Turnovers Lead to Tough Start for Red Devils
(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson College football team had a tough outing in its 2011 season opener, falling to visiting Hobart College, 33-9, on Saturday. Things looked like they would go well early as the Devils recovered a fumble on the very first play from scrimmage. The Devils drove moved the ball to the goal line, but a goal-line stand by Hobart kept the Devils off the scoreboard.
Hobart took over at its own one yard line and would move 99 yards, capped by a 31 yard touchdown pass from Nick Strang to Garth Muratori. Hobart would hold again on the Devils' next possession, stopping them on a 4th-and-1 on the Hobart 15 yard line. The Statesmen used a 26 yard pass to Muratori and a 28 yard run from Bobby Dougherty to key another scoring drive, putting Hobart up, 14-0, with 1:04 to play in the opening quarter.
Hobart failed to capitalize on a Dickinson fumble but would take advantage of an interception by Connor Garrett to take a 21-0 lead with 11:12 remaining in the half. The Devils appeared to answer on a Ricky Martz (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) pass to Cam Di Fede (Miami, Fla./Palmer Trinity) as Di Fede dove into the end zone. The officials ruled that the ball came out in the end zone and gave Hobart possession, keeping the Devils off the scoreboard.
Another Devil turnover would lead to more points for the visitors as Steven Webb capped a 67-yard drive following an interception. The extra point was missed to make the score 27-0. Sophomore quarterback Todd Smolinsky (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) returned to the game and found junior Matt Wood (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) on a 15 yard fade pass into the corner of the end zone to put points on the board for Dickinson.
After the teams traded possessions, Hobart put together a five minute scoring drive to extend the lead to 33-7 with 3:40 remaining in the game. Junior Sean Sullivan (Westminster, Md./St. Paul's) blocked the extra-point and senior captain Scott Sullivan (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) returned it all the way for a defensive two-point conversion.
Hobart racked up 514 yards of offense behind a balanced running game and 192 yards passing for Strang. Muratori finished with 123 yards on six catches while Dougherty and Webb combined for 167 yards rushing.
Dickinson finished with 308 yards of offense with Smolinsky throwing for 121 yards, including 81 to Di Fede. Scott Sullivan led the defense with 12 tackles while Michael Miller (Hainesport, N.J./Bishop Eunace) and Jon Umanzor (Silver Spring, Md./Landon) each made 10 stops on the day.
The Red Devils are home again next week, opening Centennial Conference play against Juniata College. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm at Biddle Field.
