Football: Road bump in conference play

The Union Dutchmen Football team went into this weekend confident and rejuvenated after coming off two huge conference wins. The Dutchmen got their first win two weeks ago when they defeated the University of Rochester 41-34. Then, last week, kicker Adam Henry hit a last second field goal to lift the Dutchmen over WPI. So, going into this weekend the Dutchmen were undefeated in conference play.

However, the Hobart Statesmen came to play this weekend.

The Dutchmen came out strong though; scoring the first touchdown after Connor Gallo caught a 10-yard pass from Senior Quarterback Drew Connolly on Union’s opening drive. The Statesmen answered back quickly with an impressive 70 yard run by Steven Webb to tie the game. Then, the very next drive Connolly launched a pass to Connor Gallo for a 61-yard touchdown that gave Union a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.  Connolly would throw for 246 yards and three touchdowns this game.

The Statesmen answered back midway through the 2nd quarter tying the game 14-14. The Dutchmen’s next drive resulted in a punt, but Hobart fumbled the punt on their 22 yard line and the Dutchmen were able to recover the ball with four minutes left in the half. The drive resulted in a 39-yard field goal from Adam Henry giving the Dutchmen a 17-14 lead.

However, Union started to fall apart after this play. In the Statesmen very next drive, with only two minutes left in the quarter, Hobart Quarterback Nick Strang found Junior Woodward for an 83-yard touchdown on the first play. Then on the kickoff, Union fumbled on the return, and the Statesmen were able to pick it up and run for a score, giving Hobart a 27-17 lead at half-time. In the second half, the Dutchmen were never able to recover the lead. They didn’t capitalize on some key plays and the Statemen ended up winning by a score of 41-24. With this loss the Dutchmen’s record falls to 2-4. However, their Liberty League record only fell to 2-1 and they’re now in second place in the conference with four games to go.

The Dutchmen travel to Canton, NY next week to take on St Lawrence University where they try to extent their conference record to 3-1. Game time is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15.