There was little celebration on the Hanover sidelines after the No. 2 Hawks downed out-manned host Armstrong 49-14 on Friday night. The players and coaches had a quick chat at one end of the field, packed up equipment then made a quick exit with little fanfare.

  It was not the expected response from a team that just finished the regular season 10-0, going undefeated for the first time in school history. But there was little surprise as to the outcome of the game or the challenge that lays ahead for the Hawks (6-0 Capital,10-0).

  “Going 10-0 is awesome,” said Hanover assistant coach Tom Connolly. “It’s great for the kids. They’ve worked so hard since January-February in the weight room. They’ve really dedicated themselves to this program.”

  Though Armstrong (0-6, 3-7) started the season in noteworthy fashion going 3-1, depleted ranks and the challenge of the tough league slate destined them to finish the year 0-6 against Capital District opponents. The Wildcats only fielded 21 players in their final game of the season.

  Therefore Hanover’s faced more of an internal challenge than one from their opponents when they took the field against the Wildcats.

  “We just wanted to come out, play a good game, send notice to the rest of the region that we’re her to play good, tough, Hanover football,” said Hawks assistant coach Tom Connolly. “Wanted to make sure we came here, took care of business and got out with a win.”

  Check both goals off the Hawks’ list.

  Hanover ran out to a quick 14-0 lead with sophomore quarterback Sam Rogers carrying most of the load. Rogers, who ran the ball 14 times for 143 yards in one half of action, got the Hawks on the board with a 19-yard keeper for a touchdown minutes into the game.

  Tre Facison added a second touchdown on a 25-yard scoring run at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter.

  But the one thing Hanover did not want to see, sloppy play, momentarily reared its ugly head.

  On Hanover’s first possession of the second quarter, Rogers was picked off and Armstrong returned the ball to the redzone. After having not scored in five of their previous six their games, a Daylin Bolling pass to Cox put the Wildcats on the scoreboard. Bolling then ran in the two-point conversion and Armstrong was within six, 14-8.

  “We had some mistakes and we’re going to go back and fix them this week and get ready for our playoff opponent,” Connolly said.

  Though Armstrong showed momentary life, the score fired up the Hawks, who dominated for the remainder of the game.

  On their next possession, Hanover widened the margin once again on a 10-yard TD pass from Rogers to Blake Underdown. And Deane Cheatham put a comeback out of reach with a two-yard TD run.

  The Hawks led 35-8 going into the locker room giving them the opportunity to play mainly second team members for the remainder of the contest.

  Sophomore quarterback Andrew Knizner ran the offense over the final two quarters and sophomore running back David Cryster carried the workload (11- 69) to score on TD runs of five and 15 yards.

  Armstrong added a late game score on a 35-yard TD pass from Bolling to Jatain McLane to create the final margin.

  Though the 10-0 mark is a major accomplishment, the footnote to the Hawks’ season is that they accomplished the feat against one of the most talented Capital District slates ever.

  “I think anytime you go 10-0 it’s awesome regardless of how tough your competition is,” Connolly said. “But it’s been tough. We have a possible two teams going (to playoffs) for Division 5 and a possible two go from Division 6.”

  Regardless of what lays ahead, Hanover can claim it’s first ever win over both Highland Springs and Varina, and for the fourth year in a row handling every county opponent.

  But for Hanover, the regular season is now in the books and they need to focus on the future.

  “When you go 10-0 it’s kind of tough not to look back on what you’ve done but we’re going to look at this as a fresh start because we can’t afford to make mistakes now,” Connolly said. “One loss and you’re out. It’s a fresh season. Everybody’s 0-0. Records don’t matter, points don’t matter, standings don’t matter. So this is a fresh start for us. We’re looking ahead to our opponent, whoever it’s going to be. We’re going to prepare for them.” 

  Hanover hosts Petersburg in the opening round of the Div. 5 playoffs Friday night at 7 p.m.
 
Hanover…...................14 20 7 8—49
Armstrong…................. 0 8 0 6—14

H —Rogers 19 run (Palmen kick)
H —Facison 25 run (Palmen kick)
A—Cox, pass from Daylin Bolling (Bolling run)
H — Underdown 30 pass from Rogers (Palmen kick)
H —Cheatham 2 run (Palmen kick)
H —Cryster 5 run (Rice kick)
H —Cryster 15 run (Cryster run)
A — Jatain McLane 35 pass from Bolling (run failed)