September 25 , 2004

Senior Jack Holleran led the Hobart ground game against RPI with 116 yards on 20 carries. (Photo by Art Foxall)

TROY, N.Y.—Rensselaer jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the first quarter, but it was all Hobart after that, as the Statesmen scored 54 unanswered points to earn a 54-13 win in their Liberty League opener. Senior Jack Holleran (Choate Rosemary Hall/Sharon, Mass.) paced the ground game with 116 yards on 20 carries.

The Engineers (1-2, 0-1) capitalized on a pair of Hobart fumbles during its opening two drives to take a 13-0 with 12:11 left in the first quarter.

Senior Rick Piñero (Smithtown/Hauppauge, N.Y.) collected the ensuing kickoff and ran it back 79 yards to the Rensselaer 13-yard line. Godinho moved the ball to the one with a pair of six-yard rushes to set up a one-yard dive by sophomore quarterback Shawn Mizro (Newark/Newark, N.Y.) to make it a 13-6 game. Mizro finished the game with 232 yards in the air on 9-of-16 passing.

The Statesmen defense forced the Engineer offense to go three and out on their following two possessions, allowing Hobart to take a 16-13 lead after the first stanza. Senior kicker Eric Ampuja (Brockton/Brockton, Mass.) knocked a 24-yard field goal through the uprights, while Holleran scampered 11 yards into the endzone to close out the quarter.

In the second frame, the Hobart defense continued to dominate, holding RPI to just four first downs and just 66 yards of offense. Meanwhile, the Statesmen offense was firing on all cylinders as Mizro connected with Piñero on a 21-yard toss and Ampuja kicked a 34-yard field goal for a 26-13 lead going into the locker room.

Hobart continued to control the game in the second half, allowing the Engineers to less than 11 minutes of time of possession in the closing two quarters. Mizro and senior Dan Suozzi (New Hampton/New Canaan, Conn.) connected on a 30-yard play on the first Statesmen series of the quarter, for a 33-13 Hobart lead.

Things would not get any better for RPI as junior Dyshawn Washington (Kent School/Piscataway, N.J.) picked off a Chad Wysocki pass on its next possession, running it back to the Rensselaer 48. Six plays later, Holleran punched the ball in from three yards out for his second touchdown of the afternoon and a 27-point lead for the Statesmen.

Sophomore Doug Blakowski (Iroquois Central/Elma, N.Y.) added six more points to the board in the fourth with a 13-yard run, while junior Andrew Sweet (Weedsport/Weedsport, N.Y.) recovered a fumble in the endzone for the game’s final score.

Ampuja broke the single game record for points by a kicker, booting two field goals and six extra points for 12 points. Overall Hobart racked up 532 yards of total offense, including 300 on the ground. Godinho and Blakowski racked up 75 and 72 yards rushing, respectively.

Defensively, the Statesmen were paced by sophomore Nolan Robinson (Johnson City/Johnson City, N.Y.) with 13 tackles. Hobart held the Engineers to just 93 yards rushing and just one offensive touchdown. The Statesmen were especially effective on third down, stopping 11-of-16 conversion attempts.