Hobart College running backs Rayshawn Boswell and Tim Denham Jr. both rushed for more than 100 yards, leading the Statesmen to a 42-21 win at St. John Fisher College this afternoon. A Rochester native, Boswell had 17 carries for 128 yards and three touchdowns while Denham added 118 yards and a TD as Hobart piled up 287 yards rushing and dominated time of possession.
Boswell’s first career 100-yard game included touchdowns runs of 15 yards, 1 yard and 9 yards. He finished the day with a 7.5 yards per carry average. Denham logged his second 100-yard game of the season, scoring on a 1-yard dive to open the day’s scoring. He also added a special teams touchdown, returning the opening kickoff of the second half, 90 yards. It was Denham’s second career kick return for a touchdown. Running back Andres Duran accounted for Hobart’s sixth and final touchdown of the day, breaking out of multiple attempted tackles on a 14-yard scoring run.
The Statesmen (3-0) ran the ball 50 times in the game, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. The dominance of the ground game led to a more than 11-minute advantage in time of possession. Hobart converted 10-of-14 third down opportunities.
The Statesmen defense bottled up the Cardinals (2-1) for most of three quarters. St. John Fisher finished with 176 yards of offense, including 148 through the air.
Hobart set the tone for the game with its opening possession. After the Statesmen defense forced a Fisher punt on the game’s opening drive, Hobart responded with a 13-play, 68-yard march that took 5:27 off the clock and ended with Denham’s first TD.
The team’s traded interceptions on their next two drives. Free safety Cal Sullivan picked off Cardinal quarterback Hunter Walsh in the end zone for a touchback. On the next play, linebacker Vince DiMonte intercepted Statesmen quarterback David Krewson and returned it 10 yards to the Hobart 25. St. John Fisher took advantage of the short field, scoring on a 27-yard pass play from Michael Krafty to wide receiver Johnathan Letta.
Hobart retook the lead with another clock-controlling drive. This time, the Statesmen went 88 yards in 14 plays, draining 6:37 off the clock. Boswell’s 15-yard touchdown made it a 14-7 game four and a half minutes into the second quarter. Later in the second quarter, Sullivan added a second interception, but neither Hobart nor Fisher could reach the end zone again before halftime.
Denham made it 21-7 in the blink of an eye. He fielded the opening kickoff of the second half on the right side of the Hobart formation and headed left. His teammates gave him a wide path to the sideline and Denham used his speed to go 90 yards for the touchdown.
Special teams set up Hobart’s next score. Cardinals’ punter Joe Dotterweich mishandled the snap on fourth-and-nine from the Fisher 26. He recovered the ball, but was immediately swarmed by the Statesmen for a 14-yard loss. Blake Hansen and Charlie Brennan were credited with the tackle that set the offense up 12 yards away from the end zone. Four plays later, Boswell returned to the end zone for a 28-7 lead.
St. John Fisher produced its first sustained drive in response. Krafty directed a 10-play, 69-yard march that he capped off with a 7-yard TD pass to wide receiver Pat Galer.
Hobart led 28-14 at the end of the third quarter.
Boswell wrapped up his big day with a 9-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Duran scored his first collegiate TD with under two minutes left, upping the Statesmen lead to 42-14.
Fisher running back Peyton Nolan scored on a 1-yard plunge with 17 seconds remaining to close out the day’s scoring.
Linebacker Bryan Aguilar made a team-leading 10 tackles for Hobart. Linebacker Jay McCoy added eight tackles.
The Cardinals got a game-high 13 tackles from Joe Miscia and Kyle Vachon had 11.
Hobart will return to Boswell Field for its Homecoming game on Saturday, Sept. 25. The Statesmen will host Keystone (0-3). Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].