Hanover
The visiting Falcons, who beat Hanover in last year’s state semifinals, ran for 228 yards. A tall and beefy offensive front was led by 6-foot-3, 305-pound lineman Andrew Berube, who repeatedly knocked opponents backward.
Hanover quarterback Mason Winter completed 8 of 13 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown, but Roach was held to 47 yards in 19 carries after plowing through Gilford-Belmont last week for 192 yards and a touchdown. A Marauders offense that rushed for 279 yards that day was held to just 63 against Bow.
Both teams are 6-1.
“That’s really the first team we’ve played with that level of physicality,” said Hanover coach Sam Cavallaro, whose squad figures to see two more run-based offenses when it clashes with John Stark and Plymouth to close the regular season. “We were overwhelmed a bit during the first half.”
Bow led, 16-8, at intermission. Hanover received the second-half kickoff and drove 62 yards in 16 plays, coming up short on fourth down at the Falcons’ 5-yard line. The hosts needed 2 yards but Roach was stuffed for none and Bow took over on downs.
“A missed opportunity,” Cavallaro lamented. “I thought we had turned the momentum, but when you’re playing a team like this and you get that kind of chance, you have to stick it in.”
Hanover forced a punt on Bow’s next possession, but went three-and-out itself. The Falcons drove 81 yards in 10 plays and closed the scoring on an 11-yard run. The extra-point attempt was wide, but three plays later, the Marauders’ Caleb Morse lost a fumble and the visitors ran out the clock.
“That’s a great program,” Cavallaro said of Bow, which suffered its only loss thus far this season at Plymouth during the teams’ opener. “They lost quite a few kids from last season, but they just rebuild right away.”
Bow went nowhere on the game’s opening possession, but benefited from a monster punt that rolled all the way inside Hanover’s 10-yard line. The Marauders gained only 5 yards before punting themselves four plays later, handing the Falcons a short field.
Bow sputtered on its next few plays, but back-to-back Hanover encroachment penalties aided the Falcons’ cause and they opened the scoring on Jack Wixson’s 4-yard touchdown run.
Another three-and-out for Hanover followed and Bow again moved to score. The Falcons needed eight plays while covering 84 yards, converting on a 34-yard Wixson run and going up, 13-0, when the extra-point attempt failed early in the second quarter.
The visitors added a 33-yard field goal from Andrew Robbins on their next possession and led, 16-0, with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Hanover got on the board three minutes later after punting and recovering a fumble on the play. Winter threw a pair of incompletions before hitting Kegan Silovich for a 24-yard touchdown pass and finding him again for the 2-point conversion. A defender was draped all over the Strafford resident on each reception, amazing Cavallaro.
“He’s a great athlete,” said the coach, whose team visits John Stark next Saturday afternoon. “He blocks and never cares whether or not he gets the ball, so to see him get it there was nice.”
Notes: The officiating crew struggled all night. During Bow’s field goal, only one zebra was in position under the goal posts and instead of raising both arms in the traditional signal for a good kick, he instead displayed one thumb up. … Hanover assistant Les Lawrence, as has been his tradition during his lengthy coach career, wore shorts despite temperatures that dipped into the upper 40s. … The Marauders lost running back Griffin Young to a first-half injury and he did not return.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.