Hanover Wildcats Football Team

Winning one State title is tough enough but repeating that is a big feat and the Hanover Wildcats were able to accomplish that capturing the 8-Man Division II State title for the second straight year.

The Wildcats with their appearance in the State title game were in vying for the State crown for the fourth consecutive season and with a 54-48 win over Hodgeman County won the 8-Man DII State crown also extending their current win streak to 25-straight games.

After cruising through the regular season Hanover opened the playoffs with a first round 62-32 win over Rock Hills at home. Wildcats hit the road in the second round traveling to Caldwell where they picked up a 58-12 win in the Sectional round of the playoffs and then in Sub-State Hanover took down Pike Valley 36-24. On to Newton the Wildcats went and built a 32-8 lead by halftime but had to hold off Hodgeman County down the stretch to earn the 54-48 win and capture the State title.

The offense was dynamic all season for Hanover averaging 54 points per game and 304.5 yards per game helping the team win 11 of the 13 games by 30+ points on the year. Wildcats pounced on teams in many ways with over 1,000 yards passing on the season and had five guys with 160+ yards receiving and at least two touchdowns on the year, while on the ground four Wildcats ran for 200+ yards on the year and two of the four surpassed 800 yards. Also seven different Wildcats recorded a rushing touchdown on the season.

Defensively Hanover was the menace to their opponents giving up just 11.4 points per game and did not allow over 12 points in any regular season game. Wildcats posted some eye popping numbers with four players recording 70+ tackles on the year, while the team had 22 sacks and forced 30 turnovers (22 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries) and also scored four touchdowns. Special teams was also a big factor scoring five touchdowns on the season.

The Wildcats stamped the season with a storybook ending capturing the 8-Man DII State title for the second straight year and finished 13-0.