Hanover at Butler, Sept. 19
Panthers drop 42-21 decision to Butler
The Hanover College football squad fell to Butler University, 42-21, in a contest played Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Butler Bowl in Indianapolis, Ind.
Butler (3-0) snapped a 7-7 tie with 35 straight points to pull away for the victory. The Bulldogs outgained Hanover by a 353-163 margin, limited the Panthers to just 31 rushing yards and tallied five quarterbacks sacks.
Just as the previous week against Waynesburg, Hanover's opponent opened the game with an interception return for a touchdown. Butler's Andy Dauch snatched a pass by the Panthers' Corry Stewart (Nashville, Tenn.) and rambled 17 yards to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest.
Hanover answered on its next possession. Freshman Shawn Gibson (Indianapolis, Ind.), making his first collegiate start, battled his way into the endzone from eight yards out to cap a 13-play, 79-yard scoring drive.
From that point, it was all Butler. The Bulldogs grabbed a 14-7 lead late in the first period on an eight-yard run by Andrew Huck. Ricky Trujillo scored the first of three Butler touchdowns in the second quarter with an a 12-yard run with 13:28 left in the period.
Butler eventually pushed the cusion to 42-7 on Dan Bohrer's eight-yard touchdown catch with 11:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Hanover (0-3) ended its drought midway through the third period. Senior tight end Bobby Smart (Coral Springs, Fla.) caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from sophomore receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) to make the score 42-14.
The Panthers added the final points two minutes into the fourth quarter when freshman quarterback Denver Seay (Benton, Ky.) tossed a five-yard scoring pass to freshman reciever Colton Zeck (Galveston, ind.).
Hanover passed for 163 yards in the contest. Gibson, who was subbing for the injured C.J. Croft (Fort Campbell, Ky.), completed 11-of-16 passes for 92 yards in his debut.
Butler limited the Panthers to 31 rushing yards on 33 attempts.
Sophomore defensive back Rory Mannering (Walton, Ind.) led Hanover's defensive unit with nine tackles. Freshman linebacker Neil Johnston (Owensboro, Ky.) added eight tackles.
