It's Great to Be A Statesmen!

Yesterday was a special Taco Tuesday for former Hobart College LT Ali Marpet '15 who signed a big extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We are thrilled for him and his family. Congratulations!

Frank and I also had a good conversation with HC Kevin DeWall '00 on the Union game and the state of Hobart College football halfway through the season. You can view that conversation here.

I'll have a preview up tomorrow on the Centennial Cup game against the UofR.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Shed Signs with San Antonio

Yesterday former D3football.com All-American and Hobart WR Brandon Shed '18 announced he has signed with the San Antonio Commanders of the newly created AAF. He will be coached by Mike Reilly, who got his coaching career at (now D3) Linfield College in the late 1970's before going on to win two Grey Cup Championships in the CFL.

This is a culmination of a lot of hard work and sacrifices on Brandon's part, so I wish him nothing but the best with his latest opportunity. Hopefully the Commanders will have a game here in Orlando in the spring of 2019 so I can see him play once again.

He will join a few other former D3FB stars in the new league, such as Andrew Franks of RPI, who is on the roster of the new Orlando Apollos franchise.

Congratulations Brandon and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Comeback to Stun Previously Undefeated Dutchmen, 29-28

What a game.

What else can you say about a gritty Hobart College Statesmen team that revived their season, coming back from being down 14-3, 21-10 and 28-19 today?!?

With Ali Marpet '15 and other alumni in the stands, Hobart (3-2, 1-0) sent the Union College Dutchmen (the Fighting Dutchmen, not Flying, sorry Ted ;) back to Schenectady with their first loss of the 2018 season.

A lot of great Statesmen, including Mike Berkowitz '15, Jarrid Blades '12, Ali Marpet '15 and former HC Mike Cragg were there to cheer on Hobart today.

Union (4-1, 0-1) saw SO PK Kyle Hackett make the first of his three FGs (which tied a Hobart record for most FG made in a single game) early on, as he connected on a 31-yarder with 3:31 remaining in the first quarter. This gave Hobart it's first and pretty much only lead for the majority of the game, as the Dutchmen stormed back with back-to-back TDs by FY RB Ike Irabor. Irabor caught a 19-yard pass from SO QB Will Bellamy and ran one in from three yards out to post the Dutchmen to a 14-3 lead.

The Statesmen only needed one play to make it a game again, as JR WR Ray Conley took a screen pass and ran it 43 yards to the house. Bellamy would find Beal for another TD catch to push the Union lead to 21-10.

Once again JR QB Ryan Hofmann would make another long TD pass, this time to JR WR Jake Catalioto for 66 yards to bring Hobart back within a TD, but the PAT snap was low and FY QB David Krewson's head's up scramble ended up just short of the pile on for the 2-point play. Catalioto would finish with a game-high eight catches, 148 yards and 1 TD. Hofmann finished with 326 passing yards and three TDs.

Hackett would keep the Statesmen in striking distance with 36 and 41 yard FGs, which was important, especially after Bellamy found Andre Ross, Jr for a 27-yard score to make it 28-19 with 9:47 left in the 3rd quarter. Ross ended up with six catches for 152 yards on the game.

JR TE AJ Perlino would not be denied, breaking tackles as he tied the game from 16 yards out with 8:28 remaining. The Hackett PAT, and a couple of key defensive plays by FY CB Jay McCoy and SO FS Cal Sullivan with big INTs down the stretch, not to mention a huge sack by SR DE Al Smith in the final seconds, sealed the comeback win for Hobart.

Hobart will face off against the UofR (1-4, 0-1) next weekend for the Centennial Cup. More on that game plus look for an appearance by HC Kevin DeWall '00 on ITH early next week!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Week 6 - Union Game Preview

It's Union Week.

The Liberty League conference opener is finally upon us and after a football-less weekend (well, credit the Statesmen JV team for rallying from being down 24-0 beating Saint John Fisher 35-32 on Sunday of Homecoming Weekend), I'm ready to put Weeks 1-5 in the rear view mirror.

Hobart (2-2) will take on long-time LL rivals Union College (4-0) in what's certainly a must-win game for the Statesmen. While a loss wouldn't mathematically eliminate Hobart from postseason contention, it probably would for all intents and purposes.

This will be the 102nd meeting of the two teams with the Dutchmen holding a slight 51-48-2 overall series edge. They beat Hobart last season, 28-23, after capitalizing on Statesmen mistakes to take a 21-3 lead with about a minute remaining in the 3rd quarter. Although Hobart would rally, it was too little, too late and the Statesmen's seven game win streak over Union was finally snapped.

Scouting the Dutchmen

This year Union College brings a really balanced team, probably one of the best they've had since their 10-0 undefeated regular season in 2005. The Dutchmen's recent success really starts with their defense, which is one of the best in the nation. The Dutchmen are tied for 8th nationally in scoring defense with #4 Brockport (4-0), allowing 8.25 PPG. Union is 10th nationally in total defense allowing 212.5 YPG. Teams are struggling to convert on 3rd downs against this unit, as the Union has only allowed 14-56 conversion attempts (25%) and 3-11 on 4th down (27%) this season.

The defense is led by SR LB Jack Reilly (a 1st team All-Conference player in 2017), who has 10.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks, as Union's pass rush really comes off blitzes instead of their front three. While JR DE Vincent DiCaterino, SR NG Bobby Law and SR DE Phil Pancini are a strong and experienced group, their stats are relatively modest (only two sacks and 4.5 TFL between all three players). This front is mostly there to plug gaps and allow guys like Reilly (26 tackles), SO LB Colin Lama (who leads the team with 30 tackles, including one TFL), SR LB Hunter Ordukhanyan (27 tackles, one TFL and one sack) and JR LB Evan Gilland (16 tackles, one TFL and one INT) to swarm to the ball.

The defensive secondary is led by SR CB Tucker Newman. He has two INTs on the season to go with 10 tackles. The other corner is JR CB Paul Chambers and the two safeties are SR SS Sebastien Lubrano and JR S Joe Vanderhoof. The latter only has six tackles on the season, which shows you how well the Dutchmen front seven is playing.

The Union offense is vastly improved and cruising well under the direction of SO QB Will Bellamy. He has passed for 1,231 yards (89-135-1 or 65.93%) and 13 TDs (307.75 YPG - which is in the Top 25 of offensive players nationally).

He has a trio of receivers which is led by FY WR Andre Ross, Jr with 31 catches for 619 yards and eight TDs. JR WR Griffin Beal was the number one target last season, but he's taken a back seat to Ross, Jr. He's still a viable possession WR though, catching 22 passes for 252 yards and four TDs. Rounding out the trio is SR WR Chris Nicholas. While Nicholas sees less passes, but his average demands the Statesmen pay attention to him. Nicholas has 11 receptions for 168 yards, one of those going for 55 yards, so he can get behind defenses. SR TE Pat Ryan is really a blocker, but his one catch, for three yards, was good for TD in the Week 4 game against Curry (2-3).

The OL is a younger one like the Statesmen's, but they have the advantage of starting all of the games in the 2017 season and into this year making them a very cohesive unit. The upperclassmen are SR RT Alex Hamilton and JR RG Turner Geenty. A trio of SO OL C Ryan Ehrets, SO LG Chris Katchadurian and SO LT Teddy Hood are the remaining starters. They aren't a very big group - they average out around 270 lbs - but they are effective pass blocking and opening holes for the Dutchmen RBs.

While SO RB Travis Demby has been listed as the "starter", he is really not the feature back. That honor goes to FY RB Ike Irabor who's been really impressive so far. He leads the team with 294 rushing yards, 5 TDs and an impressive 6.4 YPC average.

On special teams the Dutchmen FG specialist is SO PK Marcus Rodriguez. He has converted 2-4 FGs with a long of 28 while adding 20 PATs. His weaker leg is likely the reason Union has gone for it eight times on 4th down this season, converting six times. JR PK Will Halpin III is the KO specialist and punter. He's averaged 53.9 YPK on KOs and 38.41 on punts, dropping nine inside the opponents 20 yard line and forcing five fair catches.

Beal has typically handled KORs - albeit only four which is the most on the team since the defense rarely allows TDs - averaging just over 25 YPR. PRs have been handled by Newman who has 10 for 120 yards, but with a long of 43, which skews his average a bit.

Keys to the Game:

1. Play Better on Defense - This Union offense is strong enough to score on Hobart right out of the gate and the last thing the Statesmen need is to fall behind early. If Hobart can force some early three and outs, maybe get a TOP or field position advantage, we'll have a game. If the Statesmen defense plays like they have before the break, it's going to be a long day.

2. Run the Ball - SO RB Dakota Harvey showed a decent amount of rust in his return to action against Endicott (3-2). Hopefully the bye week has done him (and the OL) some good. The Dutchmen will stack the box and look to make the Statesmen one-dimensional. Reilly will blitz at will, looking to sack JR QB Ryan Hofmann or force him out of the pocket and into mistakes, like what we saw in the Endicott game. To help the run game, I would employ SO FB Shane White and/or JR FB Omari Davis to act as lead blockers to take on the aggressive gap-filling LBs that Union will be sending on most plays.

3. Play Smarter - The Statesmen have been penalized about -80 yards per game this season. You can't give away free yardage to a team like Union. The Dutchmen will come into this game cocky and confident, looking to rub Hobart's noses into the turf and ridicule them after having struggled against them for a better half of a decade. The Statesmen will need to play tough, but keep their composure,  Saturday.

4. Have Pride - I know for a fact there will be a contingent of young alums in attendance to cheer on this year's Hobart team. That group never lost to Union, let alone to hardly anyone other than Top 10-25 caliber teams in the NCAA playoffs. These alums will be looking at this year's group to have pride in this rivalry and not fall again to the hated Dutchmen.

Prediction:

On paper this should be a 37-14 Union win.

Hobart's defense has not had a good game all season, save for SUNY-Morrisville (2-2) which will probably end up as a sub .500 team by the end of the 2018 season.

The Statesmen will need to play their best football game to have a chance. Hopefully with alumni in the house like Ali Marpet '15, these Hobart men will rise to the occasion. It's do or die time.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

0-0 with 1 to go (Hobart Mid-season Review)

The Hobart College Statesmen (2-2) are playing .500 football into Week 5 for the first time since the 2010 season. Much like that up and down year, there have been some very bright spots and some significant struggles so far this fall.

The Good:

JR QB Ryan Hofmann has played better than some may have expected, completing 75 passes on 119 attempts (63%) for 14 TDs compared to four INTs. The Statesmen have spread the ball around to 14 different receivers, and have had excellent seasons so far by JR WR Jake Catalioto, JR WR Ray Conley and SR TE and Co-Captain Matt Woods. Catalioto leads the team with 24 receptions for 352 yards and five TDs. Conley and Woods aren't far behind and have scored four TDs each.

FY LB Brian Aguilar has emerged as the leading tackler of the defense with 29 stops and 4.5 TFL. SO OLB Emmett Forde is emerging as a key contributor with 27 tackles, one sack and 3.5 TFL. Last season he played mostly in a reserve capacity, playing in all 10 games, but only making six tackles. JR FS Andrew Koonz has successfully transitioned from WR to defense, tallying 26 tackles with one TFL, a pass BU and two INTs.

The Statesmen OL has helped the Hobart offense average 37.25 PPG and 322.8 YPG while allowing only four sacks (basically one per game).

SO PK Kyle Hackett continues to climb the all-time record book as a kicker. He's been perfect so far this season, hitting 3 FGs and 19 PATs. According to WEOS PBP legend Ted Baker, Hackett has made 73 kicks (PATs and FGs) in a row. He missed his first ever kick, a PAT in the 2017 season opener vs. Brockport, but hasn't since. Ted also noted that the Statesmen have allowed only nine PR yards in their last 13 games, which is pretty amazing work from a special teams perspective. JR WR John DelliSanti has averaged 39 net yards on his 11 punts so far this season, dropping five inside the opponents' 20-yard line, forcing three fair catches and booting two punts over 50 yards.

Last but not least, congratulations to SR FS Kai Brandford on becoming a semifinalist, the only one from LL, for the prestigious Campbell Trophy. You can read more on that accomplishment here.

The Bad

The Statesmen defense have allowed 38.75 PPG and 453.8 YPG, which ranks near the bottom of all of D3FB.

The running game hasn't worked well either and the Statesmen OL need to improve the current 77.8 RYPG and 3.0 RYPC statistics we've seen so far this season. SO RB Alex Milliken has had flashes filling in for an injured SO RB Dakota Harvey, including a significant 70-yard TD run in the Shenandoah game, but otherwise Hobart's leading rusher has only gained an additional 26 net yards on his 22 other carries (1.18 YPC).

SR DB Jake Henzes transition to defense has not been a good one. He has been beaten deep on TDs passes in multiple games, and made a very costly mistake by taunting an Endicott receiver on a 2nd and 14 with about five minutes remaining, down 27-24. While the Gulls didn't score on the drive, the penalty gave them a 1st down at the Hobart 37 and ultimately burned the clock down to 2:11, backing up the Statesmen offense as the ball ended up at the Statesmen 5-yard line after the punt, effectively winning the game for Endicott.

The Ugly

Members of the Hobart DL have been flagged with numerous unsportsmanlike penalties, including late hits, tossing an opponent's helmet across the field, and refusing to shake hands after the last game which is hard to believe.

The Statesmen have been flagged 32 times for -314 yards (78.5 YPG) and have given the opposition 11 first downs because of it. Two different Hobart players were ejected in the first three games. I don't remember that ever happening since I started following the program back in 1992.

So Now What?

While I understand the frustration that comes with losing and struggling to win games, these behaviors have to stop. The Statesmen have seen an exodus of talent for a number of reasons ranging to transfers (e.g., Downey, Barfield, King, and Hill), guys just simply quitting the team (e.g., Wheeler and Conshafter) and multiple injuries to key players like former DE A.J. MacFarlane, SR OL Jack Koch, JR OL Elijah Weiss and others.

While there are a number of younger players stepping up, growing pains and all, the upperclassmen on the team need to do a better job leading this group. This includes executing plays, wrapping up on tackles and not getting flagged with avoidable penalties as we know they can based on prior seasons.

Going into Week 6, Hobart will face off against a red hot and unbeaten Union Dutchmen team that finally broke their seven-game losing streak to the Statesmen last season.

The Dutchmen have an experienced OL, a tough defense led by 1st team All-LL SR LB Jack Reilly , a QB with already 1k+ passing yards, and two rookie specialists in FY RB Ike Irabor and FY WR Andre Ross, Jr that have already combined for 13 TDs.

As challenging as the first four weeks have been, the reality is that this season only gets tougher from here. I'll have more on the match up against Union early next week.

It's 0-0 and one to go time for the Statesmen.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart Suffers Humbling Defeat, 27-24, to Endicott

There would be no revenge for HC Kevin DeWall '00 against his former employer, as the Endicott Gulls (2-2) shredded the Statesmen defense to the tune of 409 yards. While I know there's a lot of new players on this year's squad, this still goes down as one the most embarrassing losses by Hobart that I can recall in my 25+ years of following the team. There really is no excuse for losing to a 1-2 CCC team, even if it was one built by Coach DeWall. The Statesmen's many missed tackles and offensive turnovers certainly hurt them today, and it's remains hard to comprehend a loss to a team that the Statesmen had beaten by at least two or more TDs in the prior four seasons.

Hobart being held to 19 rushing yards by a defense that had given up over 200 to Framingham State and almost 140 to MIT, is also really surprising. That statistic (and the fact that 7 FY players were listed among the 10 OL two-deep on the line up card today), is partially why JR QB Ryan Hofmann was forced to drop back 50 times in the game. He finished the day with 294 passing yards and three TDs, but was also intercepted twice.

Defensively FY LB Bryan Aguilar was a lone bright spot, who once again led the Statesmen with 10 tackles, including two TFL (one which really should have been scored as a sack). Getting his first start was FY DL Ryan Cottom who held his own with SR DL Reid Crobok suspended.

Unfortunately, today's result will call into serious doubt that Hobart will be favored in any, save for potentially two, Liberty League contests the rest of the year, and at 2-2, are in serious jeopardy of fielding the first losing season by a Statesmen team since 1995.

Not really much to say about this game. Will have some analysis later in the week given Hobart's passing on playing #6 Frostburg State for Homecoming and there being a bye week / no game next Saturday.

Tough season for the Statesmen.

Week 4 - Endicott Game Preview

The Hobart College Statesmen offense has scored a program record 118 points in the last two games, and will look to continue that trend in their (likely final) encounter with the Endicott College Gulls this Saturday in Beverly, MA. The Statesmen have faced off against the Gulls every season since 2014, winning all four contests.

As most Hobart and D3FB fans already know, Statesmen HC Kevin DeWall '00 was surprisingly dismissed by EC AD Dr. Bryan Wylie last season so he could bring in former Endicott assistant Paul McGonagle as HC. McGonagle, who had left the Gulls program a few years earlier for a position at Assumption College (a MA DII-school), earned his first win with a 17-3 win over Bridgewater State (1-2) in Week 2 and came real close to getting his second, last Saturday against MIT.

The Gulls (1-2) came up a few plays short against the Engineers (3-0), dropping their second game by a score of 31-29. Endicott trailed 28-9 at the half but came back to make it a two-point game with 1:56 remaining. The two-point attempt after the TD failed and the Engineers hung on to win the game.

Last season, Hobart beat the Gulls 34-17 in Geneva behind four Shane Sweeney '18 TD passes and two SO PK Kyle Hackett FGs.

Scouting the Gulls

Endicott is a solid football team that has good players on both sides of the ball. They've averaged 318.7 YPG and 19.7 PPG offensively while giving up 336 YPG and 22.7 PPG on defense so far this season. They've struggled a bit offensively, scoring only six TDs in three games, three rushing and three passing. One area the Gulls need to improve on is scoring TDs, but they do have what seems to be a very reliable player in JR PK Nick DiCairano. DiCairano has been perfect to date, hitting 6-6 on FGs and 5-5 on PATs to lead the team with 23 points.

Endicott's has a new signal caller this season in SO QB Dylan Bonfilo. It appears as though JR QB Joe Kalosky, who faced off against Hobart last season, is out with an injury. Bonfilo has passed for 482 yards and three TDs so far this season while adding 135 rushing yards and two scores (effectively he's accounted for all but one of Endicott's TDs so far this season). FY RB John Kenney leads the team with 181 rushing yards and one TD. His OL is led by SR C Drew Salvo. JR RT Kha-lil Goodman and JR RG Isaiah Gibbs are returning starters as well.

Also back are JR HB/WR Zach DeNike and SO TE Riley Shanley (who happens to be from the same area as where I grew up). These two are the Gulls first and second leading receivers with over 300 yards combined. A goal-line threat, Shanley has caught a TD pass in each of the past two weeks' games.

JR PK Jon Glaser is the punter and has averaged 38.4 YPP this season, with a long of 57. In the return game, SO WR Liam Wallace has done the most work, averaging nearly 20 and 14 YPR for KOs and punts, respectively.

The Endicott defense is once again led by SR LB William Rivera with 31 total tackles, including a sack and 3.5 TFL. He led the Gulls against Hobart last year with 11 stops. The Endicott defense has produced four sacks and 24 TFL so far on the season, as well as two INTs, so they are a tough squad. The Gulls run a 4-3-4 style, where SR LB/SS Christian Pizzotti is a bit of a hybrid player. He is second on the team with 12 tackles and one TFL.

Keys to the Game:

1. Find a Defensive Identity - Hobart's found ways to win back-to-back games with impressive (and historic) offensive numbers, but the defense has really struggled. They are giving up more than 42 PPG and almost 470 YPG of offense to the opposition. Established players like SR DT Sean Moore and JR OLB Jayson Prince haven't played at the same level as they did in 2017 just yet (Moore has had some flashes, however), and other more experienced players like SR DE Al Smith and JR DE Collin Hudgins are also not making as much of an impact as I'd hoped so far this season. In Hudgins defense, I will say he was clearly putting the most pressure on Bauserman Saturday night. SR DT Reid Crobok has committed too many late hits and unsportsmanlike penalties for my liking (e.g., he was ejected from the game Saturday, had two calls in the Morrisville game for unsportsmanlike behavior, etc.), and needs to get back to playing Statesmen football. If Hobart's going to improve to compete with the top teams in the Liberty League, they'll need to perform better defensively, period. Hopefully the two-down linemen experiment from the Shenandoah game won't be brought back and we'll see continued growth in younger players such as SO CB Jared Leake, SO OLB Emmett Forde, SO OLB Collin Urie, SO DT Isaiah Boone, SO DE Zach Rudolph, FY ILB Bryan Aguilar and FY DB Jay McCoy. There is talent there, but it's on DC Aaron Backhaus '00 and his staff to find a better way to use it, which so far, they really haven't quite been able to figure out just yet.

2. Break Down Bonfilo - It's pretty clear that the Gulls QB is their main offensive weapon, although he does have a couple of strong receivers that could be trouble for Hobart. Shanley is of particular concern as the Hornets ran a lot of plays that ended up having the Statesmen LBs & Ss covering receiving backs and/or going long to create mismatches. JR S Andrew Koonz seemed to be targeted a decent amount by Shenandoah, and to his credit, Koonz did make nine tackles and a pass break up, earning honorable mention in this week's LL awards. Both Koonz and SR CB Jake Henzes are on a steep learning curve, but are doing yeoman's work and steadily improving after converting to defense from being part of the WR corps the last two (or three, in the case of Henzes) seasons.

3. Keep Improving - With a bye week coming up after this weekend and a huge Week 6 conference home game against Union (3-0) looming in a couple of weeks, the Statesmen have to take advantage of this one last non-conference tuneup before the games really start to count as far as a league titles and postseason play is concerned. Endicott is a good team, but Hobart should be able to handle them. If the defense can cause issues like they did to Morrisville in Week 2, the Statesmen should be in good shape to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Prediction:

At the end of the day, the CCC, MASCAC and NEWMAC just aren't up to the same level, competition-wise, as most LL and NYS programs yet. Endicott has some weapons for sure, but Hobart has plenty of talent, especially on offense, to make this a pretty one-sided affair if they get out to a fast start and keep executing. JR QB Ryan Hofmann has been outstanding so far (he earned his second consecutive OPOTW award from the LL for Week 3), and the Statesmen WR corps may be one of the most talented and underrated groups in the East Region.

I'll take the Statesmen to make a bit of a statement here, as Coach DeWall likely won't see his old team for quite some time as the Gulls won't renew a game contract with Hobart after this season.

My pick for Saturday is Hobart 49 - Endicott 27.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!