Nine More Weeks (& Other News)!

We're only nine more weeks / 63 days away from the long awaited return of Hobart College Football! 

Recent scrimmages aside, the Statesmen and Saxons have bided their time - over a decade - to renew this long-time Upstate NY gridiron rivalry in an official regular season game. If "my math is right", this will be the 79th contest between the two schools, dating back all the way to 1899!

While Hobart has had the Saxons' number of late (winning the past 10 games between the 1996 and 2007 seasons), you can rest assured the Statesmen will not be taking this return to action lightly. The all-time average point differential alone (+1.3 in favor of Hobart) tells you these contests have historically been very competitive.

So while we can expect an exciting Week 1 season opener, there's still a lot to learn about this Hobart team (which I assume is still #127), especially when you consider the roster is something the Statesmen haven't seen in some time. 

While I imagine the roster will be updated over the summer, there are currently 49 FY players listed (and I see a few missing names based on the spring recruiting announcements, so that could and probably will change / be updated). Obviously the NCAA eligibility extensions provided because of the pandemic are the cause, but this very well may be the "youngest" Hobart team in quite some time, if not ever. 

Saxons in the Spring

Alfred ran 140 offensive plays in their two spring games and leaned slightly towards the pass by a narrow 51:49 margin. On film they are really a run-first kind of team, however, with SR RB Kevin Bragaglia getting the bulk (43+%) of the carries. Their stats are a bit misleading I think given the 46 pass attempts against Utica in the first spring game. That was mostly due to the Saxons falling behind early and having to play catch up the entire time. 

SO QB Connor Englert led the Saxons offense and appears to be as much of a runner as a passer (which I jokingly refer to as a RpO type of QB). His OL needs some work (which is good news for Hobart fans) as they allowed 8 sacks in 77 drop backs (10.3%) in the two spring games. 

Defensively Alfred was led in the spring by SR LB Jason Gauthier. He paced the Saxons defense with 20 tackles and 7 TFL against the Pioneers. The Saxons defense was noticeably better in the second game allowing 281 yards and only 10 points (compared to 288 yards and 30 points in the first contest. To be fair, 2 TDs and a safety came off of Alfred turnovers, so the Saxons D otherwise acquitted themselves well in this game, it was the offense and 3 turnovers that did them in). 

Kickoff Times Confirmed!

The 2021 schedule has been updated to include kickoff times, including the Week 1 season opener at Alfred, which is slated for 7 PM. You can check out the other games here. Seven of the 10 games are 1 PM kicks, with Homecoming against Keystone College starting at 6 PM (meaning the lights will be on in the second half).

Elder Statesmen Return

The previously annual (and still), informal reunion / tailgate led by Hobart HOFer Tom Korn H75 is back on this fall. It coincides with the home opener vs. Morrisville State on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I imagine there will be recognition of the latter in some form - likely leading up to kickoff - but this should be an otherwise light-hearted gathering for all. I joined this group at the Dickinson game in September of 2014 and really enjoyed getting to hear some of the stories of Colleges and games from the 70's. If you're planning on being there to see the Statesmen take on the Mustangs, stop by and say hello!

More to Come

July will be a very quiet month for news, but I'll post some if and when it comes up. In the meantime, we have a lot to look forward to and I'll have a preseason preview out in August.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart! 

Lindy's Names Boswell & Leake to 2021 Preseason All-American Team

Around this time, each year, Lindy's Sports Annuals releases their preseason CFB preview. Not surprisingly it focuses primarily on the FBS schools, but they do take a couple of pages out of their 200+ tome to give a little attention to the other divisions.

This year they once again attempted to rank a D3FB Top 25 (more on this in a bit) and named several student athletes to their preseason All-American team. While some of their picks are certainly random to say the least, it is nice to see at least some credit being doled out by a national publication.

This year SO RB Rayshawn Boswell and SR CB Jared Leake were recognized as a first-team All-American return specialist and second-team All-American at corner, respectively, as you will see in the picture below (thanks to fellow D3FB fan and friend of ITH, Juan Sanchez, for providing the shot below):

The obvious question after the 2019 season is "where's Emmett Forde?!?" but I'm not really surprised by this oversight, to be honest. Lindy's understanding of D3 is mediocre at best, but I give them some credit for trying to get it right, even if they ultimately always end up off the mark. 

After creating and publishing a Top 25 for the spring on our In the D3FB Huddle show, I can tell you it's not easy from first hand experience. That said, Lindy's preseason poll is a little circumspect to say the least.

Lindy's 2021 preseason Top 25, as published on page 258, is as follows:

1. Mount Union

2. Wisconsin-Whitewater

3. North Central (defending National Champions from 2019)

4. Mary Hardin-Baylor

5. Delaware Valley

6. Saint John's (MN)

7. Salisbury

8. Hardin-Simmons

9. UW-OshKosh

10. Trinity (TX)

11. Central (IA)

12. Westminster (PA)

13. Washington & Jefferson

14. Wabash

15. Chapman

16. Berry 

17. Hendrix

18. Hanover

19. Whitworth

20. Heidelberg

21. Randolph-Macon

22. Aurora

23. Birmingham-Southern

24. Albion

25. Lake Forest 

While many of the teams belong, I found it interesting they only ranked two East Region teams - Delaware Valley (who will be in "Region 1") and Salisbury (Region 2, come the fall) - on the entire list and seems to have been based on a mix of this spring season's results, plus some hold overs from the 2019 season (e.g., Chapman). Trinity, for example, finished 8-2 in 2019 and 3-1 in the spring of 2021, losing 13-3 to Hendrix, the SAA spring runner up. Them being placed above Berry and Hendrix, especially based on head-to-head results, is a head-scratcher to say the least. 

That being neither here nor there, you can be assured that the Hobart Statesmen will have an opportunity to vault themselves back into the national conversation if this team has the potential we think it may possess based on who's coming back, especially on defense.

While the offense, especially QB, remains a concern, we can be assured the coaching staff is hard at work preparing for preseason practice to determine these important roles. 

I hope everyone's summer is off to a nice start - it's a bit wet here in Central FL of late - I'll provide any and more news as it pops up over the coming months. Only 80 days until we kick off against Alfred!

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Statesmen Name Tri-Captains for the 2021 Season

Last Friday on Twitter, the Hobart Football team announced their captains for the 2021 fall season (the Statesmen's 127th). 

The three captains will be:

SR OLB Emmett Forde is a multiple All-American (AFCA & D3football.com) and not surprisingly will be a key aspect to the Statesmen's defense this fall. 

SR DB Jared Leake will lead the Hobart secondary once again and is a returning second team All East Region (D3football.com) and first team All-Conference player.

JR TE Mike Zaccone may not have the statistics or accolades as his fellow captains, but his selfless play as a blocker and leader on and off the field make this NJ native a strong choice.

Congratulations to these Statesmen on this recognition from their teammates and coaching staff. We're less than 100 days away from Week 1 vs. Alfred. 

Can't wait and go 'Bart!

Thank You to the Class of 2021!

One of the bigger graduating classes the Hobart Football team has fielded in some time, the Class of 2021 has had a roller coaster ride of a college experience. Recruited by former HC Mike Cragg, these Statesmen went 7-3 in their first season, then saw Cragg's retirement lead to the return of Kevin DeWall '00.

The 2018 season got off to a rough start - I remember because I was there - but this young team would persevere to eventually post a winning record in DeWall's first season as HC. In 2019 we saw continued improvement, and the team finished 9-2, bringing the program it's first postseason win since 2015 - the New York State Bowl championship!

Unfortunately with the cancellation of the 2020 season, the vast majority of these student athletes never got to have a true final regular season / Senior Day experience on the Boz. I understand over the most recent graduation weekend, there were a number of events held and this Class of 2021 was celebrated appropriately.

While I understand that there will be five 5th year SR players returning to campus this fall:

SR DB Cal Sullivan

SR DB Jared Leake

SR OLB Emmett Forde

SR DL Shane White

SR DL Isaiah Boone

Moving on from Geneva will be this group of fine Statesmen:

8			Andres Lopez	WR	SR	5-8	160	Damascus, Md.	Bullis School
9			Jabbar Morris	DB	SR	5-11	190	Amityville, N.Y.	O'Connell Copiague
11			Alex Milliken	RB	SR	6-0	204	Sparta, N.J.	Sparta
12			Jimmy Adams	WR	SR	6-3	220	Hopkinton, Mass.	Hopkinton

23			Mike Giacobbe	WR	SR	6-0	196	Medway, Mass.	Catholic Memorial
25			Matt Horgan	DB	SR	5-9	180	West Newbury, Mass.	Central Catholic
28			Ryan Rossiter	DB	SR	5-11	190	Sparta, N.J.	Sparta
35			Collin Urie	LB	SR	6-0	215	St. Johnsbury, Vt.	St. Johnsbury Academy

49			Mike Rossiter	LB	SR	5-11	215	Sparta, N.J.	Sparta
55			Dillon Carey	OL	SR	6-1	285	Ashburn, Va.	Stone Bridge
66			Josh Hylkema	OL	SR	6-0	280	Batavia, N.Y.	Alexander
71			PJ Tziachris	OL	SR	6-2	245	Cumberland, R.I.	Tabor Academy
74			Alex Lanzana	OL	SR	6-0	290	Mahwah, N.J.	Mahwah
77			Chris Ciurcina	DL	SR	5-11	260	Garden City, N.Y.	Garden City
88			Jake Bergmann	TE	SR	6-3	228	Leesburg, Va.	Gonzaga College HS
92			Zach Rudolph	DL	SR	6-2	250	Bethlehem, Pa.	Southern Lehigh
93			Kyle Hackett	K	SR	6-2	165	Charlton, Mass.	Worcester Academy
99			Yves Montissol	DL	SR	5-7	245	Spring Valley, N.Y.	Saint Joseph

I'd like to congratulate and thank these hard working young men and Statesmen for their dedication to HWS and the Statesmen Football program. We can't wait to learn of your future successes in life!

Thanks as always for reading and go 'Bart! 

Class of 2025 (Part VII)

Here were today's three latest Hobart Statesmen Football commits. There could be potentially 1-2 more over the coming weeks / over the summer:

HC Kevin DeWall '00 has always had a good eye for special teams talent, and it's interesting Hobart is going to places like Texas to find it. PK Justin Fahys will be the sole Texan on the roster, but the Statesmen have had some good success in the past with players like Rio Schmidt '18 from the Lone Star state.

A second CPHS player and another Bangaly will join the Statesmen as a CB. Bangaly Kante did a PG year and is a dual sport athlete, standing 6'3" and 185 lbs. Last decade former HC Mike Cragg used to joke about the undersized players in the Statesmen secondary. That's not the case today and Kante certainly fits the mold of what Hobart is building on defense.

Ethan Kowalski is a strong interior OL prospect (he played RG at LHS) with decent size (6'2" 250 lbs.) and solid technique. You can check his highlight reel here. A native of Western NY, Kowalski is staying relative close to home and appears to be a great student (4.0 GPA) to boot.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Class of 2025 (Part VI)

20 names in with only 7 or  more to go. I am guessing that tomorrow the @HobartFootball twitter feed will reveal the final student athletes instead of the daily "four-blocker" we've been updating you on.

This is an interesting group to me, mostly because I hadn't been able to uncover any recruiting commitment news on these guys until today. The next group in the Class of 2025 is as follows:

DL Bangaly Stephan Berte is from my home state of CT, but attended a HS I haven't heard of before, Capital Prep Harbor (in Bridgeport). There isn't a lot of information on Berte online, but his size 6' 3" 245 lbs. is promising, especially in a position unit Hobart needs more depth.

Another good looking LB, Alex Dalton is coming up from MD to join the Statesmen. His Hudl profile says he played DE/TE at GHS, but at 6' 195 lbs. is better suited to move to OLB. His highlight reel shows him doing well at MLB also. 

Another recruit from NJ, Ryan Hinman received the "athlete" designation from the Hobart coaching staff. This means he could be looked at for a variety of role:, QB, RB, WR/TE, or DB/LB. He has good size at 6'2" 220 lbs. and his highlight reel shows his athleticism. I'll be interested to see where Ryan ends up.

Another Floridian (Boca Raton), Jovan Joseph is a nice add to the defensive secondary at safety. While his highlight reel focused mostly on his skills as a RB, Jovan's speed and athleticism will be a bigger asset on defense.

Only five more to go! Next week I'll do a special tribute to the Class of 2021.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Class of 2025 (Part V)

We keep the recruiting updates going today with four more future Statesmen players. 

The first is a QB from CO I wrote about back in February. 

A teammate who'll be blocking for Colombi is from my old neck of the woods, in the west San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, Elijah "Planet" Christian. I wrote about him back in February also. 

The next is a LB from the North Shore of Boston, Anthony Romano. Based on his highlights Romano is an athletic player, blocking and receiving as a TE. It looks like the Hobart coaches see him on the defensive side of the ball to start his college career, and Anthony certainly fits the long-time mold of Statesmen 'backers.

DB Aaden Woodard also appeared on this blog back in February and looks like a strong candidate in the defensive secondary.

That's 20 down and nine more to go. This is shaping up to be a really strong class for the Statesmen football program!

Thanks as always for reading (on our way to 300k!) and go 'Bart!