeremy Weiss and SO WR Jordan Nolan broke the Hobart all-time single pass completion and reception records with a 96-yard bomb to put the Statesmen (2-5, 1-3) up 27-7 right before halftime. Nolan would collect another TD in the second half to finish the day with a career high three catches for 154 yards. Weiss finished the game 13-17 for 329 yards and four passing TDs, one of the best performances by a Hobart QB in about a decade. Getting in on the fun was JR RB E.J. Taylor, who rushed 19 times for 103 yards and two rushing TDs.

The Hobart defense was led by FY LB Jeron Atwater, Jr with a team high 8 tackles. Speaking of, on Tackles and TDs day, that totals up to seven TDs and 58 total tackles. Looks like I'm cutting a decent check to the Happiness House, which I am more than happy to do.

Up next for the Statesmen are the Rochester Yellowjackets. Rochester (4-2, 1-2) is a heavy favorite against Buffalo State (1-5, 1-2) today. I'll have more on that one early next week. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 8 - Send in the Saints for Tackles & Touchdowns Saturday

Well, if there was ever a time Hobart could use a win, there couldn't be a better opponent than one where they have a 13-game winning streak and who the Statesmen (1-5, 0-3) have beaten by a combined score of 105-13 over the past three seasons, right?

To be fair, every season is a new one. Although this year's Saint Lawrence Saints (2-4, 1-2) team has also struggled, they do bring back some experienced players and have acquitted themselves well in games against strong teams like Saint John Fisher and Ithaca.

Hobart is 57-36-2 all time against the Saints, making this the 96th game in this series, dating back to 1901. Last season the Statesmen held Saint Lawrence to a single FG in a convincing, 39-3 win, up in Canton. 

This year's game will be at the Boz and coincides with the annual Tackles and Touchdowns fundraiser for the Ability Partners Foundation which supports Happiness House in Geneva, Rochester Rehabilitation and the services of CP Rochester. Happiness House is a school that gives opportunities to young students and adults with disabilities to learn and flourish in a safe environment.

Scouting the Saints

SLU is led by SR QB Will Lederman on offense. He's gone 71-112 (63.39%) for 1,076 yards, with nine passing TDs compared to only one INT. He's also the Saints' leading rusher with 235 rushing yards and has scored four of the team's five rushing TDs.

When he isn't tucking and running, Lederman has a pair of favorite targets in SR WRs Shea Goodwin and Nicolas Huhtala. Goodwin has a team high 24 receptions for 345 yards and has one receiving TD. Huhtala has caught 22 passes for 326 yards and a team leading four receiving TDs. SR WR Ciesielski (shown above) has four catches for 121 yards and a TD. He also handles the majority of KO and PRs, averaging just over 21 YPKOR.

The Saints offense is balanced as they've rushed to close to the same number of yards as they have passing (some losses in the running game have clipped the total however). If not Lederman calling his own number, SO RB James Geschiedle has run it 41 times for 109 yards.

Defensively SLU is led by SR LB Ryan Surhoff with a team high 45 tackles. He's added 2.5 TFL, two sacks, an INT, four FFs and one FR this season. SO DL Ethan Metro is on the small side, but he makes up for it in speed and production. He has 6.5 TFL and leads the team with three sacks. 

On special teams, SO PK Sam Arbaugh handles punts (37.96 average) and SR PK Clayton Fogler handles KOs (52 YPKO) and FGs (going 5-9 with a long of 49 yards).

Keys to the Game:

1. Back to Basics - the Saints have given up over 177 RYPG and 10 TDs on the ground this season, so I'd like to see Hobart line it up and commit to running the ball for the majority of the game. Certainly, mixing in some play action and other passes - we have some strong TEs, why not use them a little bit more here and there - along the way. To their credit, SLU barely turns the ball over, so the Statesmen will need to be opportunistic on defense, bottling up Lederman and look to force three and outs. Hopefully on offense, Hobart can start converting more 3rd downs, which has been a challenge all season.

2. Score (More): The Statesmen have yet to score more than 23 points in a game this season, and they've scored over 30 PPG against SLU for a few years now. I'm hoping the fact that the Saints have allowed 14 scoring opportunities (11 TDs, 3 FGs) in 16 redzone trips, means that Hobart can put up some points this Saturday, not just for the home crowd, but to raise more money for the Ability Foundation.

3. Fighting to .500: In order to climb back to a better season, the Statesmen need to go 1-0 this week. The Saints will view this as a rare opportunity to beat Hobart - they've only done it once in 2010 and that was after an 18-game losing streak they had to the Statesmen from 1992-2009. While Hobart has been down, they are not out. A win on Saturday is the first of four steps back to .500.

Final Thoughts:

Every game is a must win from here on out, and the Statesmen will need to be ready to take the Saints best shot. SLU will come into this game with more confidence than in prior seasons. Hobart will just have to execute its game plan and snuff out any hope the Saints have early on in this one.

Keep an eye (and ear) out for Ted Baker's Hobart Football podcast that'll be recorded Wednesday and released not too long after that. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Reflections on the Statesmen's Season to Date Going into the Bye Week

Last Saturday the Statesmen suffered yet another loss this season, and their fifth in a row on the road in Schenectady against Union College, 33-16. Hobart's record at the bye week is 1-5, 0-3, easily the worst mark in 30 (or more years) of Statesmen football. What's gone wrong and can Hobart turn the tide to avoid their first losing season in 30 years?

No offense, but it's the Offense

Back in the preseason, I was very bullish on the upcoming Hobart Football season given all the depth and experience the Statesmen had coming back on offense. The entire OL, a 1,000-yard RB, a deep WR and TE corps and a QB who had appeared in over 10 games. It didn't take long for that strength to develop some weaknesses as the three OL starters were lost by midway through the Alfred game in Week 1. The QB competition turned into a three-man rotation who just couldn't really run the offense the way I assume HC Kevin DeWall '00 hoped. These issues compounded with a terrible third down conversion rate (14-65 or 21.54%) and only 14.33 PPG scored. This left the defense hung out to dry (opponent's TOP has averaged almost 31 and a half minutes per game) and while they acquitted themselves well for the first five weeks of the season, they eventually began to break, allowing 36 and 33 points in the last two weeks.

Injuries

A rash of injuries unlike anything I've seen in almost 35 years of watching Hobart Football has taken its toll this season. For the Union game, 26 players sat out of practice the week of and only about a group of 45 travelled to the game. While I thought the lacrosse team was the only one to have this kind of issue (it's been a problem for about five years there), it appears that whatever strength and conditioning is doing isn't working now for football also. This is probably due to having Division I experienced people working at the DIII level. The feedback I've heard through the grapevine is not positive to say the least, and I really hope someone at the College looks into this problem for the sake of the student athletes.

Just bad luck

To be fair, the Statesmen were only a few plays away from winning the Alfred, Brockport, and Ithaca games. That DPI no call in the game against the Bombers was the difference between it being a 13-7 Ithaca win and a 14-13 Hobart one. While maybe Hobart would have still dropped the RPI and Union games, sitting at 4-2 would feel a lot better than this current predicament. 

 

Looking Ahead

The good news for Hobart fans is that the bye week will give this banged up squad a chance to recover and get some key players back into the lineup and continue to practice improving execution on offense and defense. The Statesmen should be favorites in three of the last four games, so they have a good chance to win them. The big question mark is whether or not they can shut down a resurgent Rochester (4-2, 1-2) team at home in Week 9.

So here we are, it's an unfamiliar place for Hobart fans who's seen this program average 7.55 wins a season dating back to 1995. The Statesmen have only finished the regular season with only five wins three times in the last 30 years. While it's been a rough year, there should be hope that Hobart can end this year on a strong note.

We're here for it. Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 6 - Statesmen Look to Save Face in Schenectady

The Hobart College Statesmen's 2025 season hasn't gone as planned, but with five games remaining, it's far from over. As stated in my preseason preview, the hard part was September and the Statesmen's schedule eases up from October on. That doesn't mean Hobart (1-4, 0-2) can just go on cruise control and end up 6-4, with a shot at an ECAC bowl bid.

No, the Statesmen need to start taking this opportunity to rebuild and go 1-0 each week, as there are really no "gimmes" anymore given all the bad breaks they've seen this season. Especially with long-time rival Union College (3-2, 2-0) looking to take the Statesmen down another notch.

Hobart is 51-54-2 all-time against the Dutchmen (I refuse to call them the "Chargers"), making this game the 108th time the two programs have faced off. The Statesmen have struggled to win at Frank Bailey Field, going 25-34-2 and losing four of the last five games there. Hobart's most recent victory in Union territory was ten years ago, an emphatic 52-14 stomping of the Dutchmen on Halloween in 2015. 

Last season the Statesmen shutout Union, 27-0, but with a year under his belt, HC Jon Drach has these Dutchmen playing bigger and better than they did in 2024.

Scouting the Dutchmen:

After losing their first two games to nationally ranked teams, the Dutchmen have rattled off three straight wins. They are outscoring their opposition 24.6-17.6 PPG and are, not surprisingly given Drach's pedigree, an explosive offensive team. Union averages nearly 400 YPG in total offense and are almost 50-50 when it comes to the pass (203.8 YPG and eight TDs) and the run (190.2 YPG and seven rushing scores). The Dutchmen average over five yards per rush and seven per reception so the Statesmen defense will have their hands full Saturday.

The Union offense is led by SR QB Patch Flanagan who's improved a great deal since I saw him play in person at Utica in Week 1 of 2024. He struggled with turnovers then and did to start this season, throwing eight INTs compared to eight passing TDs, but six of those INTs came in Weeks 1 and 2. He's gone 77-132 for 986 yards, which averages close to 200 YPG passing.

Flanagan's primary targets are SR WR Gil Rivera (22 catches for 295 yards and four TDs), SR WR Dan Quinn (11-237 and two TDs) and JR WR Owen Corrigan (9-131 and one TD). 

The Dutchmen rushing attack is also led by Flanagan, who calls his own number in the RPO a lot. He's rushed for a team high 452 yards and 4 rushing TDs. JR RB Michael Dinardo and SO RB Jah'Cire Jones have combined for nearly 100 carries and over 350 rushing yards.

The defense is led by SO LB John Droggitis and JR LB Dewayne Hinds who've tallied 34 and 33 total tackles each. The defensive front is led by JR DL Jordan Black who has a team high 6.5 TFL and 2.5 sacks (second best to SO DL Peter Nizolek with three sacks). In general, the Dutchmen defense is a physical and attacking unit. They've racked up 44 TFL and 22 sacks over five games, while their OL line, to their credit, has only allowed 22 TFL and two sacks over that same period. 

On special teams Union is another team with three PK specialists. FY PK/WR Evan Anderson has handled punts, averaging 41.26 YYP. SO PK Francesco Pileggi (from Brazil of all places), has gone 2-3 on short range FGs. SR PK Ryan Mulderig averages nearly 62 YPKO. Half of his KOs (10/20) have resulted in touchbacks. 

Keys to the Game:

1. Keep a Level Head: With no love lost on either sideline between these two rivals, you can expect the Dutchmen to come out very fired up like there's "blood in the water." They would love to continue to pile onto Hobart's struggles, so the Statesmen need to put everything in the rearview mirror and just focus on the current play. Getting drawn into penalties because of jawing and/or cheap shots, which Union has done in the past (I'm hoping Drach has eliminated that from their culture), is something the Statesmen simply cannot afford. This is an important business trip to save the season, so Hobart needs to act like it.

2. Flummox Flanagan: While he is an experienced QB, Flanagan has been turnover prone throughout his career. The Statesmen defense needs to play a game like they did vs. Utica and keep the pressure on the QB to force INTs.

3. The Best Defense is a Good Offense: Hobart needs to win the TOP battle in this one and keep this high-powered Union offense on the sideline. The Dutchmen defense allows close to 300 total YPG and almost five yards per play, so the Statesmen can grind away running and working short passing completions to chip away at the clock. Field position will also be important, if Hobart can't score, they need to flip the playing field and keep Union looking at 80+ yard drives.

Final Thoughts:

The character of this team will be revealed either way in this game. I hope we see a Statesmen squad that fights (fairly, without rash outbursts) all the way to the end of the whistle. I knew it wouldn't take Coach Drach long to turn the Dutchmen around, but I am not ready to see them turn the tide on Hobart just yet. 

You can expect a close game, I just hope the Statesmen can put the past behind them and start the second half of the season on a positive note. A rare win at Frank Bailey would go a LONG WAY in doing that.

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Engineers Wreck Homecoming, 36-10

That was rough. 

No way to sugar coat it, the 36-10 loss to RPI (4-1, 2-0) on Homecoming was Hobart's only fourth, but it is also the worst, home loss under HC Kevin DeWall '00. JR RB E.J. Taylor had over 100 rushing yards, but it wasn't enough, as the hapless Statesmen offense continues to sputter along.

You can read about the game from the HWSAthletics.com site here. 

This is also the worst start for a Hobart (1-4, 0-2) team in 30 years - even longer if you factor in one of the losses from that 1995 season was given back to the Statesmen as a forfeit given NCAA violations by Saint John Fisher at the time. For the record, the Cardinals won the game on 9/16/95, 35-20. That was also the last year Hobart had a losing season, which this version of the Statesmen is looking to avoid.

Hobart travels to long-time league rival, Union College (3-2, 2-0), who of course are coached by former Hobart OC and QB coach, Jon Drach. Coach Drach is 6-9 as the Dutchmen's HC, and so far, has a winning record in his second season at the helm.

The Statesmen shut out the Dutchmen, 27-0, last season. But this is a different year. Still, a win on Saturday at Union, which Hobart hasn't accomplished going back to the 2015 season, who be a nice consolation on what's already been a difficult season.

I'll have more on that matchup later this week. 

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!