GENEVA, N.Y.—On a dreary day at Boswell Field, the 15th-ranked Hobart College football team scored a touchdown in each quarter to win its 32nd consecutive regular season game by a score of 28-17 over visiting Endicott College.
Played in a steady rain, both teams looked sloppy at times with the Gulls committing four turnovers and the Statesmen two. Hobart got touchdowns on offense (2), defense (1) and special teams (1) to improve to 2-0.
It was the Statesmen defense that opened the day's scoring. Junior cornerback Todd Collier grabbed the first of his two interceptions on the day, returning it 39 yards to the Endicott 1. Hobart was penalized 15 yards for a personal foul after the play, a walkoff that proved to be significant. The Statesmen worked their way back to the 5, but fumbled on first and goal with the Gulls recovering at the 3. Two plays later, Endicott suffered a fumble of its own and junior defensive end Zach Thornton jumped on the loose ball in the end zone for his first career touchdown with 14 seconds left in the quarter.
Endicott's ensuing drive stalled out at the Hobart 10 and the Gulls (0-2) had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Kyle Regan at 9:32 of the second quarter. Following the 3-pointer, Endicott's kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Statesmen the ball at their own 35. After two incompletions, sophomore quarterback Shane Sweeney completed back-to-back passes for first downs. On first and 10 from the Endicott 36, junior running back Bradley Burns took the handoff, hurdled a potential tackler and raced to the end zone. The extra point put Hobart up 14-3 with 8:09 left in the half.
Burns was the game's leading rusher with 57 yards on five carries.
A Hobart special teams miscue set up the Gulls' first touchdown of the day. The Statesmen lined up to punt at the Endicott 44, but a wild snap bounded back to the Hobart 23 where it was picked up by the punter, who lost 7 more yards before getting tackled. On the next play, Sam Ouellette completed a 16-yard TD pass to Jake Pelletier. The extra point was no good, making it a 14-9 game at the half.
Hobart extended its lead on the first drive of the second half. The Gulls attempted an on-side kick, but first-year Sam Wheeler covered the ball, giving the Statesmen possession at the Endicott 48. Sweeney capped the drive with a 16-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Brandon Shed, who got his feet down in the end zone for the only score of the third quarter.
Sweeney finished the day 15-of-27 for 152 yards with one TD and one interception. Shed pulled in three passes for a team-high 39 yards. Sophomore tight end Zach Withers also caught three passes for 38 yards.
Junior Sean Cunningham returned the first punt of the fourth quarter 59 yards for a touchdown. It was the first punt return for a touchdown (without the punt being blocked) by a Statesman since Nov. 10, 2001 when Dan Suozzi scored on a 72-yard return at Rensselaer.
Endicott made things interesting with a 1-yard Lavante Wiggins touchdown run and 2-point pass play from Ouellette to Jacob Simons. With the score 28-17, the Gulls recovered an on-side kick, but their final drive stalled at the Hobart 29 with just 67 seconds left.
Ouellette was 13-of-42 passing for 167 yards and a TD, but was intercepted three times. Jamison Craft caught a game-high five passes for 36 yards. Pelletier had four catches for a game-high 78 yards.
Hobart produced 14 pass breakups on the day, including a game-high three from Collier. Senior linebacker Trayvon Toney logged a team-high eight tackles.
William Rivera led Endicott with a game-high 13 tackles.
The Statesmen will play their next two games on the road, visiting Ithaca on Saturday, Sept. 19 and opening conference play at Merchant Marine the following week.
#15 Statesmen top Gulls 28-17
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20150912_i96s.xml
2015
Endicott
17
Hobart
28
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endicott (0-2) | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| Hobart (2-0) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Sep 12, 2015