The odd years in the Central Region Division 5 championship game have been good to the Hanover High football team.

After winning region titles in 2007 and 2009, the Hawks (10-2) picked up No. 3 Friday night with a 31-12 victory over Capital District rival Atlee (9-3) on the Raiders’ home field.

Atlee, which defeated Hanover in the regular season, was playing in its first region title game since 1998, when it fell to Varina in the Division 6 final after beating the Blue Devils in the regular season.
The Raiders have had only a couple of winning seasons since 1998. The Hawks were playing in their fifth consecutive title game. The experience factor showed Friday night.

“Hanover was ready to play. Offensively, they went down our throats,” Atlee coach Roscoe Johnson said. “They did some great things defensively. We did things we were unable to bounce back from.”

Hanover’s victory earned the Hawks a trip to Northern Virginia next Saturday to play South County (Lorton) in the state semifinals.

It seemed like everyone from the Atlee/Hanover area of Hanover County was on hand. The Hanover student section arrived an hour before game time.
Hanover’s Sam Rogers, playing a number of positions while his right arm heals from an injury that took him out of his usual QB role, had a big night. He caught three passes for 55 yards, including a 24yard TD catch from Andrew Knizner. Rogers rushed three times for 52 yards, including an 11-yard TD rumble and was in on a number of tackles from his defensive back position.

And, there was the fake punt that Rogers turned into a 38-yard gain that set up L.J. Jones’ 3-yard TD run in the third quarter that pushed the score to 24-5.

“(Sam’s) a great player. You can put him at any position you want,” Hanover coach Josh Just said.

The fake punt “is our best running play. We’ve had it in for years. I’m surprised it worked again.”
Said Rogers, “It always seems to work. Anybody could have run through that hole.”

The Hawks struck quickly and put the Raiders down 17-0 after one quarter. Matt Palmen connected on a 23-yard field goal, Rogers caught his TD pass amid three defenders, and David Crytser intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown.

A safety and a 22-yard field goal from Joseph Pulisic made it 17-5 at halftime. Jones, who carried the ball 31 times for 169 yards, scored with 7:02 left in the third quarter, and Rogers capped the Hawks’ scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter.

“They punched us in the mouth. They did things they were supposed to do,” Atlee’s Johnson said.
The Raiders’ TD came on a 35-yard pass from Kenner Berry to Will McCombs with 3:29 remaining.
The Hawks are peaking, as planned, at the right time.

“The last few weeks we’ve looked better. We’ve started to put it together,” Just said.

Hanover 17077— 31
Atlee 0507— 12

H — FG Palmen 23
H — Rogers 24 pass from Knizner (Palmen kick)
H — Crytser 32 INT return (Palmen kick)
A — Safety
A — FG Pulisic 22
H — Jones 3 run (Palmen kick)
H — Rogers 11 run (Palmen kick)
A — McCombs 35 pass from Berry (Pulisic kick)
RUSHING
H — Jones 31-169, Knizner 5-26, Rogers 3-52, Jackson 6-19. A—Hall 15112, Williams 1-3, Berry 7-minus 13.
PASSING
H — Knizner 5-14-0 91. A—Berry 1028-1 102.
RECEIVING
H — Rogers 3-55, Peebles 2-36. A—McCombs 4-61, Combs 3-26, Williams 2-9, Simpson 1-6.