HANOVER, Ind. – The Hanover College football team will look to pick up right where they left off. The defending Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Champions are projected to three-peat as the leagues best under HCAC Coach of the Year, Matt Theobald.


STILL UNDEFEATED: The Hanover football team extended its regular season unbeaten streak to nine games, dating back to the 2019 season, with a thrilling 51-44 victory over Bluffton. The contest came down to the final seconds as junior Matt Weimer (Georgetown, Ind.) delivered rushing up the middle for the game-winning touchdown. The Panthers finished the contest with a game-high 549 total yards of offense, including 392 yards rushing.


COANE DOMINATES:  Senior Shawn Coane (Evansville, Ind.) continues to dominate the rushing game this season as he was named a member of the D3football.com Team of the Week following his stellar performance against Bluffton. The senior tallied 208 yards rushing with two touchdowns. He also added 30 yards on three receptions.  Coane currently ranks among the top three in the HCAC in yards per game at 137.0.


BALLINGER IN THE RED ZONE: Senior Walt Ballinger (Beech Grove, Ind.) continues to be the go to back in the red zone for the Panthers. The senior has totaled 215 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns. He is averaging 7.0 yards per carry with his longest run of 78 yards coming last week against Bluffton.


DEFENSIVE POWER:  The Panther defense, led by senior Cam Maier (Mount Vernon, Ind.) and freshman Caleb Brewster (Hiram, Ga.) have turned in huge results for the Blue and Red. As a unit they have forced two interceptions with four fumbles. Maier leads the efforts with 15 total tackles, including three sacks and two forced fumbles. Teammate, Brewster has charted 12 total tackles, tying a team-high eight in the team's victory over the Beavers of Bluffton.


THROUGH THE AIR: Junior Matt Weimer (Georgetown, Ind.) has stepped up big at the quarterback position for the Panthers this season. The signal caller has posted an impressive 70.45 percent completion rate going 31-of-44. However, most of his damage has come on the ground as the junior has tallied 95 total rushing yards, including a team-best five touchdowns. In his season debut with Defiance, he scored early and often finding the end zone on four separate occasions.


SCOUTING THE FIGHTIN' ENGINEERS: Rose-Hulman enters the weekend at 2-0 overall after defeating Mt. St. Joseph 31-21. As a team, they are averaging 442 yards per game with 11 total touchdowns. Leading the surge this season is quarterback, Andrew Dion with 489 yards through the air and five touchdowns. On th ground, Shane Welshans carries a majority of the work load averaging 4.1 yards per carry with three scores. He has tallied 210 total yard on 49 carries.


WE MEET AGAIN: The last meeting between the Panthers and Figthin' Engineers saw the Blue and Red reign victorious 42-13. With the victory, Hanover secured their second consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference title and NCAA Tournament birth.