The Hanover Hawks served notice Friday that they are ready to defend the Capital District title they won last year with a 42 -14 non-district, season opening win over Patrick Henry.

  Junior quarterback Sam Rogers ran for 159 yards on 14 carries and scored three touchdowns as he showed why he is considered one of the best players in the Central Region and that Hanover might go as far this season as he can carry them. He also completed six-of-seven passes for 126 yards.

  The 5-11, 200 pounder scored on runs of 1, 2 and 37 yards. The final touchdown gave Hanover a 35-0 lead with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter. At that point, Hanover coach Josh Just pulled Rogers and the only action he saw the rest of the game was to hold for a final extra point.

  “Rogers is one of the better players in the Central Region,” said Patrick Henry coach Sammy Hart. “We knew we needed to contain him and we just didn’t.”

  Just also complimented Rogers’ play.

  “Sam made some big plays tonight,” Just said. “We have two good quarterbacks and wanted to get Andrew Knizner some snaps. So when we got ahead, we were able to put Andrew in and rest Sam.”

  Patrick Henry opened the game with a 16-play, 58 yard drive that took 8:02 off the clock. The Patriots had third and fourth down passes from the Hawks’ 16 fall incomplete to end the drive. In addition to not scoring, Patrick Henry lost a key player when Trey Roberts went down with an ankle injury.

  “Robert might have a broken ankle and be lost for the season,” Hart said. “He’s our center and one of our team leaders. He will not be easy to replace if he’s lost for any length of time.”

  Due to a long Patrick Henry (0-1) drive, the teams were scoreless in the first quarter, but Hanover (1-0) exploded for 28 points in the second period.

  Rogers’ first touchdown gave Hanover a 7-0 lead with 10:37 left in the half. When Patrick Henry couldn’t move the ball, the Patriots punted and the Hawks took over on their 25. Rogers rambled for 55 yards on first down, and two plays later, Lawrence Jones scored from three yards out. The score was 14-0 after Matt Palman, who was six-for-six on extra points, made the conversion.

  On Patrick Henry’s second play after taking the kickoff, Clay Sorah intercepted a pass giving Hanover the ball at the Patriots’ 29. It took the Hawks three plays and 1:16 to score with Rogers finding the end zone from the two for a 21-0 lead.

  Hanover’s final touchdown of the quarter came on a three-play, 50-yard drive that took only 20 seconds. Rogers completed consecutive passes to Rashard Thornton and Mike Holland of 12 and 36 yards respectively to put the ball on the Patrick Henry two. Jones then scored for a 28-0 halftime lead.

  “You certainly don’t want to get that far behind in the first half,” Hart said. “We talked about the score at halftime and how we needed to come out in the second half and keep playing hard.”

  Kahlil Mock hooked up with Raymon Minor for two fourth quarter touchdown passes for the Patriots. The first scored was a 71-yard pass and run play.

  “Like I said, you don’t like to get behind as much as we did [42-0],” Hart added. “Even so, we did some good things in the second half and maybe we can build on them.”

  Patrick Henry has another Hanover County battle Friday when the Patriots travel to Atlee, while Hanover plays J.R. Tucker.

  “Tonight, I don’t know a thing about Tucker,” Just said. “By tomorrow at this time, we’ll have done our film work on Tucker and I’ll have some ideas about what to expect and how we’ll play them.”

  One thing for sure is the Hawks haven’t forgotten the loss to Dinwiddie that ended their season last year in the Central Region championship game after going undefeated to get there.

  “The team has been wearing little green wrist bands that say 28-21,” Just concluded. “They wear them all the time except in games. It’s a motivator and reminder that we still have work to do.”

Hanover ................... 0 28 7   7 – 42
Patrick Henry….......  0   0 0 14 – 14
H – Rogers 1 run (Palmen kick)
H – Jones 3 run (Palmen kick)
H – Rogers 2 run (Palmen kick)
H – Jones 2 run (Palmen kick)
H – Rogers 37 run (Palmen kick)
H – Knizner 5 run (Palmen kick)
PH – Minor 71 pass from Mock (McKee kick)
PH – Minor 7 pass from Mock (McKee kick)
RUSHING: Hanover – Rogers 14 carries, 169 yards, Jackson 9-45, Jones 6-33, Knizner 5-19; Patrick Henry – Mock 535, Thomas 6-19, Baylor 9-13, Wong 2-6, M. Minor 2-1.
PASSING: Hanover – Rogers 6 completions, 7 attempts, 0 interceptions, 126 yards. Knizner 1-1-0-8; Patrick Henry –Mock 6-10-1-113.
RECEIVING: Hanover – Holland 2 receptions, 48 yards, Knizner 1-54, Thornton 1-12, Bazala 1-8, Brooks 1-5, Mahmood 1-5; Patrick Henry – R. Minor 4-80, Thomas 1-12, Harris 1-10.
 

ATLEE 55, NO. 10 DEEP RUN 14

  Ruben Rucker was 25 of 35 passing for 217 yards and a touchdown, and rushed 11 times for 80 yards and a TD to help unranked Atlee rout No. 10 Deep Run.
  Will McCombs added 10 receptions for 107 yards and a score for the Raiders (1-0), and Shaq Williams had six receptions for 62 yards and a TD.
  Atlee’s Cole Woody had 10 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. Wilson Vaughn and Matt Gamble each had a touchdown for the Wildcats (0-1).
Deep Run .................. 0 7   0 7 — 14
Atlee .........................14 7 27 7 — 55

A — Rucker 3 run (Williams run)
A — T. Pulisic 19 interception return (pass failed)
DR — Vaughn 1 run (Vlahcevic kick)
A — Williams 10 pass from Rucker (J. Pulisic kick)
A — Weggen blocked punt return (J. Pulisic kick)
A — Jackson 9 run (J. Pulisic kick)
A — Rucker 13 run (kick failed bad snap)
A — Jackson 2 run (J. Pulisic kick)
A — McCombs 30 from Berry (J. Pulisic kick)
DR — Gamble 31 run (Vlahcevic kick)

No. 1 HERMITAGE 27, LEE-DAVIS 0
  Top-ranked Hermitage opened its season with a 27-0 victory over visiting Lee-Davis on Friday night.
  Derrick Green had 27 carries for 132 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers. Triston Wright had six catches for 64 yards.
  The Panthers were led on defense by D’Vonta Derricott’s eight tackles.
Lee-Davis .................  0 0 0 0 —  0
Hermitage ................ 7 7 13 0 — 27
H — Green 9 run (Stiebel kick)
H — Brown 1 pass from Worley (Stiebel kick)
H — Green 10 run (Stiebel kick)
H — Green 5 run (kick failed)