By Ryan McCord
As if Hofstra’s football team needed any more rain clouds hovering above 2006’s campaign on the field of play, along came a heavy New Hampshire downpour Saturday afternoon, teamed with winds of up to 40 miles per hour that seemed to blow in the opposite direction of the Pride’s offense all day long.
For most teams, games like this often give hope to a program that’s slumping and willing to take a win anyway they can get it. In Hofstra’s case, because it’s usually anyone’s contest, just make sure the ball bounces your way more often than not and victory is yours.
Unfortunately for the Pride, the ball went every which way besides their desired direction, as New Hampshire played “keep away” in a game that resembled a nasty rugby match, much less a football game, as the No. 11 Wildcats out-muscled Hofstra, 10-6.
In a contest where the weather influence is eminent, often a team’s game plan, along with factors such as talent and records, can be thrown out the window. Keeping it simple, to say the least, Hofstra and UNH combined for 88 rushing attempts and a paltry 1.8 yards per carry.
Incredibly, UNH was able to win the football game despite only throwing the ball a grand total of three times. Now that’s a statistic that any “Trivial Pursuit” or “Stump the Schwab” fan would appreciate.
“The weather played a huge factor, passing the football with success in that kind of atmosphere is very difficult to do,” Pride head coach Dave Cohen said. “We were fairly certain throughout the week that the weather would play a factor, so we were able to game plan accordingly. Unfortunately, carelessness came back to haunt us.”
One touchdown was all this one would take for the Wildcats to come away victorious, as they put the Pride behind the eight ball on their first drive when running back Chris Ward scored from 13 yards out.
Pride defensive leaders Luke Bonus and Gian Vilante, as usual, were up to the task the rest of the way, combining for 26 total tackles to keep Hofstra in the game.
Anton Clarkson was given the start, perhaps by default, thanks to a shoulder injury to Dennis Davis that kept him limited to participation in practice throughout the week. Clarkson had a difficult time moving the offense with any kind of consistency as well as holding on to the football, fumbling twice.
Kareem Huggins and Terry Crenshaw were given plenty of opportunities to run the football, but neither running back could slip off a long enough run of any significance. Huggins amassed 34 yards rushing in the first half, which also happened to be the total amount of offense for the Pride going into the break.
Despite Davis’s injury, Cohen had seen enough of his sputtering offense, and he pulled the plug on Clarkson for the second week in a row.
“We weren’t putting the ball in the end zone, plain and simple,” said Cohen, whose Pride finished off a three-game, make-or-break road trip winless. “Dennis was medically cleared and I felt going in this direction was in the best interest of this football team.”
Davis did manage to plug some energy into the offense, teaming with the only sure thing on the Pride’s offense this season, wide receiver Shaine Smith.
Despite zero catches and fighting double and triple-teams throughout the contest, Smith kept his head in the game and came down with a clutch 37-yard grab to setup his own five-yard touchdown to give new life to the Pride with just under 50 seconds left in the game.
Hofstra kicker Rob Zarrilli missed the ensuing extra point and failed to keep his onside kick attempt inbounds and the Wildcats ran out the clock and any hopes of a Pride miracle comeback.
Each team’s respective kickers would have been better off just staying home and studying for midterms, as only one kick out of four attempted actually sniffed the uprights.
New Hampshire will take the win to the bank and focus their efforts on winning the Atlantic-10, as the Pride will at least have home-cooking to look forward to in attempt to snap this horrendous losing streak.
“It will be interesting,” Cohen said. “It’s frustrating to say the least, losing four games by a total of 23 points. With all excuses aside, we have to find a way to win.”
