A Fellow Statesmen and His Family Need Our Help

One of our fellow Statesmen is in need of our help!

On Wednesday, March 22, Matt (Hobart '03) and Lauren Daley’s son, Owen, was flown from Burlington, VT via life flight to Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGH) in Boston. Owen has been diagnosed with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) along with bacterial pneumonia. While RSV typically manifests as a common cold, the combination of the virus and the bacteria quickly escalated into a very serious medical situation. Owen is currently on a ventilator and in a sedated state to keep him comfortable. He is recovering, but the length of his recovery will require Owen to remain in the hospital through April and possibly into May.

On top of all this, Lauren, who was pregnant during Owen's evacuation to Boston, drove with Matt from VT to MA to give birth to their second son, Griffin, and be near Owen.  Fortunately Griffin arrived safely yesterday morning at 6:20 AM.  However, given Owen's condition, those in contact with him cannot be in contact with the baby. 

While playing football and hockey at Hobart, Matt only knew how to play 100%.  While he is doing whatever he can to help his family, due to the length of the stay in Boston to care for Owen, Matt and Lauren will be missing significant amount of work.  Their stay could become very costly and, with our help, perhaps we can ease that burden?

Please show your support for the Daley's, especially Owen, by considering a donation of any amount to the fund has been set up on Owen’s behalf.

Please make checks payable to "Owen Daley" and mail to:

Cassandra Rodier
75 High St, #J4
Exeter, NH, 03833

Croton-Harmon DL Dennis O'Connell to Attend Hobart

Section1Recruiting.com reports that Dennis O'Connell of Croton-Harmon HS will attend Hobart this fall.  O'Connell helped lead the Tigers (11-1) to the Section 1 Class B 2011 State Championship game against Hornell.  The 6' 2" 250 lb SR OL/DL contributed 74 tackles (averaging 6.2 per game), two sacks and one interception (which he returned 19 yards for a TD) as a DT/DE according to MaxPreps.com.

For his efforts O'Connell was named to the NYSSWA All-State 2nd Defenive Team.  In 2011 Dennis had verbally committed to attend D1AA Bryant College in RI per Josh Thomson of The Journel News Varsity Insider Foobtall Blog but apparently changed his mind and will head to Geneva instead.

Although it's likely he'll specialize on defense in college, Section1Recruiting.com has rated O'Connell in the top 5 at OL in Class B (he played RT for the Tigers).

Dennis' recruiting videos are listed below:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3sBiSVdPDw

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/442750/dennis-oconnell 

Photos from his SR YR can be accessed here (credit MaxPreps.com):

http://www.maxpreps.com/local/player/photo/full_size.aspx?athleteid=4dfa2272-4702-4515-bff8-8638e44a1951&ssid=f28cd02d-9746-48e9-a74b-fffef375b19a#photoid=c6645cf9-c434-47b0-9d9c-f44a6c8dc7a4

Welcome to Hobart Dennis!

Hobart Receives Commitment from Florida State Champion Tight / Defensive End

Matt Porter of the Palm Beach Post reports that Ryan Bennett, a 6'3" 220 lb TE/DE from the Class 3A State Champion American Heritage High School (Delray Beach, FL) will attend Hobart this fall.  A link to the article is listed below:

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/highschoolbuzz/2012/02/01/american-heritages-blake-davis-ucf-cameron-posey-purdue-sign/

Bennett is yet another FL native to come up north to play for the Statesmen and will join the ranks of JR OL Michael Green and SO FB Dominque Ellis as Hobart's resident Floridians on the gridiron.

Based on Bennett's highlight reel (see below - he's #12 which is available per the current Hobart roster so perhaps he'll wear the same number this fall?), he's a powerful run blocker who drives opposing defenders down the field.  He is also a versatile DE who can line up in a two, three or four point stance anywhere along the line of scrimmage.  Bennett's height and wingspan makes him a threat to bat down passes and pressure opposing passers.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/679094/ryan-bennett

That said Bennett is more than just a stud athlete.  He carried a 3.6 GPA at American Heritage and will look to continue his academic success at Hobart.

Bennett holding the Class 3A State Championship Trophy

Please join me in welcoming Ryan to the Hobart Class of 2016!  Go 'Bart!

Hobart Receives Verbal Commitment from Staten Island Linebacker

Kevin Flood of SILive.com reports that Tottenville High School Senior Kenny Coughlin has verbally committed to attend Hobart and suit up at linebacker for the Statesmen this fall.  This is good news given the graduation of SR LB Reggie Robinson, Hobart's top tackler from last season.  According to the Statesmen, Coughlin was their top LB recruit which bodes well for Hobart (but not for the rest of the Liberty League, especially opposing running and quarterbacks ;).

Coughlin, who is also a lacrosse standout, was quoted in the article stating, "I had several choices to make, but once I weighed all the benefits of academics and sports, Hobart was by far the best fit. The football coach told me that I was his number one choice at linebacker, and that meant an awful lot to me."

A link to the article is below.  Another article regarding Coughlin from the NY Post is also included.

http://highschoolsports.silive.com/news/article/-1322107993449474616/tottenvilles-kenny-coughlin-chooses-hobart-and-william-smith-colleges/

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/high_school/football/tottenville_star_to_play_football_ht8evIXULS6PpHzZtIfOoM

Please join me in welcoming Kenny to Hobart!  Go Statesmen!

Two Hobart Starters Off the Roster for 2012

Happy Leap Year!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the start of 2012.  Hard to believe it's already (almost) March 1st (at least on the west coast it's still 2/29).  Although it's still a long way off to the start of this year's college football season, I thought I'd check in with a brief update on the Statesmen football team.  The football roster for 2012 is up (http://www.hwsathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football) and I noticed a couple of players are not listed.  The players in question were two starters from the 2011 squad, SO FB Juan O'Farrill and SO FS Chad Dorrance, but according to my sources they will not be on the team this fall.

O'Farrill was one of a handful of Florida natives on the Statesmen and appeared in eight games last season.  O'Farrill was splitting time with fellow Floridian FY Dominque Ellis (39 carries for 195 yards and one touchdown) at FB.  Ellis eventually took over the starting job after a wrist injury suffered in the Rochester game kept O'Farrill out of the line up for the Wesley game.  O'Farrill carried 34 times for 115 yards and one touchdown and added three pass receptions for 27 yards in 2011.  In 2010, the West Palm Beach native  played in all nine games, carrying a season-high six times for a season-high 52 yards and a touchdown against WPI.  Although the loss of O'Farrill is buffered by Ellis, he was a solid contributor to the program, especially in the running game, opening holes for SO RB Steven Webb and JR RB Bobby Dougherty.

Dorrance settled in to start at FS following the graduation of former team captain John Kelliher '11.  A native of Cazenovia, NY, Dorrance played in seven games in 2010.  He made a season-high four tackles against St. John Fisher and blocked an extra point against WPI.  In 2011 Dorrance tallied five tackles including a fumble recovery and one pass break up.  It's likely Dorrance's departure will equally be mitigated due to the fact that classmate SO FS Jolyon Davis appeared in all eight of Hobart's games, including starts against Union College and the Merchant Marine Academy.  Although Dorrance's presence and experience in the defensive backfield will be missed, Davis contributed more tackles (17, including 11 solo) and one more pass break up than Dorrance last season.

That said fans of the program have criticized the Statesmen secondary in recent years.  Outside of future Hobart Hall of Famer Drake Woodard '12, the rest of the secondary has struggled in coverage against strong passing teams.  Some would even say that this problem has persisted for several seasons now, but has been less apparent given Woodard and the fact that the Statesmen's strong pass rush (bolstered by the additions of players such as SO OLB Devin Worthington and FY DE Tyre Coleman) doesn't give many teams enough time to exploit open receivers.

The blog will likely remain dormant for a bit but check back from time to time as information regarding incoming recruits comes forth in the coming months.

Thanks for reading and go 'Bart!

Hobart to Host Six Home Games in 2012

What a difference a year makes! 

After suffering through a number of scheduling challenges and snafus in 2011, the Statesmen will enjoy an extra home game this fall in a sudden, but welcome, change of plans. 

This sixth home game is primarily due to the pending expansion of the President's Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2013.  The aforementioned change (and how appropriate considering its almost President's Day!) necessitated that the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes renege on a previously agreed upon two year series with Hobart in order to add a new conference game next year.

Fortunately Geneva (College) quickly notified the Statesmen of this change and added the gracious offer (since they canceled the series) to travel to north to Geneva (NY) for the only time the Statesmen will play them (at least in the near future).  This luck of the draw benefits Hobart with not only the home field advantage in the contest against the Tornadoes, but also enables the Statesmen to play three of their first four games of the season at home (after hosting only three home games overall in 2011).  In fact, given the add of local Empire 8 conference foe Utica College (just outside of Syracuse), Hobart really doesn't have a significant road trip (mileage wise anyway) until the fifth game of the season, a 300+ mile trip to Worcester, MA to play the WPI Engineers.

The Statesmen's revised schedule can be found on the football website:

http://www.hwsathletics.com/schedule.aspx?path=football&schedule=956

Plans to schedule a new opponent for the 9/14/13 open date is apparently confirmed but hasn't been announced just yet.  Stay tuned and go 'Bart!

Mamaroneck QB Parker Thelander to Attend Hobart

Section1Recruiting.com reports that Mamaroneck SR QB / S Parker Thelander will head upstate and play for the Statesmen this fall.  The 6 foot, 185 pounder lead the Tigers to a 4-5 record last season, completing 62.1% of his passes for 1251 yards including 11 passing TDs.  Thelander also added three rushing TDs in his senior campaign.  Section1Recruiting.com rates Thelander the #4 overall best QB prospect in AA, the largest school section in the region.

Parker's highlight reel is listed below and demonstrates his strong arm and ability to move around in the pocket and escape would-be tacklers:

http://www.ncsasports.org/college-recruiting-videos-highlights/parker-thelander

I'd like to be the first to welcome Parker to Hobart.  Welcome Parker!