St. Lawrence University quarterback Sean Richardson found Vincenzo Ferraro for a 40-yard touchdown pass to tie the score early in the second quarter, but the Hobart football team scored 27 unanswered points to defeat the Saints 34-7 in a Liberty League game on Saturday afternoon.

Hobart quarterback Shane Sweeney gave the Statesmen a 7-0 lead, evading several St. Lawrence players on 15-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter.

The Saints struck back early in the second quarter, gaining possession when Casey Nuchereno forced a fumble and William Garrity recovered it on the Hobart 40-yard line. On the very next play, Richardson rolled left and found Ferraro open in the end zone to tie the game, 7-7.

The Statesmen drove 52 yards on seven plays on their next drive, but the Saints held Hobart to three points, with Kyle Hackett hitting a 30-yard field goal.

Hobart stopped the St. Lawrence offense on just three plays on the next drive, and Sweeney hit Isaiah Hill in the left corner of the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown pass six plays later to give the Statesmen a 17-7 lead. Hackett hit his second field goal of the day on the final play of the first half, this one from 35 yards, to give the Statesmen a 20-7 lead.

The Saints had a chance to make it a one-possession game halfway through the third quarter, but fumbled the ball at the Hobart 10-yard line.

Hobart took advantage of another St. Lawrence turnover late in the third quarter, as David McCarthy returned an interception to the St. Lawrence 10-yard line, and Sweeney hit Zach Withers in the end zone on the very next play to extend the lead to 27-7.

Brian Haeffner broke free for a 43-yard touchdown run with just over five minutes to play to cap the scoring for the Statesmen.

Hobart's defense held St. Lawrence to just 157 yards on offense. Richardson was 11-for-27 passing for 176 yards, and the Saints, without the services of leading rusher Rodrick Payne for the third week in a row, struggled to move the ball on the ground.

Sweeney was 19-for-28 passing for 278 yards, and eight different players combined for 187 rushing yards on 43 attempts for Hobart.

Ferraro, who set the program record for career receptions last week, got within striking distance of the program record for career receiving yards with five catches for 100 yards. He now has 178 receptions for 2,364 yards, just 32 yards shy of the record held by Mike O'Donnell '08.

Skyler Williamson led the Saints defensively with 15 tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage. Nuchereno added nine tackles with 2.5 sacks in addition to the forced fumble, and Tyler Mirabile had seven tackles. Jedh Downey had six tackles for the Statesmen.

Hobart improved to 6-3 overall, 2-2 in the Liberty League. St. Lawrence, now 2-7 on the year, finished the Liberty League schedule with a 1-4 conference record. The Saints will host SUNY Brockport for senior day in the season finale on Saturday at 1 p.m.