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Statesmen 11 move up to No. 19 in poll
September 27 , 2005
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Shawn Mizro tied his own record with
five touchdown passes against RPI. |
GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart football team moved up to No. 19 in the latest edition of the American Football Coaches Association Division III poll. The Statesmen moved up from No. 23 a week ago following an exciting 56-48 triple overtime win over Rensselaer.
Hobart, which began the season with back-to-back shutouts, looked well on its way to a runaway victory in the first half against the Engineers. The Statesmen jumped out to a 24-0 lead before finally yielding an opposition score with 1:20 remaining in the first half.
While Hobart dominated the first half, the second half proved to be a track meet, with the conference rivals racing to a dead heat at the end of regulation, knotted at 34-all. The Statesmen and Engineers traded touchdowns in each of the first two extra sessions, setting up the drama of the third.
In that decisive period, Hobart moved to the 1-foot line on a 24-yard toss from junior quarterback Shawn Mizro (Newark/Newark, N.Y.) to junior tight end Ryan McWalter (Concord-Carlisle/Concord, Mass.). Following three rush attempts that neither gained nor lost any ground, junior running back Doug Blakowski (Iroquois/Elma, N.Y.) barreled in on fourth down for his second touchdown of the day.
When Rensselaer tried to responded, the Engineers saw more blitzing linebackers than they could handle, and four incompletions later, the Statesmen were 3-0 overall, and 1-0 in the Liberty League. Hobart is 3-0 for the first time since 2002 when the Statesmen won their first seven games.
Mizro, the Liberty League Co-Offensive Performer of the Week, completed 22-of-36 for 290 yards and a record tying five touchdowns. First-year wide receiver Ryan LiDrazzah (Kent School/San Diego, Calif.) was his top target, catching nine passes for 121 yards and a TD, while Blakowski led the ground game with his third straight 100-yard game (125).
Hobart returns to action at 1 p.m., on Oct. 1, when the Statesmen travel to WPI. Last season was the first meeting between the two schools and the game set a Hobart record for most combined points (93, Hobart 55-38), a mark eclipsed last week by Hobart and RPI (104).