Instead of focusing on preparing for the Super Bowl matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, the New England Patriots have spent the last week fighting off accusations of cheating. According to the NFL, 11 out of the 12 footballs used in the AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts were deflated by two pounds per square inch. In theory, deflating the balls would make them easier for quarterback Tom Brady to throw and his receivers to catch.

In two press conferences this past week, coach Bill Belichick has insisted he had “no explanation” for what happened before the game with the football. He said the team even conducted its own experiments to prove that weather or normal handling of the ball could account for their change in size. Brady said, “I would never break the rules.” I find it hard to believe what Brady is saying because he wouldn’t tell the press what was said behind closed doors to his teammates. But at the same time, this doesn’t make him guilty of cheating.

Personally, I don’t think the Patriots should be forced to pay large fines or be penalized more than a fourth round draft pick because it’s only ball pressure. It’s not the reason why the Pats beat the Colts. Some people have argued that Belichick deserves to be fired for this incident, especially with his history of SpyGate, where he was accused of illegally videotaping opponents’ practices. But it isn’t his job to make sure the balls are filled to regulation; this was out of his hands. The NFL continues to investigate and has not handed out a ruling yet.

Some people have complained that this incident will affect the winning legacy of Brady and Belichick, who have won three Super Bowls together. But, as they’ll show on the field next Sunday, this won’t put a dent in their legacies.

The winter swim season has been successful for both boys and girls teams up to this point. The boys have earned 6 wins and 3 losses, while the girls are 4-6. The key contributors for boys have been Nick Jones, Aidan Wright, Will Deboer, Shawn Doolin, and Eddie Geswell. On the girls side, Jodie O’Connor, Jillian Locke, Mackenzie Shoff, Ashlee Leslie, and Molly McCarthy have turned in solid performances. The boys standout wins were versus Hingham, Middleboro, Quincy, and Silver Lake (Senior Night). Girls had a big sweep of Quincy and North Quincy.

In terms of the postseason, Nick Jones and Aidan Wright made states in multiple events.  Jodie O’Connor is the only girl to make states, and has qualified for multiple events.

According to Senior Joe Ferrarini, the key to their success has been teamwork. “Though we had some major star swimmers on our team, if we did not have 2nd’s, 3rd’s, and 4th’s every meet, we would have not have won many of the meets that we did,” he said.

The swim season goes by quickly, but it isn’t over yet.  This year’s seniors have been instrumental in leading the team to its winning ways. Senior boys Geswell, Doolin, Adam Hayes, Ferrarini, Joey Pensoneault, and Thomas O’Connor lead a deep team. For the girls, Shoff, Locke, Amanda Schell, and Elisa Sandonato do the same for their resilient team. They’ll make the teams end their seasons on a competitive and a winning note.

Hanover High School doesn’t win all that many championships. I don’t like to acknowledge it, but it’s the truth. Things are certainly on an upswing and teams are performing well. Nearly three years ago it was the decision of then Athletic Director Fran Coyle to move Hanover athletics to the South Shore League. Fast forward three years and that decision doesn’t look like it was all that necessary. Hanover hardly dominates the Patriot League, but it definitely competes well. Is Hanover in the right place?

Right now, all the towns in close proximity to Hanover play in either the Patriot League or the South Shore League. Hanover is a member of the Patriot League Fisher Division (Small School). The Patriot League also has a large school division, the Keenan division. The Keenan division is made up of Duxbury, Quincy, Whitman-Hanson, Plymouth North, Silver Lake (Kingston, Plympton, and Halifax), and Hingham (Hingham Hockey plays an independent Schedule). The Fisher Division is Hanover, Scituate, Pembroke, Middleboro (Middleboro hockey plays in the South Shore League in a Co-Op with Hull), Plymouth South, and North Quincy.

Although it differs by sport, Hanover typically plays each team in the Fisher division  twice, in a home-and-home series, and each team from the Keenan division once. Hanover is the smallest school in the league and, in some cases, is the only D3 South team in the league. Rockland left the Patriot League in 2009 but before that they were in a similar boat to Hanover. Also, in my freshman year, the case used to be that Quincy High was in the Fisher division and North Quincy was in the Keenan.

This year both the Plymouths left the fledgling Atlantic Coast league to join the Patriot League. The ACL has Marshfield, Falmouth, Nauset, Dennis-Yarmouth, and Sandwich. As noted in the Boston Globe, Marshfield may have to leave the ACL simply for convenience and expense reasons. Their only realistic option would be to join the Patriot League where they would be a real dominant program in almost every sport.

The South Shore League is made up of smaller schools, and for the first time this year split into two divisions. The Small School division contains Cohasset, Hull, Mashpee, Monomoy (Chatham and Harwich), and Carver. The Large division is East Bridgewater, Abington, Norwell, Randolph, and Rockland. Randolph just joined this year after being an independent and a former Patriot League member. The SSL has its strengths and weaknesses. The small division is relatively weak except for Cohasset. However, the large has enough good programs that in every sport a couple of teams would challenge, if not be superior, to Hanover. The reality is that Hanover teams would find themselves with a lot more success in the South Shore, albeit against lesser competition. It would give Hanover more games with schools in the same MIAA division and schools a division lower. Some may say that’s a positive, others may not. The case may be that Hanover is better off playing bigger and better schools in the regular season, because it challenges them more and in the post-season they are better prepared than most teams. Others may say that facing those schools may make Hanover battle-tested, but that it doesn’t really lead to all that much improvement and it’s better to face schools of similar caliber that they could and would see again in the post-season. Hanover would be among the top three in enrollment, if not the top school, in the league. One thing in favor of the South Shore League, it has been finding an equal amount if not more success in the post season when compared to the Patriot League.

Hanover may be stuck playing some bigger schools, but it’s hard to argue that the Indians don’t compete. There may not be a lot of league titles, but there are also very few teams that have miserable seasons.

Hanover is not Dedham. Dedham High School participates in the Herget Division of the powerful Bay State Conference and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. In 2009, the Marauders, who are the smallest school in the league, declined an offer to join the Tri-Valley League which has schools of a similar population. The Bay State Conference pledged to work to make the conference more equitable, including the possibility of adding more small schools to the league, but has not yet done so. For comparison, Hanover has a population (2010 Census) of  13,879 and an enrollment of 782. The biggest school in the league is Quincy High School with an enrollment of 1,519. Dedham has an enrollment of 765. The biggest school in its league is Framingham with an enrollment of 2,040 and only one other school under 1,000 students (Milton). Dedham usually finds postseason success as a lower seed and are a tough draw, just ask the Field Hockey team. For reference, the Highest enrollment in the South Shore League is Randolph at 779 and after that there are none above 700 students.

Hanover just doesn’t have the depth that other towns have. It’s a town that loses a lot of high level athletes to private schools. Hanover also loses a lot of athletes that don’t find stardom or even play at some of those private schools, where at HHS they would be solid contributors. It’s a disadvantage that we have to live with. I think for now, Hanover has to be content with where they are. The South Shore League doesn’t really make sense logistically. Hanover doesn’t compete with a lot of those towns in youth leagues and it would ruin some traditional rivalries. It’s up to future grades to get their best athletes out on Gerrish Field or in Amaral Gym rather than up at BC High or Xaverian. Then, Hanover will find plenty of success, bigger schools or not.

The Patriots are gearing up to face the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium this Sunday in the AFC Championship. The winner will compete in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 6.

Last Saturday, Tom Brady and his team were able to fend off the Baltimore Ravens and come back twice to win the AFC Division round. Twice they were down by 14 points yet came back for the win. Tom Brady had a magnificent game with three touchdowns, completing 33 out of 50 passes and throwing 367 yards. Both Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola had a big game, catching a total of 189  yards. The  Patriots also had a clever play where former Kent State QB Julian Edelman, playing wide receiver, caught a bubble screen pass from Brady and threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Amendola.

In the NFC Championship game this weekend, the Green Bay Packers will play the Seattle Seahawks to determine the other team heading to the Super Bowl.

The New England Patriots clinched the AFC East this past Sunday with a 41-13 crushing win over the Miami Dolphins. It’s the sixth straight season that the Patriots have won the AFC East, which is very impressive. The Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts also clinched AFC playoff berths.

So far, only one NFC spot has been claimed, won by the Arizona Cardinals. There are still 21 teams vying for the eight remaining playoff spots. Who will win them is anyone’s guess.

If the Patriots win this Sunday against the horrid 3-11 New York Jets, they will also get a first round playoff bye and home field advantage for the remaining playoff games. The Patriots are one of the best teams when they play at home, almost impossible to beat.

If you walk into the Ed Amaral Gymnasium through the cafeteria, turn around, and look up, you will see among others, a banner for Boys Basketball League Championships. The last year listed? 1990. Since Nick Hannigan was chosen as the Varsity coach in the summer of 2012, it is something he has emphasized to his players must change. He doesn’t care about 1,000-point scorers and individual goals; he wants the team and the program to achieve and succeed. If someone breaks 1,000 and is an all-scholastic along the way, good for them. This is one of Hanover’s best chances in recent seasons to have a new year put on the banner.

The team might not return as much experience as others, but it’s returnees are more talented than most. Senior Captain Jack Buckley is back to start for his third straight year, and may very well exceed 1,000 points. Two games in, he is already averaging a double-double. Senior Captain Jack Phelan is also back for his third varsity season after he was called up midway through his sophomore year. He runs the Hanover offense well and is a tough defender,  already putting out two very good games. Junior John Carroll is the final team member going on his third varsity season, called up during his freshman year. An excellent shooter and vocal leader on the floor, Carroll put up 14 points on Seekonk and 8 on Quincy. Matt McGillivray, Zach Thomson, and Evan Elkhill were also on varsity last year, some longer than others, but nonetheless they have been big factors for Hanover so far. The Indians also have been supported by an influx of JV players coming off a successful year. Freddy Damon, Jonny Ferrarini, Pat Flynn, Justin Paskell, Jeff Davis, Zach Chase, and Adam Murphy have all filled roles for Hanover this year.

The team is two games into the season, so maybe preview isn’t the apt word. But in two games, Hanover has proven they are going to be good. On December 12th, Hanover opened up with Seekonk at home in front of a large crowd and demolished them to a tune of 74-47. That was followed up with the opening of league play against the league’s premier team, the Quincy High Presidents.  After getting blown out of the gym in Quincy last year, Hanover lost to Quincy 80-72 at home on Tuesday. Hanover played competitive and fiery all game long in what was a physical contest but Quincy’s talent, experience and strength won out. Jack Phelan had a well-rounded game, Jack Buckley had 26 points and 12 boards and Evan Elkhill emerged with 18 points of his own. Hanover goes to Patriot Fisher foe North Quincy on the 19th.

The team is looking as strong as ever, and as as long as guys in lesser roles continue to do well, Hanover will be one of the best teams around this year. The League title is very much in their grasp. Scituate is always very tough and matches up well with Hanover. North Quincy has been to the Divison 1 South Sectional Final in two consecutive years, and even though they have lost a lot of their talent, they reload as well as anyone and are always a challenge. Pembroke, Middleboro, and Plymouth South will compete to have a say in the matter as well. On the Keenan side, Hanover might come into some games as the favorite, but there will be no easy games. D3 South is also open for Hanover to make a move, but time will tell how good teams like Wareham, Rockland, and Martha’s Vineyard actually are.

On another note, the Ed Amaral tournament is back after a couple of years hiatus. Hanover will be hosting the tournament over winter break, on the 27th and the 28th. The participants are Holbrook, Medfield and Hanover. Opening night on the 27th will kick off with Norwell-Medfield ollowed by Hanover versus Holbrook. The consolation and championship games will be determined from those results. Things are looking up for the Indians this season; as long as they keep working hard, things will fall into place.

The Monday after Thanksgiving marked the opening of the MIAA Winter Season.  Now, almost two weeks later, teams have wrapped up tryouts and are ready for their first games. The Fall Sports teams at HHS had successful regular seasons but then simmered down in the Postseason. Not to take anything away from them, but this winter, HHS Athletics is primed to surpass the efforts of Fall Teams in what should be an exciting couple of months. Here’s a brief preview for some of the teams. You can find the Boys’ Hockey preview in our last edition and Boy’s Basketball in a coming edition.

Cohasset/Hanover Girls Hockey- The Cohasset/Hanover co-op program enters its 5th year and will be looking to continue its recent improvement. After a rough first couple of years, CH Puck reached the MIAA tournament for the first time last year and beat King Phillip in the first round before bowing out to Milton. The team will be very good again this year with many top returnees from both towns. Junior Goalie Shea Kearney and Senior Forward Valerie Farren will lead the Cohasset front with several sophomores. Both were huge contributors to last year’s success.  Hanover will bring back Junior Forward Samantha Taylor, Junior Defense Molly Cameron and Sophomore Callie Hoadley as some of their key players.  Deb Beal of Cohasset will be the head coach and has guided the team all five years. Their first game is Saturday, 12/13,  vs. Medway, 12:45 PM at Zapustas Arena

Swim and Dive Team- The Hanover Swim and Dive Team is looking forward to a competitive and successful season in the pool. The Boys’ team is very senior-laden, with Eddie Geswell, Joe Ferrarini, Adam Hayes and Shawn Doolin filling key roles. The Girls team is led by Junior Calley Madison, and team captains Jill Locke and McKenzie Shoff. Their first meet is Sunday, 12/14 at the YMCA versus Hingham and they are coached by Barb Toohey.

Girls Basketball- Led by a talented Senior Class and under the guidance of Coach Brian Fisher, the Lady Indians won a share of the Patriot League Title last year. They graduated four seniors who had vast varsity experience.  This year, the Senior experience will be a little less with only Marissa Nimeskern returning. She will have fellow Senior Sydney Lambert to help her lead a talented crop of players. Junior Forward Stephanie Flynn, team co-captain, will be back to start for a third straight season and was a dominant force for the Indians last year. Sophomores Megan Dixon and Meaghan Raab will also reprise their starting roles and be important to the team’s success. Juniors Kayla McMahon, the other co-captain, will join Emily Sweeney and Alyssa Delahunt to fill big roles for the Indians as well. Despite a tough Patriot League schedule, the Indians have what it takes to repeat and possibly exceed last year’s success. They open up with a game at Quincy High School on Tuesday, 12/16.

Ski Team- Based out of Blue Hills, the ski team will have its largest team in years. That gives them a good shot at finding more success than in years past. Some of the key returning members are Senior Pat Wilson, and Juniors Justin Rusko and Matt Paschal. Justin Rusko and Annika Rowland are the captains. Their coach is Robert Egan. Besides Blue Hills, the team will also have a couple events at Rugged Mountain in New Hampshire.

Wrestling- After winning a share of the Patriot League Title last season, the Wrestling team is striving for a repeat performance. Sophomore Hunter Gillis may have been the team’s most successful individual season tournament wise last year and he will be expected to perform well this year along with Senior Captain Mike McLeod and Seniors Dillon Russell, Jeff MacDonald, and Tyler Anderson.  Coach Andy Cook will be back to lead the team after many successful seasons.  Their first meet is an 8 team meet at Bristol Aggie this Sunday, 12/14.

Gymnastics- The Hanover Gymnastics team is another team with great potential. The team’s made up of talented gymnasts of all grades, but Seniors Devan Martin and Breanna Harris and Sophomores Lauren Galotti and Sophie Baker will lead the charge. They are coached by Kerriann Hart.

After nearly five grueling months of hard work and immense effort by Hanover High School’s cheerleading team, the cheerleaders were rewarded with the Division Champs title for their 2014 competition season! But it was not an easy feat to accomplish…

Leading up to their first competition on November 1st, the cheerleaders worked diligently on perfecting their skills and routine. Running a routine full-out is not something to take lightly; after nearly two minutes of vigorously clenching your muscles, forcefully yelling a cheer, running and tumbling across the mat, tossing girls your own age into the air, all while maintaining a megawatt smile, it truly takes a toll on you. Especially when you have to run that routine over and over and over until your bones are aching, your throat is sore, and your muscles are numb. But after a tough week of intense practices, the team arrived at their inaugural competition feeling confident and prepared.

The team’s first competition was an invitational held at Braintree High School, where Hanover competed against numerous teams, some composed of intimidating girls nearly twice their side. “It was definitely a nerve-wracking experience,” said Junior Charlotte Calkin. “Seeing those other girls definitely took a toll on our confidence.” But despite any lingering fears and insecurities, Hanover took the mat with large and unwavering smiles plastered on their faces, and hands clenched tightly at their sides. The girls performed the routine perfectly, until about three quarters of the way through the music section. Suddenly, their song cut out, and all 15 girls stood shocked in place, wondering what could’ve gone wrong. But in an incredible example of team work and perseverance, the team began to count out their music for the last few remaining eight counts, leading the audience in a thrilling chant that was punctuated with an eruption of praise and applause when the routine had finished. So even though the team suffered quite the mishap on the mat, they were able to power through and finish their routine without the music keeping them in line. Judges most definitely took this into account, and when the time for awards came around, Hanover was awarded first place in its division, making for a very happy HHS team.

After returning from their invitational with a large pink trophy held high above their heads, the girls knew that in order to keep their place on top, they would need to work extra hard to keep up with the other teams, who would certainly be raising the stakes of their own routines in order to compete with Hanover’s talent. But after another week of rough, dragging practices that nearly wore holes in the girls’ shoes, they felt prepared for their second competition, this time where the league title would be at stake.

November 8th brought nervous smiles and shaky knees as the team filed into Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. This was the moment they had been dreading since beginning captains’ practices in July- this was the moment that their hard work had been leading up to. Their performance time snuck up on them, and before they knew it they were huddling together on the edge of the mat preparing to begin. The girls took their last few seconds to give each other parting advisory remarks: “stay clean!” “Don’t forget to smile!” “Be loud!” And before they knew it, the DJ was announcing, “HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL, YOU MAY TAKE THE MAT.” And their routine began. After making it through without any music mishaps, the girls ran off the mat exhausted, yet invigorated with adrenaline.

Flash forward to the award ceremony — the girls were nervous, for though they had performed to their highest capacity, the judges at the league competition were known to be harsher than those at the invitational. And perhaps giving their all wouldn’t be quite enough in this scenario. The DJ stepped up to the microphone and began to announce the winning teams from each division, and when Division 4 was called, every Hanover cheerleader clutched each others’ hands with white knuckles and squeezed their eyes shut in anticipation. And in a frenzy of excited shouts and screams of joy, Hanover High School proudly took home the title of not only Division 4 champion, but of second place in the entire league, something that they have been working toward for years. The entire team was grateful for how far they came in their competition season, and their numerous awards prove how dedicated they were. They were rewarded not only with trophies and plaques, but with the support and respect of their fellow students, which is all they could ever ask for.

When asked about the hard work put in by the cheerleaders, Senior captain Skye Howard said, “this season has been one of the best for HHS cheer thanks to everyone on the team, from coming to 6 am practices, staying after school until the sun is completely gone, and coming even when they’re sick.” And all of the present seniors have expressed similar regards to their beloved teammates, mourning the end of the season and promising to return next year with new ideas for future routines. Skye said, “This has been one of the hardest seasons we’ve ever had and without the dedication of each and every cheerleader, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we did.”

“Our season may be over,” says sophomore Nicole Cirafice, “But we are definitely still a team. And I don’t think that’s something that will go away”.

The Red Sox were able to lure in two mega free agents for the 2014-2015 season: Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. The team hopes the additions will mean more wins and a trip to the postseason after their disappointing performance last year.

Ramirez, who will be 31 on December 23rd, agreed to a four year, $88 million deal with a fifth year option for an extra $22 million. Ramirez, a former Los Angeles Dodger, was originally signed with the Boston Red Sox in July 2000 as an international free agent but was traded in the deal where the Sox got Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Guillermo Mota. For most of his 10-year career, Ramirez has played shortstop but has told the Sox he’d be willing to change positions.

Pablo Sandoval signed with the Red Sox for a five year, $95 million deal with a $17 million option for a sixth year. In 2012, Sandoval was the World Series MVP and helped the San Francisco Giants win three championships. Also in 2012, he earned the nickname “Kung Fu Panda” and became a fan favorite.

The Red Sox unfortunately failed to grab Jon Lester, who signed with the Chicago Cubs, but just recently got some good trades for a couple of pitchers that will surely help this upcoming season. Just last night, the Sox acquired left-handed pitcher Wade Miley from the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitchers Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster and a minor leaguer. Also, the Sox were able to trade Yoenis Cespedes to the Detroit Tigers for starting pitcher Rick Porcello.

When you’re the state runner up, it’s quite a challenge to improve from the previous season. There’s only one step left to take, but it’s the hardest step of all. After Hanover got trounced by Shrewsbury High School (a school with 1,630 students!) at the TD Garden last year, the makeup of the Hanover program immediately changed. The Class of 2014 was incredibly talented and extremely determined to reach the state final. Replacing them will be a hard task for the Indians. They also lose a pair of key juniors because Nick Joy left for Juniors and Colin Mahoney transferred to the Nobles & Greenborough school in Dedham.

The team still has a strong chance to repeat and potentially exceed last year’s performance. Now in their second year in D3, the Indians face inferior teams except for the final three games or so in division. They are one of the most talented programs in the division and will come into  the tournament as one of the most battle-tested after a tough Patriot League schedule as well as non-conference games against top D3 foes Cohasset and Bishop Stang. In other good news, Hanover returns four of its top nine forwards from last year’s run. Junior Captain Landon Hasenfuss is back at 1st line Center.  Senior Captains Tom Martin and Tyler Powers are back as well as Junior Trevor Doucette. Martin, Powers and Doucette formed a very potent and physical 3rd line during last season. They will be reinforced by seniors Ernie Meads, Joe Maguire, and Alex O’Dowd who had minor

roles on the varsity team last year as well as a slew of JV players moving up. The Indians will need the same offensive success from last year to make a deep run.

Defensively, things are a little fresher coming into this season. In the net, the Indians will be rock solid. Junior Captain Noah Clapp returns between the pipes after leading Hanover last season to their stellar year. He will be backed up Senior Drew Zwart, a talented net minder in his own right. Senior Cole Methot and and Sophomore Mike McGlame are the only returning defensemen who saw a regular shift last year but they will be reinforced by Seniors Christian Sarruda and Shane Fallon who saw varying degrees of Varsity ice time last year. The defense will need great contributions from underclassmen this year as well for Hanover to be successful. As the cliche goes, “Defense wins championships,” and it applies especially to hockey.

As is the case in other sports Hanover competes in, we will be the smallest school in the league. That has never prohibited the program from performing well. This year’s crop of players might be slightly behind last year’s team in terms of experience and talent but that doesn’t mean they won’t attain a high level of success. In fact, if the Indians play well, we have a good chance of seeing them at TD Garden again this season.  To start the season, the Indians will play most of their games at the Hobomock Arena in Pembroke. To see their complete schedule please visit hanoverhshockey.com.