Football

Hawks Pile Up 686 Yards, Boltus Breaks Career Touchdown Mark in 42-12 Win Over Norwich

ONEONTA, NY - Hartwick football continued to roll through its opposition on Saturday with a 42-12 win over Norwich in an Empire 8 contest at Wright Stadium. The Hawks improve to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8 and have now won their last three contests by a combined score of 149-51 and gained over 1800 yards of total offense. Against the Cadets, 'Wick notched 686 yards of offense which is the fourth-highest total by a Division III football team this season. Senior quarterback Jason Boltus (Baldwinsville, NY) also broke the all-time touchdown pass record at 'Wick in the game. He threw for five touchdowns and gained an NCAA season-high 531 yards through the air.

The Hawks would score on its first possession after senior defensive back Justin Oelgeschlager (Highland, NY) forced and recovered a Norwich fumble on the Cadets first series. Boltus would hit Noah Koreman (Albany, NY) in the back corner of the end zone on a picturesque pass for the game's opening points. Ryan Boyea (Scotch Plains, NJ) tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Hawk lead with 8:26 left in the first quarter.

The game would remain 7-0 for the next 16:57 of the first half until Phelan caught a pass from Boltus and took it 68 yards for his first of three touchdowns on the day with six and a half minutes remaining in the half. The Hawks' defense forced a three-and-out on the Cadets next possession, but a Brian Segit 44-yard punt pinned Hartwick at its own 4 yard-line. The high-powered Hawk offense, however, would march 96 yards in 3:31 to put seven more points on the board. Tosh DeMulder (Unadilla, NY) gained 19 yards on the drive, and Boltus connected with Ryan Mosack (Oneida, NY) twice for 33 yards, Dan Gill (Massapequa, NY) for eight more, and Phelan for a 12-yarder, and a 24-yard touchdown strike to cap the drive. The pass to Phelan gave Boltus the Hartwick all-time benchmark for career touchdown passes vaulting Dan Pincelli.

Up 21-0 at the start of the third quarter, it took just three Boltus tosses and 56 seconds to extend the Hartwick advantage. He hit Max Meisel (Weston, CT) for 15 yards, Dan Gill for a 34-yard gain, and then Gill again for a 14-yard score to make it a 28-0 game.

DeMulder would get into the scoring column the next time the Hawks touched the ball as he rushed four times for 27 of his 105 yards and a touchdown for a 35-point 'Wick lead.

Norwich finally got its first points with 9:13 left to play in the third quarter as running back Darnell Jackson broke free of the Hartwick defense and ran 38 yards for the score. The Cadets went for two points, coming up empty.

With the score 35-6, Norwich threatened once again with the ball inside the 'Wick 30, but a Ben Zarzycki (Gansevoort, NY) interception in the end zone gave the Hawks the ball back. Once again, three plays and 80 yards later, Hartwick led 42-6. Boltus found Koreman for 50 yards, Nate Rockefeller (Delhi, NY) for 18, and hit Phelan for 12 yards and a touchdown. With the reception, Phelan tied the all-time Hartwick mark for career touchdown receptions with 44. One more, and the All-American senior passes Kirk Aikens (1995-98) for first place.

Norwich would add the last points of the day late in the fourth after a five-play, 49 yard drive. Boltus wound up completing 29-of-40 passes on the day. Phelan made six catches for 157 yards which moved him into a tie for third in the Hartwick charts in career yardage. Gill finished with a game-high seven receptions for 91 yards, and Koreman accumulated 108 yards on four catches.

Defensively the Hawks recorded six sacks on the Cadets and 11 tackles for a total loss of 43 yards. Linebacker Joe D'Alessandro (Niskayuna, NY) registered a game-high 10 tackles including a sack and two other tackles for a loss. Dan Flynn (Voorheesville, NY) had eight tackles and a sack and Connor Hornbeck (Sidney, NY) added seven tackles and two sacks.

The Hawks travel to Springfield next weekend for their final regular-season road contest of 2008.