Hanover
The hype is real. Just ask Lebanon.
Friday’s 34-8 victory over the visiting Raiders, Hanover’s first victory over its rival neighbors since 2012, seems to have put the Marauders on the NHIAA Division II map for the first time in half a decade. Hanover is 4-0, for its best start since 2005, with a favorable regular season schedule in sight.
Reed Winter, Hanover’s senior running back, always wondered what a win against Lebanon would feel like. He reported Friday that it was so much better than he had ever imagined.
“This feels like a rejuvenation of Hanover football,” he said. “That’s an awesome feeling to have.”
Avery Monahan, a Marauders receiver, had a similar feeling.
“I play football, basketball and baseball. We rarely get a win over Leb,” he said. “This is my third year playing football, it’s my first win over them. It feels absolutely amazing.”
Friday’s annual rivalry game between Hanover and Lebanon, dubbed the Principal’s Cup, was the Marauders first test of the regular season. Raiders running back Ryan Milliken continues to be the Upper Valley’s most prominent offensive entity, leading a Lebanon offense that is shifty and deceptive, a much different skill set than Hanover’s first three opponents. Hanover head coach Sam Cavallaro, in his second year with the team, is proud that his team passed with flying colors.
The result for the Raiders, their second loss in a row following a 42-6 loss at home to John Stark last weekend, leaves Lebanon head coach Chris Childs with more questions than answers heading into a tough stretch of games against D-II’s top opponents.
Hanover got offensive production from its likely sources. Winter ran for more than 100 yards and scored three short-yardage touchdowns, finishing off impressive runs by the Marauders’ offense. Alex Mosenthal, Hanover’s secondary rushing option, added two touchdowns and nearly 100 yards of offense. Quarterback Connor Stafford accumulated 95 passing yards.
Most of Hanover’s offense came in the second quarter. After a scoreless first, the Marauders exploded with three successful drives into the end zone, including a 33-second drive on two plays with two minutes to go in the second quarter. Hanover had a 20-0 lead at halftime.
But the dagger came in the fourth quarter, a fourth-and-20 for Hanover’s offense on Lebanon’s 26 after Raiders’ Milliken brought home a 57 yard catch-and-run on the previous drive to put Lebanon on the scoreboard. The Marauders, holding a 20-8 lead, needed to respond.
“Coach called a skinny-post (route) for me, something I’ve done every day all year long,” Monahan said. “Connor put it right where I wanted it.”
Monahan pushed his way to the 2-yard line after the catch to set up Winter’s third score of the night. Just when the Raiders thought they had something to work with, Hanover took the momentum right back.
“I hope that people in the community, younger kids look at this and say, ‘Football is a sport at Hanover, we are successful,’ ” Winter said. “They should join. We’re here to stay.”
Cavallaro credited his team’s defense for keeping Milliken and company under wraps. But Lebanon’s offense was out of sync all night long. Raiders quarterback Caleb Broughton was seen directing players to their correct positions during plays. Bad snaps and miscommunication from the sidelines slowed Lebanon down. At one point, Childs was forced to call two timeouts in a row to get his offense on the same page.
“I thought one of the keys was we didn’t punch it in in the first quarter,” Childs said. “Then the whole second quarter, they took it to us. That was the big difference.”
Frustration also started setting in late, as Lebanon took four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the second half. Broughton was sacked six times, often for big losses. Milliken, particularly in the second half, couldn’t seem to find any room to move.
“Some of it is, we’re banged up. We haven’t had any consistency in practice,” Childs said. “When you don’t have consistency, you have kids out, it’s hard to get in a rhythm.”
Lebanon will try and stop the bleeding at home against Kennett next week.
For Hanover, Friday’s victory illustrated a big step forward in the development of its program, re-energizing its ranks as questions continue to swirl about its feeder program at the middle school level. But the win was also an emotional one. Many Marauders had tears in their eyes in the post-game huddle, taking time to hug, tap or embrace wheelchair-bound senior captain Glenn Enneper, who had surgery on Wednesday to repair a torn ACL he suffered during seven-on-seven drills over the summer.
“(Enneper) would do absolutely anything to be out there with us,” Monahan said. “If I could, I’d trade spots with him.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.