Photo Credit: Brendon Sego

HANOVER, Ind. – Hanover (5-2 overall, 4-0 HCAC) remained the team to beat in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference as they destroyed the Spartans of Manchester 76-6.
 
STRIPE STANDARD STATISTICS
The Hanover Panthers turned in a season-best performance, scoring 76 points, the most points scored during the head coach Matt Theobald era. They also added 765 yards of total offense, ranking second among all of NCAA Division III. The 553 yards of passing ranks fifth among Division III.
 
Defensively, Hanover held Manchester to negative 46 yards rushing, ranking the Panthers fourth among the NCAA Division III. The Panthers allowed just 127 yards of total offense.
 
Junior Eian Roudebush turned in video game-like numbers under center, throwing for 380 total yards and four touchdowns.
 
Junior Don Dunning dominated the ground game, rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns, with his longest run coming in at 42 yards and a house call.
 
Junior Colton Roth had a dominant performance, collecting three tackles for loss for a combined 14 yards and one sack.
 
Freshman Kane Powell-Smith controlled the airways, with two pass breakups and an interception.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hanover wasted no time asserting dominance. Don Dunning opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown run at the 11:49 mark, capping a quick three-play, 56-yard drive. Just over three minutes later, sophomore Blaik Nation added a 11-yard scoring run following an even faster two-play, 57-yard march.

Quarterback Eian Roudebush connected with sophomore Jack Pennington for a 54-yard touchdown strike at 6:32, extending the lead to 21-0. Senior Bryce Shepherd capped the first-quarter barrage with a two-yard touchdown run at 3:27, giving Hanover a 28-0 advantage after one quarter. Senior Clint Hearne converted all four extra points.
 
The Panthers added another touchdown before the quarter ended, pushing the lead to 35-0 heading into the second period.
 
While the offense grabbed headlines, Hanover's defense was equally impressive in the first half. The Panthers held Manchester to fewer than 30 yards of total offense before intermission, consistently disrupting the Spartans' offensive rhythm.
 
Senior Garron Jenkins was a constant presence in the backfield, recording a quarterback hurry and helping force multiple negative plays. Colton Roth was particularly disruptive, recording tackles for loss on back-to-back plays during one Manchester possession.
 
The defensive effort forced Manchester into multiple three-and-out situations, with the Manchester punter seeing frequent action as the Spartans struggled to sustain drives.
 
Hanover continued to pour it on in the second quarter, building an insurmountable 56-0 lead.
 
The victory keeps Hanover's conference championship hopes alive as they continue their dominant season and head to Bluffton next Saturday.