Lake-Lehman’s defense puts pressure on Hanover Area quarterback Logan Richardson before he completes the pass to set up a touchdown in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area running back Dawin Downey follows his blocking in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover wide receiver Conor Richardson gets hit by Lake-Lehman defensive backs Jake Evans (front) and Anthony Magnotta after making a catch in the second quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman running back Jaydon Skipalis plows up the middle as Hanover defensive end Al-Amin Keshinro reaches for him in the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Hanover Area running back Dewayne Downy gets stopped short of the goal in the second quarter by Lake- Lehman’s Robert Gregor.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
LEHMAN TWP. — Lake-Lehman packed plenty of mistakes into one half of football Friday night.
And Hanover Area was ready to take advantage.
The Hawkeyes scored three second-quarter touchdowns against the mistake-prone Black Knights on the way to a 35-0 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 game.
Hanover Area (2-2 Div. 2, 5-4 overall) jumped over Lehman (2-3 Div. 2, 4-5) into fourth place in the District 2 Class 3A standings with one week left in the regular season. Lehman dropped to sixth. Four teams qualify.
The five wins are the most in a season by Hanover Area since the 2014 team won six times.
“It feels amazing,” said Hanover Area receiver Deacon Eisenbach, who entered the game as the Division 2 receptions leader. “It feels amazing because you know all the hard work that you put in is paying off.
“And our new head coach, coach (Eric) Richardson, I couldn’t ask for a better coach. Everything’s perfect. He loves this program, he cares about it and you want to pay him back by playing as hard as you can for him out there.”
Hanover Area’s first touchdown drive included five 15-yard penalties by Lehman, including a face mask on a 5-yard touchdown run by Dewayne Downey.
Hanover Area’s Lucas Cruz recovered a fumble on Lehman’s ensuing possession. Five plays later, Downey bounced outside for an 11-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead at 4:37 of the second quarter.
Another Lehman fumble followed, with Hanover Area’s Brody Richardson recovering. That led to quarterback Logan Richardson scoring on a 1-yard run with 14 seconds remaining until halftime.
Lehman fumbled six times in the first half and lost three. The Black Knights finished with nine fumbles.
Lehman’s problems continued in the second half. Standout running back Jaydon Skipalis and starting quarterback Jesse Strenfel were both injured on the Black Knights’ second possession and didn’t return. Anthony Magnotta later had an 80-yard TD run wiped out by a penalty. The Black Knights were flagged for 11 penalties totalling 110 yards.
Lehman finished with 131 yards as Hanover Area posted its fifth shutout of the season.
“We knew what they were going to do,” Hanover Area coach Eric Richardson said. “We had to load the box, play man on the outside, get our big guys up there and run downhill. That’s what we did. They did what we told them to do. They showed up well.
“We’re learning how to win, which is something this program hasn’t done in a long time.”
Logan Richardson, part of the Richardson triplets, threw touchdown passes of 27 yards to Angel Tejeda and 7 yards to Eisenbach in the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.
Hanover Area 35, Lake-Lehman
Hanover Area`0`21`0`14 — 35
Lake-Lehman`0`0`0`0 — 0
Second quarter
HAN — Dewayne Downey 4 run (Chase Hall kick), 10:34
HAN — De.Downey 11 run (Hall kick), 4:37
HAN — Logan Richardson 1 run (Hall kick), 0:14
Fourth quarter
HAN — Angel Tejeda 27 pass from L.Richardson (Hall kick), 9:13
HAN — Deacon Eisenbach 7 pass from L.Richardson (Hall kick), 4:02
Team statistics`HAN`LL
First downs`14`7
Rushes-yards`22-129`34-75
Passing yards`179`56
Total yards`308`131
Passing`12-23-0`4-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-12
Punts-avg.`1-47`4-32.3
Fumbles-lost`1-0`9-3
Penalties-yards`8-67`11-110
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Hanover Area, De.Downey 18-129, L.Richardson 1-1, Brody Richardson 2-(minus-4), Dawin Downey 1-3. Lehman, Jaydon Skipalis 11-38, Anthony Magnotta 10-0, Devon Albee 2-11, Jesse Strenfel 4-(minus-1), Cordyn Harris 5-24, Dyaln Heinrich 1-(minus-2), Rennen Smith 1-5.
PASSING — Hanover Area, L.Richardson 12-23-0-179. Lehman, Stenfel 2-6-0-28, Magnotta 2-2-0-28.
RECEIVING — Hanover Area, Eisenbach 5-37, Conor Richardson 3-69, Da.Downey 3-46, Tejeda 1-27. Lehman, Jake Evans 4-56.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — Hanover Area, 32WL, 33S.
