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Hobart sinks Coast Guard 31-2
October 9 , 2004
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Dan Suozzi caught eight passes for 161
yards and four touchdowns to lead the
Statesmen past Coast Guard |
GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart defense did not allow a point, while senior wide out Dan Suozzi (New Hampton/New Canaan, Conn.) broke multiple receiving records to lead the Statesmen football team to a 31-2 victory over the Coast Guard Academy in a Liberty League contest at Boswell Field today. Suozzi broke the Hobart career records for receptions, and receiving touchdowns, and matched the week-old game record for touchdown receptions.
Following a scoreless first quarter, sophomore quarterback Shawn Mizro (Newark/Newark, N.Y.) hit Suozzi in stride for a 77-yard touchdown at the 9:58 mark. The duo teamed up for a second TD 1:57 before halftime to give the Statesmen (4-1, 3-0 Liberty) a 14-0 advantage at the break.
Meanwhile, Hobart’s defense swarmed all over the Bears (1-4, 0-3). Coast Guard manages just three rushing yards in the first half and a sparse 25 for the game. The Bears managed just one first half trip into the red zone, but missed a 37-yard field goal attempt wide left.
After the break, the Mizro-Suozzi combination posted scoring plays of 30 and 15 yards to boost Hobart’s lead to 28-0. Mizro finished the day 22-of-30 for 269 yards and a single game record tying four touchdowns against just one interception.
"After Shawn threw the interception, he made more checks and more audibles than he had in our previous four games combined," Craig said. "That told me, we're going in the right direction."
Suozzi caught eight passes for 161 yards and four touchdowns. With his second catch of the day, he became Hobart’s career receptions leader, passing Frank Fedorjaka ’89 and Nico Karagosian ’97 (141). With his second TD reception, he passed Nate Waye ’94 (17) on that career list, and with his final TD catch, he matched the single game mark established just last week by classmate Rick Piñero (Smithtown/Hauppauge, N.Y.).
Coast Guard managed three trips inside the red zone in the second half, but had field goal blocked by junior linebacker Jimmy Gradis (Elwood John Glenn/Greenlawn, N.Y.), turned the ball over on downs, and had a final minute pass into the end zone intercepted by first-year free safety Mike Kaplun (Webster Schroeder/Webster, N.Y.).
The Bears struggled offensively, turning the ball over three times on interceptions and missing on all four of their trips into the red zone. Coast Guard finished the day with just 232 yards of total offense. Defensively, junior defensive back Justin Andrews (Harrison/Marietta, Ga.) led the team with 11 tackles.
Coast Guard got its only points of the game, when Hobart, attempting to punt, saw the snap sail over the punter’s head and through the back of the end zone for a safety.
Senior kicker Eric Ampuja (Brockton/Brockton, Mass.), who has connected on all 23 of his point after tries this season, added the final points of the game with a 33 yard field goal with 4:32 remaining in the contest.
Defensively for Hobart, sophomore linebacker Nolan Robinson (Johnson City/Johnson City, N.Y.) led the team with five tackles, including a sack. Junior defensive tackle Rick Eicheldinger (Lancaster/Lancaster, N.Y.) recorded five stops, and a team-high three quarterback hurries.
The Statesmen, who scored 54 and 55 points in their past two games, established a new benchmark for scoring in a three-game stretch (140), surpassing the old mark set in 2002 (138).
The Statesmen return to action at 2 p.m., on Oct. 16, when Hobart travels to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy-Kings Point.