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Saints battle #7 Hobart, Fall 29-27

Posted 11/9/14

The St. Lawrence University football team stood toe-to-toe with nationally-ranked No. 7 Hobart on Saturday at Leckonby Stadium, holding the lead three times in a back-and-forth affair for the 2014 …

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Saints battle #7 Hobart, Fall 29-27

Posted

The St. Lawrence University football team stood toe-to-toe with nationally-ranked No. 7 Hobart on Saturday at Leckonby Stadium, holding the lead three times in a back-and-forth affair for the 2014 Liberty League title. Despite taking the lead with 5:35 remaining on a 60-yard touchdown catch by Leondre Simmon, Hobart's Will McCool drilled a 32-yard field goal with 1:03 left to give the Statesmen a dramatic 29-27 victory in Canton, NY and a spot in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

Hobart remains unbeaten at 8-0 (6-0) thanks to its defense which totaled 7.0 sacks of St. Lawrence quarterbacks in the game, including 3.5 by Troy Johnson. The Saints defense did its best to make up for a tough first half by the offense, as it finished with five turnovers (2 INT, 3 Fumbles) including a 59-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Simmon. However, St. Lawrence fell just short of earning its eighth win and returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2010, falling to 7-2 (5-1) heading into next weekend's Hoffman Cup game at the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

"My hats off to Hobart, they made the plays down the stretch to beat us," said St. Lawrence head coach Mark Raymond. "That being said, I'm very proud of the football game our team played today against a nationally-ranked opponent. We made some big plays in all phases of the game, we just ran out of time."

Hobart owned statistical edges across the board, finishing with a 488-251 advantage in total offense, including a 215-to-minus 6 yard advantage on the ground. Hobart's Conner Hartigan piled up 125 yards on 14 carries including a 73-yard touchdown on the first play of the third quarter, while Simmon closed with 94 yards on three catches and finished as the game's leading receiver. Mitch Gallagher rushed for a pair of short scores for St. Lawrence, which was led defensively by Alec Dietsch's game-high 13 tackles.

James Holley-Grisham and David Adams each had fumble recoveries for St. Lawrence, while Jayson Leigh and Joe Battaglia made interceptions. The home team was without Mike Lefflbine for much of the first half after an injury forced him to the sidelines, though the senior captain returned in the second half and finished 16-of-29 for 220 yards and a touchdown. Patrick Conlan was 13-of-26 for 273 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions for Hobart.

Hobart took a lead on the final play of the first quarter when Conlan found Mike Berkowitz in the corner of the end zone. McCool's extra point missed, keeping the score at 6-0.

With the offense struggling, Holley-Grisham's fumble recovery got the Saints in position for points at the Hobart 15. Facing a 4th-and-17 at the 22-yard line, St. Lawrence ran a fake field goal, with Danny Metzgar finding Dietsch at the 3-yard line for a 1st-and-goal. Gallagher set up in shotgun and plowed across the goal line on first down to tie the score at 6-6, and Andrew Carvalho put the home team up 7-6 with the point after.

Hobart reclaimed the lead before halftime on a quick strike, as the Statesmen went 57 yards in two plays, as Dominique Ellis scored from 25 yards out following a 32-yard completion to John Fasano. McCool's extra point gave the Statesmen a 13-7 lead at the half.

Hartigan struck on the opening play of the second half, bursting through the middle and taking the ball 73 yards for another Hobart score, with the extra point making it 20-7. Though Hobart appeared ready to blow the game open with the defense thriving and the offense again in St. Lawrence territory, Ellis was hit at the Saints' 41 and the ball popped loose and was scooped up by Simmon. He raced 59 yards untouched for the score with 6:26 left in the third, giving the home team new life trailing 20-14 after Carvalho's point after, setting up the dramatic fourth quarter.

Hobart's turnover struggles gave St. Lawrence the lead early in the fourth, as a punt reception by John Fasano was muffed at the Statesmen 13-yard line and recovered by Adams, giving Lefflbine and the Saints offense great field position. Gallagher again did the rest, following a 9-yard run with a 1-yard score only 47 seconds into the fourth, tying the score 20-20. Carvalho's point after made it 21-20.

Conlan and the Hobart offense came right back with another home run play, as they used a backdoor screen on 3rd-and-6 to Alex Furtado, who picked up his blockers and went 70 yards for the key response. The two-point conversion failed, keeping Hobart up 26-21.

Two drives later, St. Lawrence hit a big play of its own to reclaim the lead and give itself a chance at the Liberty League title. Lefflbine threw a perfect fade route to Simmon who beat his defender, caught the pass and raced in for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:35 remaining and a 27-26 lead. Simmon also caught the ensuing two-point conversion play, but after a delay by the officials, was ruled shy of the goal line in what proved to be a pivotal play.

Needing a scoring drive to keep its record perfect, Conlan and the Statesmen responded with several clutch plays, including a 4th-and-3 conversion with the game on the line on a QB rush up the middle to move the chains. After the Saints forced another fourth down on an incomplete pass, the game came down to McCool from the left hash and he made the biggest kick of his career from 32-yards out to put Hobart back on top 29-27.

Lefflbine and the offense nearly pulled off more heroics, as a 4th-and-23 hail mary was hauled in by Gallagher to pick up the unlikely first down at the Hobart 39-yard line with seconds to play. Though Lefflbine found Sean Richardson for 22 yards on the next offensive play to Hobart's 17, officials ruled time had expired and that the Statesmen had survived to claim their fourth consecutive conference title.

The Saints, who celebrated "Senior Day" on Saturday and honored the 16 players who took the field in Canton for the final time, will look to win eight games for the first time since 1982 next weekend when they head to Kings Point, NY to take on the Mariners at 12:00pm for the Hoffman Cup.