When the final seconds ticked off the Kreiter Stadium clock at Highland Springs on Friday night, it was not just a signal that another football game had come to a close. Nor did it just signal the final tally in a 27-8 win for Hanover High School. In much more than a metaphoric sense, the scoreboard also signaled the beginning of a new era of football for Hanover.

  For so long, the Springers have been the undefeatable foe in the face of valiant efforts from Hanover. But after Friday night, the local squad can join rejoice, singing, ‘Ding-Dong the witch is dead.’

  But make no mistake about it, this was not an upset win for Hanover. The Hawks came into the game ranked higher and favored to win over the Springers. Yet, in the past the Springer stigma, especially on their home field, served as a stake in heart of opponent’s confidence.

  Highland Springs sideline is regularly crowded tradition. On Friday, former Hokie and NFL player Victor “Macho” Harris was at the game. As a comparative newcomer to football tradition, on Hanover’s sideline there were only cheerleaders.

  The Springer players swaggered onto the field, dancing with an air of bravado (albeit, that changed after one series against the Hawks).

  “It’s coming into a hostile environment,” said Hanover quarterback Sam Rogers. “It means a lot for our program to come in here and do it.

  What makes Hanover’s win over the Springers more impressive is that the Hawks are a Group AAA Div. 5 team, which technically should be playing in Group AA. Not only did they beat a Group AAA Div. 6 team, but they beat one that is regularly ranked among Virginia’s best in the state’s top football division, and did it on their home field.

  “We know we’re Div. 5 but we want to play and beat everyone on our schedule,” said Hanover head coach Josh Just. “It’s not just about Div. 5. We don’t care whoever we’re playing, we don’t care who it is, we want to play to win. Our kids did that tonight.

  “We want to show that we belong,” Just said.

  “We just got another milestone,” Rogers said. “We’re taking it step by step and that’s one of our goals.”

  The Hawks’ victory was not just a milestone, but more importantly a stepping stone. After years of frustrating close-but-no-cigar losses, Hanover finally came away with a win over the seemingly, eternally invincible Springers. The Hawks were playing not only for themselves but for every Hanover player past and present.

  “We respect them, they’re a great program,” Rogers said. “They’ve always been top dog and I remember the years watching my brother (Ben Rogers) play. And over the years (Highland Springs) would just beat them and they beat them bad. I was playing for them, playing for those guys, playing for the seniors who got their last chance at them.”

  Confidence is always a key in reaching victory but the confidence Hanover gained with the win is priceless. In years past, losses were wrapped in the feeling that they could have beaten the Springers. Now, Hanover knows for a fact that they can and did beat Highland Springs.

  “It’s huge,” Just said. “We wanted to get over the hump and I think we did.”
  “We know what we’re capable of and we showed it here,” Rogers said. “We’ve got confidence in ourselves and we did a good job.”

  Ironically, Just believes the Hawks made major strides in confidence from a game they lost.

  When Hanover fell to eventual state champion Phoebus 10-7 in last year’s Div. 5 state semifinals, they learned something about themselves.

  “I think the Phoebus game kind of raised our eyebrows, where if we’d have played this differently we’d had a better shot,” Just said. “I think they saw that. They saw that they can play with anyone and I think it carried on into the off season. It was really our effort against Phoebus. I hate to say a loss helps us but I think that loss helped us to put everything into perspective.”

  So, how good is Hanover?

  When it comes to perspective, take these numbers into account. Maxpreps.com currently ranks Phoebus, the team that barely beat Hanover last year, No. 1 in the state of Virginia and No. 48 in the nation. Hanover is ranked No. 10 in VA and 274th in the U.S.

  Not to be overlooked, Atlee currently sits at 23rd in VA and 628th in the nation.

  This Friday, Atlee can join Hanover in the milestone/stepping stone category. The two Hanover County teams can cross more stepping stones toward their football futures when No. 7 Atlee travels to No. 10 Henrico while No. 3 Hanover hosts No. 9 Varina.

  A win by Hanover would truly put them in the position of being the team to beat, something completely unthinkable at this time last year.

  And though they defeated one seemingly invincible team, the Hawks know they have one left to go.

  “It’s a big win for the program but you know we win this game then next week we’ve got Varina, that’s almost even bigger,” said Hanover running back Deane Cheatham. “It’s check off the list, like Coach Just said and take another one next week and go on from there; keep it going.”

  Another milestone, another stepping stone.