Hanover Central 33, Andrean 9

By Paul Honeycutt

MERRILLVILLE — “Don’t doubt what you don’t know.”

That’s the saying on the back of the spirit wear for the Hanover Central football team this year.

“Our captains came up with that and it means that since we joined a new conference, teams don’t know who we are, but it also means we can’t doubt ourselves,” Hanover Central coach Brian Parker said.

Well, Friday night exemplified how the Northwest Crossroads Conference won’t doubt the Wildcats anymore.

The Class 3A No. 2 and Indiana Preps No. 25 Wildcats also left no doubt that they are the 2023 NCC champs in their first year in the conference.

“The first goal was to win a conference title and the second is to go undefeated in the regular season,” said Parker, who won his 50th game on Friday night. “To go undefeated in the NCC is pretty special because we have nothing but respect for this group of coaches and players, especially Andrean.”

Hanover Central (8-0, 6-0 NCC) beat Andrean 33-9 on the strength of two fourth-quarter touchdowns after leading 12-3 at the half and 19-3 after three quarters.

Wildcats senior quarterback Matt Koontz accounted for five touchdowns, including three rushing scores on top of his 228 passing yards.

The first scoring drive for the Wildcats went exactly how most of their scoring drives have gone this year, with a 14-play, 80-yarder capped by a Koontz two-yard rushing score.

The scoring was stagnant in the first half, as Andrean (3-5, 3-2) only mustered a 30-yard field goal from PJ Cusick at the 11:02 mark of the second quarter.

At the end of the third quarter and early start of the fourth, Hanover Central put together another long scoring drive defined by a couple great plays from junior wide receiver Henry Maurer and senior wide receiver Wally Koontz, respectively.

On a 3rd-and-26, the Wildcats were able to get a first down on a 27-yard pass play when Wally Koontz went up and high-pointed the football on a prayer of a pass from Matt Koontz.

Then a few plays later, Maurer collected a ball from Koontz on a diving grab for a 28-yard TD, his second of the night.

“No one expected us to be here,” said Maurer, who caught five passes for 69 yards. “Some thought we were gonna be at the bottom and since June we knew we had what it takes to be here.”

Andrean responded with a 37-yard TD pass from Scott Ballentine to Logan Urbaniak as a part of a two-play, 65-yard scoring drive.

Ballentine finished with 141 passing yards while wide receiver Cole Jenkins recorded 53 receiving yards.

Andrean also had a hard time bringing down The Region’s second-leading rusher in Wildcats running back Caiden Verrett, who ran for 134 yards on 23 carries.

Verrett did leave the game at the 7:08 mark of the second quarter after a hit to his right knee, but he came back and was a part of the Hanover Central scoring drive at the beginning of the fourth quarter and carried the ball a few times in the fourth showing no bad signs of being hurt.

“He’ll be fine,” said Parker.



Hanover Central 33, Andrean 9

Hanover Central; 6 6 7 14 – 33

Andrean; 0 3 0 6 – 9

HC – Matt Koontz 2 run (kick failed), 7:05 1st

A – PJ Cusick 30 FG, 11:02 2nd

HC – Koontz 4 run (kick failed), 0:15 2nd

HC – Henry Maurer 10 pass from Koontz (Emmi Doty kick), 5:18 3rd

HC – Maurer 28 pass from Koontz (Doty kick), 11:02 4th

A – Logan Urbaniak 37 pass from Scott Ballentine (pass failed), 10:30 4th

HC – Koontz 4 run (Doty kick), 4:17 4th



Hanover Central;Andrean

First Downs;23;10

Total Yards;390;172

Rushes-Yards;41-162;17-31

Passing;228;141

Comp.-Att.-Int.;21-32-1;8-24-0

Penalties-Yards;10-95;11-100

Fumbles-Lost;1-0;0-0



INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – HANOVER CENTRAL, Caiden Verrett 23-134, Matt Koontz 15-20, Isaiah Buikema 3-8. ANDREAN, Micah Jones 9-18, Scott Ballentine 7-13, JJ Bolz 1-0.

PASSING – HANOVER CENTRAL, Koontz 21-32-228-2-1. ANDREAN, Ballentine 8-24-141-1-0.

RECEIVING – HANOVER CENTRAL, Wally Koontz 6-79, Henry Maurer 5-69, Rocco Bartolomeo 5-45, Jacob Strominski 3-32, Verrett 1-2, Jacob Strominski 1-1. ANDREAN, Cole Jenkins 3-53, Jimmy Finley 3-40, Logan Urbaniak 1-37, Jones 1-11.