HANOVER, Ind. – The Hanover football team kicks off their 2023 home opener welcoming the Thunder of Trine to Alumni Stadium and C. Wayne Perry Field.
TODAY'S MATCH-UP: Today's contest marks the first meeting between the Panthers and the Thunder dating back to the 1995 season. Both teams are firing on all cylinders after posting strong offensive campaigns a week ago. The Blue and Red defeated MIAA opponent, Olivet 67-17 while Trine topped HCAC foe, Franklin 58-43.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Senior quarterback
Kolton Richards (Kissimmee, Fla.) put on a clinic last weekend as he threw for 366-yards and three touchdowns. His top targets appeared to be senior
Hunter Eads (Batavia, Ohio) and junior
Jalen Peck (Bloomington, Ind.) with 100 plus yards receiving. Eads also added an 18-yard passing touchdown to his resume.
ON THE GROUND: The Panther backfield packs a one-two punch as the duo of junior
Blake Huffman (Columbus, Ind.) and junior
Austin Oppel (Brandenburg, Ky.) have combined for 226 total rushing yards. Last week, Huffman dominated the Comets as he turned in 105-yards on nine carries with two endzone trips.
SHOW THE OFFENSIVE LINE SOME LOVE: The five men up front for the Panthers, sophomore
Bryce Shepherd (Fort MItchell, Ky.), senior
Reagan Ray (Crestwood, Ky.), junior
Braden Ferguson (Lexington, Ky.), senior
Jacob Hobbs (Bedford, Ind.), and senior
Jakob Mutchler (Smithfield, Ky.), posted a clean sheet or rather a clean backfield for quarterback,
Kolton Richards. The OL allowed zero sacks and helped produce 659 total yards of offense in the team's dominating victory over Olivet.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Hanover enters the contest ranked first among the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in points allowed per game (12.0). They rank third in total offense, averaging 417.7-yards per contest with 10 touchdowns.
EYEING THE OPPONENT: Trine enters the contest 2-1 overall with wins over Anderson and Franklin. Leading the Thunder is quarterback Alex Price who amassed 439-yards in the air with seven touchdowns against the Grizzles of Franklin. For his efforts, he was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week.
