Jupiter's KJ Larsen Selects Statesmen

One of my "sources" has informed me that Jupiter HS (FL) SR TE/LB KJ Larsen has recently committed to Hobart. KJ helped his team to their first undefeated regular season in school history. While they lost a close one to Orlando area powerhouse Dr. Phillips HS in the playoffs, Larsen and his teammates had a historic run.

Standing 6' 2" and 220 lbs., Larsen is a matchup problem for defenses out of the backfield as a receiver and his athleticism makes him a menace to opposing offenses from the LB/OLB position. At JHS Larsen also starred on the hardwood, helping his team win a district championship in basketball.

You can check out his highlight reel here. 

 

Please join me in welcoming KJ and the extended Larsen family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart!

Post #1000 - Reflecting Back on (what is it?) almost 17 Years of Hobart Football

1000 posts.....really?!?

While I'm not sure if this is an impressive milestone or just confirmation of my loyalty, longevity, and perhaps insanity as a Hobart alumni and football fan, this feels like an important opportunity to step back and take an opportunity to reflect.

I was a terrible football player at Hobart and only lasted one season until I realized my talents were better suited to playing rock and roll in the college bars and fraternity parties. Still, that year of 1992-1993 taught me how much effort, athletic talent and mental toughness is required to play college athletics. While I didn't have much of the latter, I was able, through this and other mediums, to excel as a fanatic (remember the SAA motto is "Be A Fan") and I've tuned into pretty much every Statesmen football game since. Special thanks need to be mentioned to Ted Baker (get this guy in the HOF please), who's been the voice of Hobart Football (among several other HWS teams) teams past 20 years. His broadcasts with Dave Gage and Coach Muffley were and remain a vital lifeline for the alums and families to live far away from Geneva and New York State like me. 

Anyway, the backstory here started when I originally found D3Boards.com in the early 2000's as a way to connect with fellow D3FB and Liberty League fans (like Frank Rossi, for instance) while I was living on the West Coast. I started emailing friends and classmates Hobart Football write ups as early as 2004 or 2005 and I'd post recaps and previews on D3Boards for a few years until I found this site and officially decided to "become a blogger."

Since August of 2009 until now, I've found this as an enjoyable pastime which has allowed me to stay connected to my alma mater, while also making some friends along the way. I'll never forget when Jarrid Blades '12 called me from the bus after Hobart upset Saint John Fisher, 56-20, to let me know my prediction was way off. 

Over the years this blog (and podcast) has gotten me connected to many Hobart players, friends and families. While obviously HWSAthletics.com is the source of record, many of these people have come here week in and out to get a different take on upcoming matchups, game recaps and news.

I have a lot of fond memories from the last 16+ years including, but not limited to, the epic 41-5 run from 2011-2014 where Hobart took its place as one of the top programs in the nation. There was some bad news in there sometimes, but I always tried to focus on the positive. I enjoyed putting together compilations like the "Best 20 Games of the Last 20 Years" in June and July of 2016. I also posted about the "Hobart Team of the Decade" in January of 2011 and March of 2020. I did my best to cover the wins, losses, bowl bids, schedules, new recruits and other news as it came up along the way.

I'm not sure how much longer I will continue to keep going here, but with the plan to retire from In the D3FB Huddle after 20 years/seasons (after the 2028 season), it seems like going for another 3 years to hit 20 years here makes sense. 

While it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, I do appreciate the website traffic and positive feedback from everyone. It's been an enjoyable hobby and ride these 16+ years now. I probably should have upgraded to a better website a long time ago, or maybe even figured out ways to monetize the site, but that's never been the point. 

As I always say, thanks for reading, and go 'Bart!

Fairfield Prep's Watson Selects Statesmen

I was recently made aware that Fairfield (CT) Prep's SR OL Jack Watson took to his Instagram account to say that he is "excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Hobart College! Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me along the way! Go Statesmen!"

Jack was recruited by FCS and other higher division programs such as the University of New Haven, and Fordham University. Standing 6' 5" and weighing in at 305 lbs., Jack could be a potential candidate to start in the fall, pending how well he adjusts to the college game. 

The Statesmen OL lost a number of starters there due to graduation, so big guys like Watson are in high demand. You can check out his highlight reel here.

Please join me in welcoming Jack and the extending Watson family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks, as always for reading (this is post #999 by the way) and go 'Bart!

Greenwich High's Lopez is Committed to Hobart

Greenwich HS (CT) SR RB/DB Hector Lopez took to Twitter/X last week to announce that he's "Proud to announce my commitment to Hobart College. Thank you to my family, coaches, teammates, and everyone who supported me along the way. Truly grateful for this opportunity. #GoStatesmen"

Hector boasts an impressive resume hailing from GHS; the two-time State Champions. He finished his senior year with an impressive 1,664 rushing and 1,889 all-purpose yards, scoring 19 TDs. He finished in the Top 40 for All-FCIAC and Top 30 for the CHSCA All-State players.

You can check out his highlight reel here. 

Please join me in welcoming Hector and the extended Lopez family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks, as always for reading and go 'Bart!

PS - don't forget the ADOD is coming up this week!

Mamaroneck's Perez Commits to Hobart

Mamaroneck HS (NY) SR LB Jack Perez recently took to Twitter/X to announce that he is "Blessed and grateful to announce my commitment to Hobart College to continue my academic and football career. Thank you to my family, coaches, teammates, and everyone who supported me along the way. Excited for what’s next. Go Statesmen!"

Jack had a very impressive HS career and senior season. Check out these stats:

MHS finished 11-2 (Class AA NYS Semi Finalist) and Jack was named an All-League and All-Section Player, including 1st Team All-Star LB. He finished the 2025 season with 82 solo tackles and 54 assists (and astounding 136 total tackles over 13 games), including six sacks, 10 QB pressures, 6 PBUs, an INT, FF and a TD.

You can check out his highlight reel here. 

Please join me in welcoming Jack and the extended Perez family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks for reading this latest recruiting update and go 'Bart!

John Jay's Lawrence Selects Statesmen

You'd have to go back almost 15-20 years, but some of us "more seasoned" Statesmen Football fans remember Hobart had a guy from John Jay HS (NY) who was a pretty good QB named Nick Strang '13. 

The newest John Jay SR QB to commit to Hobart is a young man named Logan Lawrence who had an impressive and decorated HS career. Logan passed for 1,800 yards and 25 TDs for JJHS in 2025, and was named the NYS AA OPOTY, among other awards.

You can check out his highlight reel here. 

Standing 6' 3" and 195 lbs., Lawrence has the size and arm strength to be successful in Coach DeWall's offense. More of a classic pocket passer, Lawrence looks like he has strong potential.

Please join me in welcoming Logan and the extended Lawrence family to the Hobart College Football one!

Thanks, as always, for reading and go 'Bart!

Hanover's Regan is Heading to Hobart

Ok, so I misfired on my last post, as it was (nicely) pointed out to me that the real first commit to the Class of 2030 was actually Hanover HS (MA) RB/OLB Tommy Regan. Regan doesn't have much a social media (well, Twitter/X) presence, so that's probably why I missed it back in December.

That said you can check out his Hudl highlights here. 

Standing 6' 2" and weighing in at 205 lbs., Tommy has great field vision, speed and is an elusive RB out of the backfield. He had a lot of success catching passes and breaking tackles. He also stars on the lacrosse field so perhaps he may be a dual sport athlete for the Statesmen. Time will tell. 

Please join me in welcoming Tommy and the Regan family (for the second time as older brother John is a JR DL) to the Hobart College Football one! 

Thanks, as always for reading and go 'Bart!!

Here Comes the Hobart Class of 2030 - Randolph's Magley Commits to Statesmen

Here we go again. It's another quiet offseason, but Coach DeWall '00 and the Statesmen coaching staff's work on the recruiting trail is just starting to pay off.

The first new Statesmen to announce his commitment to Hobart is Randolph HS (NJ) SR QB/ATH Jackson Magley. 

He took to Twitter/X this week to say "I’m extremely excited to officially announce that I am 100% COMMITTED to @HobartFootball!

Huge thank you to everyone who helped me earn this opportunity, especially my family, coaches, teammates, and friends.

Grateful for every coach and program I had the chance to connect with during this process.

Hobart felt like home from day one. Excited for the next 4 years! #TheHobartWay #GoStatesMen

While Jackson struggled with injuries his senior season, he came back and found ways to contribute to his team as a WR, DB and as QB. You can see his junior year highlights here. 

Please join me in welcoming Jackson and the extended Magley family to the Hobart College Football one!

More recruiting updates as they come in. Thanks, as always, for reading and go 'Bart! 

2025 Season Retrospective

After a long break, I wanted to make sure I finally "put a bow" on the 2025 season. We've seen a lot of news transpire between now and then, and while I will mention a few items here and there, I wanted to focus more on looking back before we look ahead. 

Hobart College Statesmen football had "a tale of two seasons" in 2025. The first half featured a loaded schedule and a slew of injuries never seen before in my now going 34 years (and 33 seasons) of following this program. 

The Statesmen struggled out to a 1-4 first half, but four of those games were decided only by a combined 18 points. A few bounces here and there, and this year could have been very different. Unfortunately the Hobart offense wasn't put together as I may have thought early on, as finding a new starting QB proved to be difficult. Eventually SO QB Jeremy Weiss rose from the third to the first string and the Statesmen's season began to shift in a more positive direction. 

With less than 50 players able to travel to league rival Union College, who would eventually go on to win the conference and qualify for the playoffs, Hobart dropped to 1-5 and went into the bye week with a lot of soul-searching to do.

The Statesmen came out of the break invigorated and a much better football team. They would win their final four regular season games by a combined 175-53 margin and earn a postseason bid in the ECAC James Lynah Bowl game. Hobart would travel downstate and easily defeat SUNY-Maritime, 42-14. JR RB E.J Taylor was named the game's MVP behind an impressive 19 rushes for 172 yards and two TDs. 

While a 6-5 overall mark isn't the standard we've come to be used to as Hobart fans, I view this as a great ending to one of the most difficult seasons I've seen in about three decades. The Statesmen proved themselves to be resilient and finished strong, winning five in a row to help set the foundation for a (hopefully) more successful 2026 campaign. It also kept the Statesmen's streak of having 28 consecutive winning seasons intact, as well earning Hobart's sixth consecutive postseason appearance, dating back to 2019. 

Now, let's look at some statistics and other highlights from all three facets of the game from 2025.

The Hobart offense was once again led by JR RB E.J. Taylor who finished the 2025 campaign with 1,354 rushing yards on 216 carries, which averaged over 123 YPG. He also led the team with 18 rushing TDs, adding one receiving TD against Hilbert. Assuming he stays healthy, Taylor will make a run at the record books in his final season, as he's already rushed for 2,883 yards and 33 touchdowns in 33 career games. He ranks seventh on the program's all-time rushing list for yards and eighth in TDs.

SO QB Jeremy Weiss would finish the year with 1,447 passing yards and 15 TDs with only three INTs. He completed 62.5% of his passes, which is one of the best marks by a Statesmen QB - narrowly edging Shane Sweeney's 62.3% for third best all-time - in almost two decades!

Weiss's favorite target was SO WR Johnny Harding, who built on his conference ROTY award winning 2024 campaign with a team high 43 receptions for 768 yards and 10 TDs.

Defensively Hobart was once again led by SR OLB Mike McGhee who finished his impressive Statesmen career with 234 total tackles, including 23 TFL for -96 yards and 7.5 sacks for -59 yards. In 2025 he tallied 100 total tackles - nearly as much as his sophomore and junior years combined. 

SR LB Noah Chachre would have a big season, his first as a starter, tallying 68 tackles with seven TFL, two sacks and two INTs.

SO DL Billy Brosko, who's FY campaign was shortened by injury, proved to be a force up front, logging 63 tackles with a team high 12.5 TFL. He also forced two fumbles and recovered one. 

On Special Teams, SR PK Vicente Lyon once again earned All-Conference, All-Region and All-American recognition as one of the best punters in the nation. He averaged near 43 YPP with a long of 63. 

JR PK Luke Monteyne would finish the year 4-7 on FGs (with a long of 37 yards) and an impressive 39-40 on PATs. 

Overall, the Statesmen would see 10 players earn All-Conference nods.

Given an unprecedented offseason with the transfer portal, it remains to be seen how Hobart's and other LL teams' rosters are affected. I do expect another strong incoming recruiting class to bolster which should be a relatively experienced team after the ups and downs of 2025 that saw a lot of new faces get valuable playing time. 

The Statesmen's 2026 schedule is already posted and is basically a mirror image (with home and away dates swapped) to 2025. Hobart gets the benefit of six home games this fall, which is great. A real bonus will be hosting Alfred, Brockport, Ithaca and Union at the Boz, where the Statesmen have an incredible W/L record. 

Friday night, September 4th is a long way off for now, so I will keep an eye out for recruiting news in the offseason, in the meantime. Last but certainly not least, congratulations to Coach Mike Green '14 on being named the new HC at Gettysburg College. I had a feeling this would be his final year at Hobart and wish him nothing the best with the Bullets. At least the color scheme will feel familiar. 

Thanks, as always for reading and go 'Bart!