A questionable call on a Hobart pass with less than two seconds left in the game gave the Statesmen a 19-17 victory over St. Lawrence Saturday in a Liberty League game on Boswell Field in Geneva.

Hobart (6-3 Overall, 4-2 Liberty League) drove down the field in the closing seconds of the game and with less than five seconds left fired a pass toward the end zone that looked to be intercepted by St. Lawrence (7-2, 5-1) linebacker Jason Leigh as the junior came out of the end zone with the ball held over his head.

After a long discussion by the officials, the referee announced to the crowd that there was dual possession in the end zone and therefore a touchdown for Hobart. The score gave the Statesmen a 19-17 lead. The attempt for a two-point conversion was not successful and the ensuing kickoff was returned by first-year Isreal Squires who ran 17 yards before being tackled to end the game.

There was considerable question of whether the Hobart receiver, Cooper Merrill, had possession in the end zone or if the play ever actually reached the end zone.

For the second week in a row, the Saints built a first half lead and took a 17-7 lead into the locker room for the halftime intermission. There was no scoring in the third quarter and Hobart scored its 12 second-half points in the final 5:16 of the fourth quarter.

St. Lawrence kicker Andrew Carvalho opened the scoring with a 27-yard field goal that was set up by a James Holley-Grisham punt return and Hobart facemask penalty that gave the Saints possession on the Hobart 11 yard line. After a short run by Jake Gnieser and two incomplete passes, St. Lawrence opted to kick the field goal and take the 3-0 lead.

The previous St. Lawrence possession ended on the Hobart one-yard line with a pair of incomplete passes into the end zone on third and fourth down plays. The Statesmen took over from the one-yard line but only advanced the ball one yard before the short 29-yard punt before the return and penalty moved the ball to the 11-yard line.

Hobart scored on the ensuing possession with the key play coming on a 32-yard pass for a first down on a 3rd-and-18 situation from near midfield. The nine-yard TD pass and extra point gave Hobart a 7-3 lead with 2:59 left in the quarter.

The score also ended a streak of 287 consecutive minutes that St. Lawrence had last trailed in a game dating back to the first half of the Union game on September 26.

St. Lawrence regained the lead in the second quarter when quarterback Mike Lefflbine directed a four-play scoring drive. After an incomplete pass, Lefflbine scrambled to gain seven yards and then connected with Vincenzo Ferraro for a 10-yard game and a first down. Another facemask penalty against Hobart gave the Saints another 15 yards at the end of the play before Lefflbine found Leondre Simmon down the right side of the field for a 29-yard TD play.

The TD catch for Simmon was the seventh in the last nine catches for the senior who plays both wide receiver and corner back for the Saints.

After the Saints defense forced a three-and-out drive for Hobart keyed by a William Garrity tackle for loss on first down and quarterback hurry on third down, The Saints were on the move again.

After an incomplete pass and a sack on the first two plays of the drive, Lefflbine found Simmon for a six-yard gain on third and then ran 11-yards on fourth down to move the chains. On the next play, Lefflbine connected with tight end Mitch Gallagher for a 21-yard scoring pass over the middle giving the Sainst a 17-7 lead.

The TD for Gallagher increased his run of at least one TD in 16 of the last 17 consecutive games.

Hobart put together a drive late in the first half and moved all the way to the two-yard line. A tackle for loss by Chyron Brown-Wallace and Ryan Byrne forced a fourth down situation from the three yard line.

Quarterback Shane Sweeney tried to run for the TD but was stopped short when Michael LaRusso applied a hit that forced a fumble and then he recovered the fumble as well giving the ball back to the Saints with 25 seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter, the Saints offense chewed up 11:21 of the quarter on two drives and the Statesmen were forced to punt on its only drive of the quarter. The key play in the only Hobart drive was a sack by Brown-Wallace on a third down play that left the Statesmen well out of field goal range.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Hobart drove down to the St. Lawrence 25-yard line but a 42-yard field goal attempt missed to the left.

The Saints took over and drove 35 yards on five plays before punting the ball away and forcing the Statesmen to start their next drive from the 24-yard line.

Hobart used a series of short passes to march down the field before Brandon Shed who was well covered by Simmon, made a one-handed catch in the end zone for the TD. The point after attempt rattled off the upright leaving the score at 17-13 in favor of St. Lawrence with 5:16 left to play.

After a short drive by the Saints that ended with a Brodie Corless punt, Hobart took over near midfield.

The Statesmen gained 14 yards on the first four plays of the drive before Simmon was flagged for a pass interference call. Hobart went the same direction with the next play and Simmon intercepted the pass to end the drive.

The Saints gained eight yards on their next possession and Corless unloaded a 39-yard punt giving Hobart the ball on its own 36 yard line with 47 seconds left to play.

The Statesmen completed three passes and had the ball at the four yard line with nine seconds remaining. After one incomplete pass that took four seconds off the clock, the Statesmen looked to the end zone again where Leigh and Merrill battled for the ball that eventually resulted in the questionable TD call.

Lefflbine was 19-for-33 for 195 yards and two TDs while Gallagher led the receivers with five catches and 66 yards. Defensive back Brendan Donahoe led the defense with 11 tackles including 10 solo stops while Garrity added seven tackles with two sacks and three tackles for loss.

The Saints wrap up the regular season with a home game against Merchant Marine in the annual Hoffman Cup game and senior day at Leckonby Stadium with a 1 pm start November 14. A St. Lawrence win over Merchant Marine or a RPI loss in its season finale against Union would give the Saints the Liberty League title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2010.