GENEVA, N.Y. – Hobart College scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter to pull ahead of the Union College football team by an 18-12 margin in a Liberty League matchup on Saturday afternoon at Boswell Field at David J Urick Stadium.
Junior
Luke Sheehan finished the afternoon 25-of-35 for 222 yards and one touchdown, while senior
Gil Rivera caught four passes for 75 yards, including touchdown passes from both Sheehan and sophomore wideout
Evan Anderson. Union (3-3, 2-1 Liberty League) struggled to run the ball on the day, rushing 23 times for just 32 yards.
The game got off to a tough start for the Garnet Chargers, as Sheehan was picked off by MJ Wells and returned 42 yards for a touchdown. Union went three-and-out on its next drive and the Statesmen got to the Union 13-yard line, but back-to-back false starts stunted the drive and the home team missed a field goal to keep it a one-score game after one quarter.
Hobart (3-3, 1-2 Liberty League) increased its lead to 10-0 on its first full drive of the second stanza. After a three-and-out gave the ball back to the home team, senior
Jordan Black had a strip-sack of Jeremy Weiss to give the ball back to Union at the Hobart 35-yard line. Sheehan completed a 15-yarder to Anderson on third-and-8 to get in the red zone, and Anderson took a handoff from Sheehan and fired a pass to Rivera in the corner of the endzone to get Union on the board with 1:51 left. A missed extra point kept it a 10-6 Hobart edge.
An interception by senior
Matt Mitchell on the next drive ended Hobart's chances in the half, but Union could only get to the 38-yard line before the half expired.
The teams traded punts during a scoreless third quarter, and the Garnet Chargers caught a break when Hobart missed a 37-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth. Union then took its first lead by marching 80 yards in eight plays, capped by a 44-yard touchdown reception to Rivera that put Union up 12-10 after another missed extra point.
After the teams traded punts, Hobart got the ball back on its own 36 with 4:22 left. Needing just a field goal after Union left two points on the board earlier, Hobart went down the field in 11 plays, with EJ Taylor eventually reaching the endzone with 52 seconds remaining as Union conceded a score in order to get the ball back.
Union got to midfield in the final 30 seconds, but Sheehan was sacked on fourth down to finish off the game.
Union will take next week off before returning home for a Homecoming and Family Weekend matchup with Ithaca College on October 24 at 1 p.m.
