MILTON, Mass. – The Hilbert College Hawks football team trekked over to Massachusetts to take on Curry College this weekend.

The Hawks and Colonels played a game of field position throughout the entire first quarter with neither team wanting to give an inch. In the second quarter, Curry scored 42 unanswered points including 4 straight rushing touchdowns from Montie Quinn. Hilbert gave up a third quarter passing touchdown before scoring 9 straight points to close out the game.

With fourth and long looming late in the third quarter the Hawks decided to gamble on going for it. The gamble paid off as a quarterback Jake Dressel launched a pass deep into the end-zone that was snagged by Evan Raniewicz for Hilbert’s first points of the day. Eric Cline added the extra point maintaining his perfect kicking percentage on the year.

Late in the fourth quarter the Colonels were backed up deep in their own zone facing a 3^rd and 11 when Taivaughn Roach exploded through the line and dragged the quarterback down in the end-zone for a safety. No other points were scored on the day. Roach and Clifford Zeigler continue to pace the defense’s tackle stats with 10 and 8 respectfully today. The pair also picked up two sacks during the game. Emmanuel Land IV and Matthew Wiebe had fumble recoveries today while Devotie Pompey, Ben Kirkland, and Al McDuffie all forced a fumble. Scott Essig had 355 punting yards from 11-punts.

Final Score: Curry College 49 – Hilbert College 9

Next Up: Hilbert College heads to Brockport for a Monday night football matchup with the Golden Eagles JV team at 4PM on October 3^rd.

– Cole Klubek

Editor’s Note: This story was written by the Hilbert Athletics staff and shared with The Scribe

On a sunny, steamy Saturday afternoon in Hamburg, New York, the Hawks were ready to fly inside the locker room singing and chanting prior to stepping onto the field to open the first football season in school history against a talented Dennison University team.

Head Coach Jim Kubiak said he was very happy with the enthusiasm his players showed after a long training camp.

“Well, we were very excited, our guys were excited. I think our coaching staff was excited, we had a lot of people out here supporting us,” Kubiak said. “It was great to get out here for the very first time and put the blue jerseys on.”

The heat didn’t stop Hawks fans from coming out in full force to support their team. The environment was electric as fans showed their excitement throughout the duration of the game with loud cheering and pride. Unfortunately, the Hawks couldn’t get it done on their home turf, losing their first game 63-0.

“The largest room in the world is the room for improvement,” said Kubiak. “The speed of the game is very different. Dennison’s a really good football team. They’re well coached, disciplined, physical, older and so as we move forward it’s about trying to get a little bit better with our personnel groupings. We committed some penalties in key situations. It’s a discipline thing, not a physical thing, and that’s what we’re going to be working on.”

Although the score may not have been what the Hawks hoped for, there was a lot to be proud of. The Hawks established many firsts on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

Offensively Wide Receiver Andre Augustiniak carried the ball for a 5-yard run for the first play in program history. Quarterback Jeremiah Caviness completed the first pass in Hilbert history to Joseph Stover for 25 yards, which was the longest play of the game for Hilbert. On the defensive side, defensive lineman Jeremiah Sanders made the first tackle for the Hawks.

“We had guys that were trying very hard, “said Kubiak. “There was a lot of great effort and that’s where it starts. If we can get ourselves adjusted, and some of the operational stuff that we need to improve on, we can take another big step. I think we have a team that wants to win, a team that’s hungry, and wants to work, so we’re going to get back to it.”

The Hawks look to turn it around at 12 p.m. on Saturday at home against Willamette University.

Scribe videographer Brett Gomez caught up with the Hawks women’s soccer team and mic’d them up at a recent practice.

The Hilbert Hawks football team lost the first game in school history to Dennison University, dropping the contest by a score of 63 – 0.

While the Hawks first game did not go as planned, the team learned some lessons and will use the experience to help them improve throughout this first seas, head coach Jim Kubiak said.

“I told them that that was a good football team and they put it on us,” he said. “What can we do, what can we learn from that? What can we adjust? How can we grow? We got Willamette coming in here next week and really the most important thing now is to look at what we did and how to improve going into the next football game.”

While the Hawks had a tough day, there were some silver linings. Linebacker Taivaughn Roach recorded 13 tackles. Quarterback Jerimiah Caviness went 5 for 9 for 78 yards with 6 rushing yards. And running back Jalen Henlon rushed for 55 yards on 19 attempts.

Caviness said he sees the first game as a learning opportunity and that the team need to focus on next week.

““Definitely our discipline, our team discipline,” he said. “We got to come together as a team. We got to be more disciplined.”

The Hawks face Willamette University this Saturday at St. Francis’ Polian Field. Tickets to the 12 p.m. game are free to students, staff and faculty with Hilbert ID and $5 for general admission. Hilbert College Athletics Hall of fame inductees will be honored at half time.

The Hilbert Hawks football program will host its first ever Division III game this Saturday.

The school announced the expansion of its athletic programs last year to much fanfare, with the new football team being the marquee addition, bringing the extremely popular sport to campus. The upcoming game against Denison University at 12 p.m. on the St. Francis High School field.

Head Coach Jim Kubiak said this first season the focus will be on helping the new players adjust from high school to a college athletics schedule and responsibility.

“That’s a big task,” he said. “We don’t have seniors and juniors who have been through it, so it’s creating these good work habits that’s been the crux of our work so far.”

Kubiak said that Hilbert has attracted many talented players. The task at hand remains getting them to buy in and develop the work habits that will make them successful student athletes.

“I’ve seen great effort go into that,” Kubiak said. “We’re not as proficient as we need to be, but we are moving in the right direction.”

The Hawks won their first exhibition game defeating St. John Fisher College’s junior varsity team 17 – 14 late last month.

Tim Siel, the school’s athletic director, said his department is very excited to be hosting the college’s first football game this weekend.

“The first game is culmination of a lot hard work, by our players, coaches, support staff and campus community,” Siel said. “Seeing our student-athletes compete on the field, in front our their friends and families, will be rewarding for everyone. The growth of our department over the past 10+ months has been remarkable, and we look forward to continuing the that growth through all of our athletic programs.”

Siel said his department understands it will take time to build success in the program, but that they have already seen significant progress.

“Our coaching staff is looking for steady improvement and effort throughout the season,” he said. “We are competing against teams and students-athletes with more experience than us, but if we can continue to improve throughout the season our program will be fine. We have already seen great improvement since the start of training camp. Continuing that growth will be the measure of a successful season.”

With the Buffalo Bills set to take on the defending champion L.A. Rams, the Hilbert campus, just up the road from One Bills Drive, was covered with red, white and blue attire Thursday.

Students sported their favorite gear in anticipation of the first game of the NFL season, in a year where the Bills are expected to go far, with many analysts – and bookmakers – picking them as the favorites to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February.

Joseph Kupczyk said he thinks the game will be close, but that the Bills will prevail, with quarterback Josh Allen leading the way.

And he believes the teams biggest add in the offseason will be extra motivated going up against his former squad, Kupczyk said.

“I think Von Miller is going to have a day against his old team.

Head football coach Jim Kubiak, who also writes about the Bills as a guest columnist for The Buffalo News, said the team that management has built around Allen makes them an obvious choice to win it all. He also believes that the team has built the type of culture needed to play well with the immense pressure of those expectations.

“If they can stay healthy, I don’t think there’s a team in the league that they can’t beat,” he said.

College President Michael Brophy said he and his family look forward to snuggling with their dogs while taking in the game tonight.

“I don’t think the Bills take anything for granted,” he said.