Written By: Kurtis Ternet

HANOVER, Ind. – The Hanover College football team travels to Defiance (0-3) for their first Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup of the year. They are set to kickoff at 1:30 PM, on October 1st.

Hanover Struggles to Stop Olivet on the Ground
For the first time in school history, Hanover (0-3) lined up against Olivet College (3-0) on the football field. Hanover trailed 31-14 with five minutes to go in the 4th quarter. A sophomore Austin Oppel (Brandenburg, Ky.) rushing touchdown, followed by a sophomore Jalen Peck (Bloomington, Ind.) receiving touchdown put Hanover down 31-28 with 43 seconds left in the game. However, Hanover was not able to recover the onside kick and dropped the matchup 31-28.

The story of the game was the Olivet run game versus the Hanover defense. Olivet ran the ball 45 times, which resulted in 294 yards (6.5 yards per carry). Olivet's running backs both passed the century mark on the ground. Nyassinu Crowell Jr. rushed for 134 yards and two touchdowns, while Deonte Higgins rushed for 117 yards with a touchdown of his own.

Hanover failed to get the run game to click, they rushed 29 times for 28 total yards. In the air, Senior Matthew Weimer (Georgetown, Ind.) was 30 for 39, with 321 yards and three passing TDs. Austin Oppel led the Panthers receiving core with seven catches for 103 yards.

Coming off a Bye Week
After losing the first three games of the season, the bye week could not have come at a better time for Hanover. Since Coach Matthew Theobald took over in 2016, Hanover is 4-1 coming off the bye week.

Matchup History with Defiance
Defiance has started their season with a record of 0-3. They are coming off a 42-33 loss against Alfred State last week, where Defiance quarterback Jordan Ambrose threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns.
Since their first meeting in 1975, Hanover leads the all-time series 26-14 over Defiance. Coach Theobald is 6-0 against Defiance in his career as head coach.

This is the first HCAC matchup of 2022 for both teams. In 2021, Hanover finished 4th in the HCAC, and Defiance finished 8th.