When the Hobart football team takes the field at St. John Fisher's Growney Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 24, Head Coach Mike Cragg and his assistants will wear Coach to Cure MD patches as part of a nationwide effort to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research.

Hobart is one of more than 400 institutions across the country whose coaches will don the special patch. Now in its fourth season, the partnership between the American Football Coaches Association and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy aims to raise national awareness of the disorder and generate funds to research a cure.

Football fans can donate to Duchenne muscular dystrophy research by either going online to www.CoachtoCureMD.org or by texting the word CURE to 90999 (a $5 donation will automatically be added to your next phone bill).

Last year, more than 9,400 college coaches at 373 different institutions, including Hobart, participated in the Coach to Cure MD event. Both of those figures are well higher than in any of the program's first two years. The three-year fundraising total is just shy of $875,000, putting Coach to Cure MD on pace to go well over $1 million after this season.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood and primarily affects boys across all races and cultures. Boys and young men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency, and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and limited therapeutic options exist.

Hobart (1-0) opened the season with a 33-9 victory at Dickinson on Sept. 3. The Statesmen produced 500 yards of total offense, while the defense shut out the Red Devils through the first three quarters. St. John Fisher (2-0) is coming off a 52-3 win over Rochester on Saturday. Hobart leads the all-time series 10-6, but the Cardinals have won four in a row.

The game is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. WEOS-FM (89.7/90.3) will broadcast the game live, while fans can follow the action online with Live Stats. Time Warner Cable Sports will show the game on a tape-delay basis (check your local listings).