The Hobart football team held off a late charge by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to earn its seventh straight win 27-21 and got an assist from Buffalo State to clinch at least a share of the Liberty League Championship and its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Statesmen began the day alone in first place in the league, a game ahead of Ithaca and a game and a half up on Rochester. Hobart already owned the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bombers, but if the Yellowjackets were to win out it could create a three-way tie atop the standings.
At about the same time Hobart and RPI’s captains were meeting at midfield for the pregame coin toss, Buffalo State was putting the finishing touches on a 35-21 win over Rochester. That meant the Statesmen only needed to win one of their two remaining games to clinch a share of the title and clinch the league’s AQ.
Hobart jumped out to a 17-0 lead before the Engineers put points on the board and led 27-6 through three quarters, but needed a late stand by the defense and a time draining drive by the offense to finish off its seventh straight win and capture its 12th Liberty League Championship.
FOR THE RECORD
- Hobart improved to 8-1 overall, 5-0 in the Liberty League.
- RPI falls to 3-5 overall, 1-3 in league play.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Hobart senior quarterback Johnny Colombi threw for a game-high 258 yards and three touchdowns.
- Junior wide receiver Ahmad Crowell was his top target with five receptions for a career-high 137 yards and a touchdown.
- Sophomore running back E.J. Taylor rushed for 100 yards on a career-high 27 carries.
- Senior linebacker Jaimen Bliss made a game-high 12 tackles and an interception.
- Junior linebacker Mike McGhee added six tackles, including a pivotal fourth down sack late in the fourth quarter, and an interception.
- Senior kicker Tobias Wefering made two field goals and all three of his extra points for nine points.
EARLY MOMENTUM
- The Statesmen scored on each of its first three possessions.
- Hobart got the ball to start the game and went 75 yards in eight plays, scoring the opening touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Colombi to first-year receiver Johnny Harding.
- The defense set up the offense for its next scoring drive. Bliss intercepted RPI quarterback Jake Kazanowsky at the Hobart 23 and returned it 28 yards to the RPI 49. Ten plays later, Crowell made an incredible twisting grab on a pass from Colombi for his league-leading eighth touchdown of the season.
- Wefering made it 17-0, capping the first drive of the second quarter with a 43-yard field goal. It was the 32nd field goal of his career, breaking a first place tie with Kyle Hackett ’21 on Hobart’s all-time list.
- RPI countered with a 6-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Connor Cruz caught a 12-yard TD from Kazanowsky to make it 17-6. The extra point was no good.
- The Statesmen posted the final points of the first half when Taylor pulled in a 5-yard pass for a touchdown and a 24-6 halftime lead.
- Hobart added to its lead with a 22-yard Wefering field goal on its only possession of the third quarter.
HOLDING ON
- Kazanowsky threw two touchdowns in the fourth quarter making it a one-possession game, 27-21, with 7:30 remaining in the game.
- The Engineers got the ball back with 5:37 to go and had a chance to take their first lead.
- RPI flipped the field, moving from their own 28 to the Hobart 27.
- On second down from the 27, McGhee and Bliss teamed up to stop ball carrier Dameon Ming two yards short of the first down.
- On third down, McGhee hurried Kazanowsky, who threw incomplete.
- Then on fourth down, McGhee dropped him for a 7-yard loss on Hobart’s only sack of the game, quelling the threat.
- The offense still had 2:05 to run off the clock, but Colombi and Crowell teamed up for a 56-yard pass play to get the Statesmen into a first-and-goal situation from the 7.
- From there, they were able to drain the final 1:38 off the clock with four straight running plays.
COACH’S COMMENTS
“It was great to see the team jump out to a strong start vs. a solid opponent on the road who had two weeks of preparation for us. We’ll discuss some ways in which we could have better kept the momentum in our favor in the middle of the game, yet I’m very proud to see the team and some players step up to make key plays late in the game to secure the victory, and ultimately earning the league championship.”
GAME NOTES
- Hobart secured its first Liberty League Championship since 2016.
- The Statesmen have clinched their 11th NCAA playoff appearance and first since 2016.
- This is Hobart’s first league title and NCAA bid under Head Coach Kevin DeWall ’00, who is in his sixth season at the helm of his alma mater.
TIME FOR A REST
- Hobart is off in Week 10. The Statesmen will return to action Nov. 16 when they host Rochester in the annual Centennial Cup game.
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