Football
|
PANTHERS' LAST OUTING |
HCAC Standings (Con/All) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stewart ties school interception mark
Senior defensive back Corry Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) has tied Hanover College's single-season record for interceptions.
Stewart notched a pair of interceptions in Hanover's 30-27 victory against Defiance College (Ohio) in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tilt Oct. 31. The effort pushed his season total to seven, matching the mark held by former standouts Stuart Bartsch (1984), Joel Benedetti (1989) and Eric Kluft (2002).
In the win against Defiance, Stewart returned his first interception 29 yards for a touchdown just 19 seconds into the game. His second interception of the outing came in the endzone to halt a potential Defiance scoring opportunity in the third quarter.
Stewart, a former wide receiver for the Panthers, ranks fourth on Hanover's defensive unit with 48 tackles this season. In addition to his HCAC-leading seven interceptions, which he has returned for a total of 105 yards, he also has five pass deflections.
Along with his defensive duties, he also averages 37.2 yards per kick as the Panthers' punter.
Hanover holds off Defiance for HCAC win
Hanover College's football squad snapped a three-game losing streak with a 30-27 victory against Defiance College (Ohio). The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tilt was played Saturday, Oct. 31, in Defiance, Ohio.
After trailing 13-6 in the second period, Hanover rallied to build a 30-20 lead before holding on for its second win of the season. The victory, which bumped the Panthers' record to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the HCAC, also snapped a four-game losing streak against Defiance.
Sophomore quarterback C.J. Croft (Fort Campbell, Ky.) rushed for a team-high 97 yards and threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns to spark the Panthers.
Hanover grabbed a 6-0 lead in the opening minute of action when senior cornerback Corry Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) picked off a Rick Powell pass and scooted 29 yards for a touchdown. The interception was Stewart's team-leading sixth of the season.
Defiance countered with a touchdown and two field goals to snatch a 13-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Defiance's Alex Bonilla made a 21-yard field goal to cut Hanover's lead to 6-3 with 8:15 to go in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets' Ricky Sherrer picked off a Croft pass and ran six yards for a touchdown to give Defiance a 10-6 lead less than two minutes into the second period. Bonilla drilled a 28-yard field goal to push the Yellow Jackets ahead 13-6 with 8:45 left in the half.
Hanover, however, scored twice in a two-minute period to snag a 20-13 lead at the intermission.
Croft hit sophomore receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) with a two-yard touchdown pass with 5:31 left in the half. The duo connected on a 66-yard touchdown two minutes later to push Hanover's advantage to 20-13 at the break.
Hanover stretched the cushion to 27-13 late in the third quarter. Sophomore running back Jeremy Cook (Batesville, Ind.) hauled in a three-yard scoring pass from Croft with 4:54 left in the period.
Defiance kept the contest tight with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Powell pitched a 61-yard touchdown pass to Jon Carrabino to cut the Panthers' lead to 27-20 with 12:31 to go in the contest.
Hanover used a 17-play, 62-yard drive to seal the victory. Freshman placekicker Pavel Polochanin (Indianapolis, Ind.) nailed a 16-yard field goal with 5:59 left to provide the difference in the game.
Defiance countered with a 10-play scoring drive. The Yellow Jackets used an eight-yard scoring pass from Powell to Nic Wiedenhoft with 3:49 remaining for the final margin.
Hanover totaled 294 yards of offense in the contest. Defiance, which fell to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the HCAC, had 315 offensive yards.
Croft finished the outing 13-of-36 for 177 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Passafiume totaled five catches for 89 yards with two touchdowns.
Powell had 212 total yards to lead Defiance's offense. He completed 10-of-15 passes for 128 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He also rushed 16 times for 84 yards.
Freshman linebacker Andy Dalton (Guilford, Ind.) racked up 15 tackles to lead Hanover's defensive effort. Dalton also had one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Sophomore linebacker Cord Dorsey (Franklin, Ind.) and freshman defensive back Lucas Mackey (West Terre Haute, Ind.) added nine tackles apiece for the Panthers.
Hanover vs. Defiance (Ohio) statistics
Hanover picked seventh in HCAC gridiron race
Hanover College's football squad was picked to finish seventh in a preseason polling of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's coaches.
The Panthers, under second-year head coach Joe Austin, received 19 points to place seventh among eight teams in the battle for the HCAC's 2009 championship. Hanover had a 2-7 overall record in 2008. The Panthers were seventh in the league standings with a 2-5 mark.
2009 Heartland Conference Preseason Football Poll
Franklin College grabbed the top spot in the coaches' poll. The Grizzlies, winners of two straight HCAC crowns, received 61.5 points in the balloting, including 5.5 first-place votes. The College of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) placed second in the poll with 50 points, including one first-place vote. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology was selected third with 47.5 points. The Engineers recorded 1.5 first-place votes from the coaches.
Hanover opens its 2009 campaign Saturday, Sept. 5, against Centre College (Ky.) at L.S. Ayres Field. The Panthers' first Heartland Conference tilt will be Oct. 3 in a Homecoming battle against Anderson University at Ayres Field. Both contests will being at 1:30 p.m.
