GENEVA, N.Y.—The Hobart football team earned its first win of the season and handed Utica its first loss in a 20-17 non-conference showdown on Boswell Field this afternoon. Junior running back E.J. Taylor scored his third rushing touchdown of the game with 1:08 remaining in the game to provide the winning margin.
 
Taylor rushed for 105 yards and three touchdowns against the Pioneers. It's his sixth 100-yard rushing game in the past seven outings and his fourth three TD game in his last five. Taylor scored on TD runs of 5 and 2 yards in the first quarter and punched the game-winning score in from 1 yard out in the final frame.
 
The Hobart defense was exceptional, containing a Utica offense that came into the game averaging 45 points and over 500 yards per game. The Pioneers finished the game with 358 yards (287 passing) and just two touchdowns after reaching the end zone seven times against Washington & Jefferson in Week 1 and six times last week against RPI.
 
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS

• Hobart senior linebacker Mike McGhee made a game-high 14 tackles.
• Senior linebacker Noah Chachere posted his first interception of the season, one of three takeaways for the defense.
• Senior free safety Alex Smith made five tackles and broke up two passes.
• Sophomore cornerback Corey Rock added a first quarter strip sack and also had a pass breakup to go with four tackles.
• Junior linebacker David Charles II had four tackles, including a sack.
• First-years Jeron Atwater and Nathan Bush also recorded a sack.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Taylor's big day got off to a strong start as he took the opening play from scrimmage for a 20-yard gain. In total, he carried the ball five times for 41 yards on the opening drive, scoring the first points just shy of five minutes into the game. The extra point was wide, leaving the Statesmen a 6-0 lead.
• Rock's strip sack gave Hobart the ball back at the Utica 26 less than two minutes later.
• Three straight Statesmen running plays moved the ball to 2 and again, Hobart turned to Talyor to punch it in. The extra point made it a 13-0 lead.
• On its next possession, Utica faced a fourth-and-10 from the Hobart 23 and elected to go for it. Tyler Szalkowski hit Antonio Cianfarani for 23 yards and a touchdown.
• The Pioneers took the lead just before halftime. The eight-play, 88-yard drive ended with a 7-yard TD pass from Szalkowski to Cianfarani 1:57 before the break. Szalkowski was 28-of-42 passing for 287 yards and two TDs. He was intercepted once and sacked four times. Cianfarani has six catches for 65 yards. Senior Bryce Palmer was Utica's top receiver with 12 catches for 88 yards.
• The Pioneers extended their lead late in the third quarter when Nico Duarte's 23 yard field goal capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive.
• Leading 17-13, Utica had the ball at its own 11 with 2:54 left on the clock. The Pioneers managed to gain only 2 yards over the next three plays and were forced to punt.
• Hobart enjoyed excellent field position on its winning drive thanks to a short (29yds) punt that put them 37 yards away from the lead.
• On first down, sophomore quarterback Jeremy Weiss completed a 31-yard pass to sophomore Luke Hansen. Taylor took the next play down to the 1 and punched it in for the lead on the play after that.
• Utica had 68 seconds to work with, but facing fourth-and-10 from its own 41, the Pioneers completed a pass short of the first down and tried to later to keep the play alive. Bush dove on the loose ball to clinch the victory.

 
FOR THE RECORD

• After suffering back-to-back one-possession losses to start the season, Hobart got its first win to move to 1-2.
• Utica, which won its first two games by an average of 22.5 points, slipped to 2-1.

 
COACH'S CORNER
 
 

PLAYERS' PERSPECTIVE
 

 
 

GIVE ME LIBERTY

• Hobart will begin Liberty League play next week on the road. The Statesmen will head to Ithaca (2-1, 1-0) for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 27.