Hanover vs. Bluffton (Ohio), Nov. 8
Panthers pull away for win at Bluffton
Hanover College's football squad earned its second victory of the 2008 campaign with a 42-19 win against Bluffton University (Ohio). The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle was played Saturday, Nov. 8, in Bluffton, Ohio.
Sophomore running back Josh Juett (Owenton, Ky.) rushed for a career-high 161 yards and three touchdowns to help Hanover improve to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. The win marked the Panthers' third in a row against Bluffton and the team's 13th in its last 14 meetings with the Beavers.
The setback was the sixth in a row for Bluffton, now 1-8 overall and 0-6 in the HCAC.
Hanover collected 428 yards of offense in the game, including a season-best 232 yards on the ground. Bluffton was limited to just 244 offensive yards. The teams combined for 11 turnovers.
After leading 14-6 at the intermission, Hanover stretched the cushion to 28-6 with two touchdowns in the third period. Juett hit paydirt on a 12-yard run early in the quarter. Freshman Josh Reintjes (Oaktown, Ind.) scored on a three-yard run with 5:20 left in the period for his collegiate touchdown.
Bluffton mounted a charge late in the stanza. Freshman receiver Antwane Miller rambled 77 yards for a touchdown with 4:58 on the clock. Senior defensive back Kyle Coleman raced 45 yards with an interception to get the Beavers back in the game at 28-19 with less than a minute to go in the period.
Juett, along with help from sophomore linebacker Michael Spillmann (Franklin, Ind.), helped Hanover ice the victory in the fourth quarter.
Juett rushed for 43 yards and scored two touchdowns in the quarter to seal the win. He popped into the endzone from three yards out to give the Panthers a 35-19 lead with 4:05 left in the game. He added a 14-yard scoring run with 2:54 remaining for the final margin.
Spillmann, meanwhile, aided the icing with two interceptions and two tackles in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with seven tackles, including 2.5 for loss and two sacks, a forced fumble, a pass deflection and the two interceptions, which both led to Juett touchdowns.
Freshman quarterback Nick Sharp (Indianapolis, Ind.) completed 25-of-41 passes for 196 yards and was picked off three times. He also scored on a five-yard run to give the Panthers a 14-6 lead near the end of the first half.
Freshman wide receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) caught 11 passes for 99 yards to pace Hanover's receiving corps. Senior receiver Tyler Theims (Indianapolis, Ind.) hauled in eight passes for 40 yards. He also rushed two yards for a first-quarter touchdown.
