Hobart's QB Coach Jonathan Drach tweeted to D3football.com that 95 players checked into the Statesmen's preseason camp yesterday. A link to the tweet can be found here.
The first practice of the 2013 season began today, and the updated roster can be found here.
Expectations are high for 7th ranked Hobart and here is what we know:
Although the Statesmen return a vast majority of their 2012 roster, there will still be a great deal of competition at each positional group. The six returning starters (JR OL Ali Marpet, JR OL Deandre Smith, SR OL Mike Green, JR TE Mike Berkowitz, JR FB Dominique Ellis and SR RB Steven Webb) who, if they remain healthy, will be important aspects of the offense. The biggest question mark for most Hobart fans will be which of the five QBs in camp will emerge with the starting job?
All-Americans SR OLB Devin Worthington and JR DE Tyre Coleman headline the defense which returns the majority of last year's DB, LB and DL corp. While the defense returns more starters than the offense, I expect position competition will be tough there as well.
Special teams returns all their key players, but the inclusion of two FY kickers tells me it's a wide open competition for those duties going into camp.
I'll do a more in depth preview as camp draws to a close.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Coach Cragg Announces Class of 2017, New Asst Coaches & Preseason Scrimmages
Hobart Head Football Coach Mike Cragg announced the Statesmen Class of 2017 today. It includes student-athletes from across the US, including players from as far away as CA.
A list of recruits, in alphabetical order, is below. I have put the young men not previously identified by this blog in bold:
QB Troy Anthony Loudonville, NY
TE Clay Barker Darien, CT
DT Jack Barnett Conklin, NY
RB Sean Bright Manlius, NY
RB Brad Burns Hoosick Falls, NY
CB Jerome Cappadonna Lynnfield, MA
CB Todd Collier Salem, MA
CB Matt Cragg Corry, PA
WR Sean Cunningham Geneva, NY
OL Bobby Erickson New Canaan, CT
FS Austin Gallegos Yucca Valley, CA
FS Michael Harper Westwood, NJ
DE James Hedger Rochester, NY
OL John Hillenbrand Syracuse, NY
OLB Marcus Jemison Nyack, NY
K Sean Kirsche Lakewood Ranch, FL
K Ethan Miller Meadowview, VA
OL Patrick O'Connell III Frederick, MD
WR Jack Pfohl Cicero, NY
DE Brian Rabasca Berkeley Heights, NJ
DT Zack Robak Higganum, CT
DT Will Rosato Greenwich, CT
DT Jake Russell Syracuse, NY
QB Dillon Russo Scarborough, ME
CB Gabriel Smith Albany, NY
OL Nick Testani Pittsford, NY
ILB Zach Thornton Scarsdale, NY
WR Mitch Wagner East Amherst, NY
WR Jordan Wesley Coram, NY
Conspicuously absent from the above list were three prior commits in Gesauldi, Skinner and John. Both Gesauldi and John have decided to focus on lacrosse at Hobart instead of football. My best guess is Skinner enrolled elsewhere.
Also in Coach's announcement was the appointment of former Statesmen Captains Art Garvey and Andrew Klindera '13 to the coaching staff to assist with the OL and LBs, respectively. An intra-squad scrimmage is slated for August 23rd at 8 am. Another scrimmage at Buffalo State is slated for August 31st at noon.
All in all this looks like another outstanding class for Hobart and its only 30 days from the season opener at Dickinson.
Go 'Bart!
A list of recruits, in alphabetical order, is below. I have put the young men not previously identified by this blog in bold:
QB Troy Anthony Loudonville, NY
TE Clay Barker Darien, CT
DT Jack Barnett Conklin, NY
RB Sean Bright Manlius, NY
RB Brad Burns Hoosick Falls, NY
CB Jerome Cappadonna Lynnfield, MA
CB Todd Collier Salem, MA
CB Matt Cragg Corry, PA
WR Sean Cunningham Geneva, NY
OL Bobby Erickson New Canaan, CT
FS Austin Gallegos Yucca Valley, CA
FS Michael Harper Westwood, NJ
DE James Hedger Rochester, NY
OL John Hillenbrand Syracuse, NY
OLB Marcus Jemison Nyack, NY
K Sean Kirsche Lakewood Ranch, FL
K Ethan Miller Meadowview, VA
OL Patrick O'Connell III Frederick, MD
WR Jack Pfohl Cicero, NY
DE Brian Rabasca Berkeley Heights, NJ
DT Zack Robak Higganum, CT
DT Will Rosato Greenwich, CT
DT Jake Russell Syracuse, NY
QB Dillon Russo Scarborough, ME
CB Gabriel Smith Albany, NY
OL Nick Testani Pittsford, NY
ILB Zach Thornton Scarsdale, NY
WR Mitch Wagner East Amherst, NY
WR Jordan Wesley Coram, NY
Conspicuously absent from the above list were three prior commits in Gesauldi, Skinner and John. Both Gesauldi and John have decided to focus on lacrosse at Hobart instead of football. My best guess is Skinner enrolled elsewhere.
Also in Coach's announcement was the appointment of former Statesmen Captains Art Garvey and Andrew Klindera '13 to the coaching staff to assist with the OL and LBs, respectively. An intra-squad scrimmage is slated for August 23rd at 8 am. Another scrimmage at Buffalo State is slated for August 31st at noon.
All in all this looks like another outstanding class for Hobart and its only 30 days from the season opener at Dickinson.
Go 'Bart!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Iroquois' Miller to Attend Hobart
Next to the annual family beach vacation, my favorite part about August is knowing that preseason camps are starting up and football season is just a few more weeks away!
In the meantime, here's some more Hobart recruiting news:
The Sun News reports that Iroquois High School's (Elma, near Buffalo, NY) SR RB/DB Tyler Miller will enroll at Hobart. Miller was a First Team Section 6 Class A South player for the 7-2 Chiefs. The small (6' 1" 175 lbs), but speedy Miller rushed for 1,004 yards on 154 carries (111.6 YPG) in 2012 and scored 13 total TDs. He was also a receiving threat out of the backfield, collecting 19 passes for 324 yards (17.05 YPR). A link to the article announcing Miller's enrollment to Hobart can be found here.
Although he was recognized for his offensive prowess, Tyler also starred on defense for the Chiefs. Miller tallied 46 total tackles and three tackles for a loss (TFL) as a DB.
My guess is Tyler starts off his college career in a special teams role. Miller totaled an impressive 136 return yards, including a long of 90 yards vs. Grand Island (8-2 overall, 5-1 Class 6A North). Given the lack of depth of RB (only four men on the current Statesmen roster), my initial thought is Miller could initially play that position. That said I wouldn't be surprised if he moves to DB over his college career.
The Statesmen, for better or for worse, have utilized a smaller, speedy DB unit that play a conservative "keep things in front" style of play that has been bolstered by it's relentless pass rush. This typically works well against most Eastern teams, but obviously wasn't in the same league against the big and fast receivers from #2 Saint Thomas in the NCAA Elite 8.
Miller fits the aforementioned mold so it remains to be seen whether he's given a shot to stick with offense or gets groomed to play special teams and/or defense as a collegiate player.
Regardless, this is another great pickup for the Statesmen so please join me in welcoming Tyler to the Hobart Football Class of 2017!
Go 'Bart!
In the meantime, here's some more Hobart recruiting news:
The Sun News reports that Iroquois High School's (Elma, near Buffalo, NY) SR RB/DB Tyler Miller will enroll at Hobart. Miller was a First Team Section 6 Class A South player for the 7-2 Chiefs. The small (6' 1" 175 lbs), but speedy Miller rushed for 1,004 yards on 154 carries (111.6 YPG) in 2012 and scored 13 total TDs. He was also a receiving threat out of the backfield, collecting 19 passes for 324 yards (17.05 YPR). A link to the article announcing Miller's enrollment to Hobart can be found here.
Although he was recognized for his offensive prowess, Tyler also starred on defense for the Chiefs. Miller tallied 46 total tackles and three tackles for a loss (TFL) as a DB.
My guess is Tyler starts off his college career in a special teams role. Miller totaled an impressive 136 return yards, including a long of 90 yards vs. Grand Island (8-2 overall, 5-1 Class 6A North). Given the lack of depth of RB (only four men on the current Statesmen roster), my initial thought is Miller could initially play that position. That said I wouldn't be surprised if he moves to DB over his college career.
The Statesmen, for better or for worse, have utilized a smaller, speedy DB unit that play a conservative "keep things in front" style of play that has been bolstered by it's relentless pass rush. This typically works well against most Eastern teams, but obviously wasn't in the same league against the big and fast receivers from #2 Saint Thomas in the NCAA Elite 8.
Miller fits the aforementioned mold so it remains to be seen whether he's given a shot to stick with offense or gets groomed to play special teams and/or defense as a collegiate player.
Regardless, this is another great pickup for the Statesmen so please join me in welcoming Tyler to the Hobart Football Class of 2017!
Go 'Bart!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
PTL! St. Peters and Christian Brothers Football Stars Commit to Hobart
The New Jersey Independent Press recently published that SR DL Brian Rabasca will attend Hobart College. Rabasca and his brother Michael (who will be attending nearby Ithaca College) were Co-Captains of an 8-2 Saint Peters Prep, one of the best prep teams in NJ. A copy of the article can be found here.
Rabasca has good size (6'2" 250 lbs) but his career stats appear somewhat limited (only 35 career tackles according to MaxPreps.com). It also appeared as though his SR season was cut short by injury (only appeared in 7 games). Time will tell if he'll work his way into a starting position in college, but being Captain of a team like Saint Peters shows he has the leadership skills to be successful. More info, including pictures of Brian can be found here.
Speaking of brothers, Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, NY) SR QB Troy Anthony is planning on attending Hobart. Anthony and his younger brother Max helped lead the Brothers to an 8-2 season after moving to the Capital Region from Glastonbury, CT. A link to a Times Union article about CBA, Troy and his family can be found here.
Maxpreps had some "technical difficulties" prior to the publishing of this article, but what I recall is that Anthony is a solid overall athlete (6'1 197 lbs) and probably could play several positions in college, including QB. Below is a picture from a game vs. rival LaSalle. That night he threw for 188 yards (on only five completions!) and two TDs in a 50-14 dismantling of the Cadets. Anthony's CBA highlight reel can be found here.
Both of these young men seem like great additions to the Statesmen. Welcome Brian and Troy to the Hobart Football family! Go 'Bart!
Rabasca has good size (6'2" 250 lbs) but his career stats appear somewhat limited (only 35 career tackles according to MaxPreps.com). It also appeared as though his SR season was cut short by injury (only appeared in 7 games). Time will tell if he'll work his way into a starting position in college, but being Captain of a team like Saint Peters shows he has the leadership skills to be successful. More info, including pictures of Brian can be found here.
Speaking of brothers, Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, NY) SR QB Troy Anthony is planning on attending Hobart. Anthony and his younger brother Max helped lead the Brothers to an 8-2 season after moving to the Capital Region from Glastonbury, CT. A link to a Times Union article about CBA, Troy and his family can be found here.
Maxpreps had some "technical difficulties" prior to the publishing of this article, but what I recall is that Anthony is a solid overall athlete (6'1 197 lbs) and probably could play several positions in college, including QB. Below is a picture from a game vs. rival LaSalle. That night he threw for 188 yards (on only five completions!) and two TDs in a 50-14 dismantling of the Cadets. Anthony's CBA highlight reel can be found here.
Both of these young men seem like great additions to the Statesmen. Welcome Brian and Troy to the Hobart Football family! Go 'Bart!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Pondering Hobart's 7th Heaven...
Last week the Hobart College Statesmen landed the seventh position in the preseason D3football.com poll. Hobart had been tabbed as twelfth and thirteenth by the Sporting News and Lindy’s Sports Awards College Football polls, respectively, earlier in the summer. To be fair I thought the SN and LSAC rankings were perfect in the sense that they recognized Hobart’s 12 win season (a feat only four other teams in the 240+ team Division accomplished), who the Statesmen had graduated (two year, playoff experienced, starting QB and backup, not to mention a 19 TD scoring RB), and how a new QB would be taking over the offense.
I am guessing what the D3football.com pollsters focused on was the fact that Hobart has a proven formula – depth and size on the OL, a 1,000+ yard four year starting RB Steven Webb in in an I-back / run first type of offense and a defense with two All-American players (Worthington and Coleman) that ranked fifth in the nation (total defense) that didn’t lose a lot of pieces from 2012. Still, the relatively low number of points for the seventh position (381, which divided by 25 averages out to 15.24 points per vote, so there were probably some pollsters who had the Statesmen in the high teens), shows that there was some disagreement on where Hobart belonged in the polls. To be fair, the poll overall shows a relatively “wide open” results (e.g. three teams getting a good portion of first place votes) this year, so that's something to consider as well.
Not that I am complaining about the national profile Hobart is getting coming in at #7, but there are some pitfalls to starting off so high in a preseason poll. Namely, just being ranked in the Top 10 implies that you should cruise through your regular season schedule without much difficulty. Until last year, the Statesmen hadn’t run the table in the Liberty League (LL) since 2004, and it had been 57 years since a prior undefeated regular season. The pollsters will not only expect wins but also lopsided ones and the team could start to feel pressure from not winning “by enough” depending on how the season unfolds.
Both Springfield and Union College bring back very strong teams and I guarantee have their games with Hobart (10/12 for the Pride and 11/2 for the Dutchmen) circled on their calendars. Both games are away games for the Statesmen and barring a few surprises, its likely both teams will be undefeated when they face off against Hobart in these match ups.
In spite of the above, I am fairly certain the focus will be on playing Dickinson on September 7th. Head Coach Mike Cragg did a masterful job keeping the team in check week in and out, and although in conversations the players admitted to wanting to go undefeated, they also fully subscribed to the one game at a time philosophy espoused by the coaching staff.
Needless to say, it won’t be for a few weeks until we really know whether or not the preseason ranking(s) bear any merit. It’s definitely an exciting time for the program. I know I am already counting down to kickoff!
Go ‘Bart!
I am guessing what the D3football.com pollsters focused on was the fact that Hobart has a proven formula – depth and size on the OL, a 1,000+ yard four year starting RB Steven Webb in in an I-back / run first type of offense and a defense with two All-American players (Worthington and Coleman) that ranked fifth in the nation (total defense) that didn’t lose a lot of pieces from 2012. Still, the relatively low number of points for the seventh position (381, which divided by 25 averages out to 15.24 points per vote, so there were probably some pollsters who had the Statesmen in the high teens), shows that there was some disagreement on where Hobart belonged in the polls. To be fair, the poll overall shows a relatively “wide open” results (e.g. three teams getting a good portion of first place votes) this year, so that's something to consider as well.
Not that I am complaining about the national profile Hobart is getting coming in at #7, but there are some pitfalls to starting off so high in a preseason poll. Namely, just being ranked in the Top 10 implies that you should cruise through your regular season schedule without much difficulty. Until last year, the Statesmen hadn’t run the table in the Liberty League (LL) since 2004, and it had been 57 years since a prior undefeated regular season. The pollsters will not only expect wins but also lopsided ones and the team could start to feel pressure from not winning “by enough” depending on how the season unfolds.
Both Springfield and Union College bring back very strong teams and I guarantee have their games with Hobart (10/12 for the Pride and 11/2 for the Dutchmen) circled on their calendars. Both games are away games for the Statesmen and barring a few surprises, its likely both teams will be undefeated when they face off against Hobart in these match ups.
In spite of the above, I am fairly certain the focus will be on playing Dickinson on September 7th. Head Coach Mike Cragg did a masterful job keeping the team in check week in and out, and although in conversations the players admitted to wanting to go undefeated, they also fully subscribed to the one game at a time philosophy espoused by the coaching staff.
Needless to say, it won’t be for a few weeks until we really know whether or not the preseason ranking(s) bear any merit. It’s definitely an exciting time for the program. I know I am already counting down to kickoff!
Go ‘Bart!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Hobart Comes in at #7 in D3football.com Preseason Poll
The Hobart Statesmen's historic 2012 season has raised the bar considerably and the pollsters at D3football.com confirmed that today placing Hobart seventh in their 2013 preseason poll. This is the highest position the Statesmen have ever had from D3football.com and suggests they would run the table in 2013.
A link to the poll is http://www.d3football.com/top25/2013/preseason
More thoughts on this high ranking in a bit. Still processing....
A link to the poll is http://www.d3football.com/top25/2013/preseason
More thoughts on this high ranking in a bit. Still processing....
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Recruiting Round Up
I hope everyone is having a great summer. There are about 55 days until the kickoff of the 2013 season. Players will report to camp in less than five weeks.
Although the football roster on www.hwsathletics.com has yet to be updated (other than class years), and probably won't be until mid-to-late August, we know around half of the incoming FY class of recruits based on prior years' tallies (usually around 30+ student athletes). While I was a little concerned seeing the lack of depth on the defensive line (DL) on the roster, after some inquiries have been convinced that a combination of incoming talent and moves made during spring camp by the coaching staff has it addressed.
Although I would have hoped to uncovered a few more recruits, here's the Class of 2017 (so far), positions listed below as a "best guess" on my part:
Cragg – DB/ST
Cunningham – WR
Erickson – OL
Gesualdi -WR
Harper – FS/DB
Hedger – DE
John – QB
Kirsche – PK
Miller – PK
Russo – QB
Skinner – OL
Smith – WR
Thornton – LB
Wagner – WR/ST
More to come in the month of August barring any "breaking news".
Go 'Bart!
Although the football roster on www.hwsathletics.com has yet to be updated (other than class years), and probably won't be until mid-to-late August, we know around half of the incoming FY class of recruits based on prior years' tallies (usually around 30+ student athletes). While I was a little concerned seeing the lack of depth on the defensive line (DL) on the roster, after some inquiries have been convinced that a combination of incoming talent and moves made during spring camp by the coaching staff has it addressed.
Although I would have hoped to uncovered a few more recruits, here's the Class of 2017 (so far), positions listed below as a "best guess" on my part:
Cragg – DB/ST
Cunningham – WR
Erickson – OL
Gesualdi -WR
Harper – FS/DB
Hedger – DE
John – QB
Kirsche – PK
Miller – PK
Russo – QB
Skinner – OL
Smith – WR
Thornton – LB
Wagner – WR/ST
More to come in the month of August barring any "breaking news".
Go 'Bart!
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