HANOVER, Ind. – In a tail of two days, the Hanover Panthers dropped a heartbreaker to non-conference foe Centre on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, 31-29.
 
Senior Matthew Weimer (Georgetown, Ind.) paced the Panther attack with 292-yards through the air and three touchdowns.
 
Defensively, junior Brody Luker (New Palestine, Ind.) led the panther effort with seven total tackles and three solo stops.
 
The Panthers opened the contest with the first touchdown of the afternoon as they took the opening kickoff 75-yards on four plays. Weimer piloted the offense as he connected with sophomore VJ Anthony (Louisville, Ky.) for a 64-yard strike that landed Hanover within the Centre 10-yard line. Sophomore Austin Oppel (Brandenburg, Ky.) handled the rest rushing seven yards for the score, 6-0.
 
Centre countered at the 8:54 mark in the first frame marching 56- yards on 10 plays to claim the 7-6 advantage.
 
With time running down in the first quarter, the Panther offense continued to fire on all cylinders as they were able to travel 32-yards on seven plays for their second strike of the afternoon. Weimer once again dealt the aerial strike as he connected with senior Hunter Eads (Batavia, Ohio) in the corner of the end zone for the 13-7 advantage.
 
The Colonels provided the final points of the opening stanza as they traveled 34-yards before being halted by the Panther defense. Centre settled for a field goal pulling within 13-10 at the break.
 
After a momentum changing weather delay in the third quarter that forced the contest to be postponed till Sunday the Colonels regrouped. Centre came back in a big way using a 21-point third quarter to surge ahead 24-13.
 
However, Hanover looked to respond as sophomore Yoann Kinanga (Jeffersonville, Ind.) capped a Panther 25-yard six play drive smashing home a 40-yard field goal to pull HC within 24-16.
 
Centre found the endzone one final time with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter putting the pressure on the Panthers.
 
Trailing 31-16, Weimer went to work finding Eads in the endzone just moments into the fourth frame to cut the difference to 31-23.
 
Hanover made only final push with under a minute to play traveling 62-yards on 13-plays for the touchdown. Weimer connected with sophomore Jalen Peck (Bloomington, Ind.) for a 13-yard completion that set the stage for a two-point conversion. However, the attempt fell unsuccessful as Centre was able to stand tall and secure the victory.
 
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Sept. 10 when they travel to Adrian. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM.