The New England Patriots are back to their winning ways. After a roller coaster start, the team has climbed to first place of the AFC East and nobody has been able to stop them. The offense played well when the Patriots beat the New York Jets 27-25 on Oct. 16. My favorite play of that game was the blocked field goal kick at the end of the game by Chris Jones. If it wasn’t blocked, the Patriots would have lost 28-27.
The Pats also looked good in their 37-22 win against the Buffalo Bills Oct. 12. Brady threw for 361 yards and 4 touchdowns. But one bad thing that happened was the Patriots lost top rusher Stevan Ridley and starting linebacker Jerod Mayo to injuries. On Oct. 5, the Pats absolutely drubbed the Cincinnati Bengals 43-17.
The three-win streak was a welcome relief after a roller coaster start to the season. The Pats suffered a humiliating opening day defeat 33-20 at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, but came back to beat the Minnesota Vikings 30-7 on Sept. 14. Then, their 16-9 win against the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 21 was mediocre at best. The offense looked sluggish and Tom Brady threw for just 221 yards with a pass completion rate of 65 percent. Julian Edelman caught 10 passes while Rob Gronkowski got the only passing touchdown of the game.
Their Sept. 29 performance on Monday Night Football was dismal. The Pats suffered their second worst loss of the Brady-Belicheck era, losing 41-14 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The offensive line was awful and the defense was pitiful; they couldn’t manage the run or the passing game. For a team that very rarely has turnovers, the Patriots had three to the Chiefs’ zero. They even had to bring in backup QB Jimmy Grapalo. Though he was 6 for 7 with 70 yards passing and a touchdown, it was too little, too late.
Now on a three-game winning streak that has brought their record to 5-2, the Patriots can again think about the possibility of postseason play. They face the 3-4 Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The HHS field hockey team has dominated this season. They have trampled the competition, earning 10 wins and only suffering one loss and four ties. With their Oct. 17 win against Silver Lake, they captured the Patriot League Fisher Division championship.
Coach Judy Schneider attributes their success to teamwork, not to mention incredible goalies Hannah McCorkell and Molly Cameron.
“The team is very coachable,” said Coach Schneider. “Everyone on the team has improved so much.”
Goalie Molly Cameron suits up before the game against Silver Lake Oct 17.
Their one and only defeat was against Duxbury in a home game under the lights. After keeping up with them for the first half of the game, Hanover gave up two goals in the second half.
“We played really good in the first half,” said Brielle Prouty, a junior. “It was one of our best games as a team.”
“Duxbury has always been a powerhouse,” added junior Erika Nelson.
Senior captain McCorkell said even though the team lost to Duxbury, there were a lot of positives.
“It was our toughest game so far,” she said. “We did a good job keeping up with them and showing them that we could be competitive and not a joke.”
Erika Nelson shows off fockey’s pink gear in support of breast cancer awareness.
The team expects to make a strong showing in the playoffs.
“It’s been a really good season” said Cate Marchetti, a junior. “The team’s been working really well together.”
Hanover High’s cross country team has garnered several hard-earned wins, most recently against Middleboro, in what Coach Perry calls “a very difficult season.” Both teams are 4-3, which is hard to achieve in the competitive Patriot League. Top runners for the boys include seniors Ernie Meads, Alex O’Dowd and Tim Good. Juniors Stephanie Flynn, Joy Replogle and senior Christina Nee have turned in strong performances for the girls.
Coached by Mr. Perry and Mr. Brown, the team had more than 20 runners qualify for the upcoming Twilight meet, a night race at Barnstable Fairgrounds in which many area schools compete.
“We have a great team of veterans with a great mix of newcomers,” Mr. Perry said.
Their next home meet is Tuesday, Oct. 14 against Plymouth South.
The Hanover High football team wasn’t supposed to be having this kind of year. After an exceptional season last year led by a gifted senior class, it was the opinion of many that the program would take a step down this year. After all, only 3 two-way starters returned to the team: Steve Cockey, Seamus Boutin and Mike Canniff. Lots of players took ribbing from their friends throughout the off season about how the team would finish 2-9 or 4-7 at best. Barring a catastrophic collapse, the Indians will exceed those grim predictions with ease.
The Indians have been playing some of the best football on the South Shore this fall and they don’t show signs of stopping. The season started off with a game at Silver Lake where they pulled away for a 27-7 win. The game was the first indication to fans that the Indians were going to compete this season. Sophomore running back Brad Rogers ran for over 100 yards getting two touchdowns and was involved in what could have been the play of the year for the Indians. Rogers took a hand off and after picking up a couple of yards, started to go down. Sophomore lineman Pat Flynn hoisted the stumbling Rogers off a Silver Lake defender and released him into the open field for a big play. Hanover moved the ball well all game and played stout defense.
After a bye-week, Hanover went on the road to the brand-new East Bridgewater high school to play the highly regarded EB Vikings. The last several years, EB has had a reputation of having an electric offense combined with a rugged defense. Hanover was able to play well on defense, allowing its only regulation time touchdown on a play where the EB star wide receiver Jake Peterson broke a couple of tackles and got into open space. But similar to EB, the Hanover offense’s woes prevented
Shane Fallon, Miles Lombardo and Dimitry Laforest about to celebrate a touchdown
them from capitalizing on their defense. Hanover couldn’t move the ball in the air or the ground and running back Brad Rogers got hurt in what would be a potentially season ending injury. Late in the game, trailing EB 7-0, junior running back Dimitry Laforest took a handoff up the middle, popped outside and took the ball for a 37 yard touchdown. After a defensive interception, Hanover got in striking distance again with about 50 seconds left, but a throw over the middle was intercepted. Early in overtime quarterback Joe Byrne was intercepted again and it took EB only two plays to clinch an 13-7 Overtime victory.
While the East Bridgewater loss was demoralizing, Hanover rebounded against a weak Pembroke team for a 21-7 victory at their place. Joe Byrne threw a touchdown pass to Seamus Boutin and Dimitry Laforest had two touchdown carries. The Indians were also able to force five turnovers in the game.
The following week Hanover held their home opener against league favorite Scituate and their star quarterback Christian Brady. Brady became an after thought as the Hanover starting defense held Scituate and their weapons to 13 points in what would be a 47-26 victory. Scituate’s 1st offense scored twice on Hanover’s second D later in the game. The real stars of that game were Seamus Boutin and Dimitry Laforest, who had 3 touchdowns each. Fullback Steve Cockey would add a 4 yard touchdown run of his own as well. Laforest was untouchable all night, including on kick return. He weaved his way to three touchdown runs with lengths of 52, 29 and 9 yards. Boutin was an offensive weapon in the back field where he ran for 2 touchdowns and as a wide receiver where he caught a 37 yard touchdown. Hanover controlled play on offense, defense and special teams. Scituate had no chance to make something happen after Hanover got rolling and it was a long night for the Sailors.
Hanover has come a long way from a team that lost a huge talent base to now a real state championship contender. The Indians still have lots of work to do. Mike McLeod, a captain who plays OG/MLB for the Indians, had some perspective on how the Indians can improve. “The season has gone very well so far. But there is a lot of time left. One thing we need to do better is not make dumb mistakes like holding or blocking in the back”, says McLeod. Fellow Captain Senior Stephen Cockey echoed McLeod’s points. In his opinion, “We need to be more disciplined; with such a young team we have too many penalties that either end our drives or extend theirs. But being disciplined isn’t just penalties, its being lined up correctly and doing your job every play because teams capitalize on our mistakes.” McLeod has already seen improvement in his unit. “At the beginning, the O-Line needed a lot of work but I think we’ve come a long way in that department and made a weakness a strength for us.” Once again Cockey and McLeod were on the same page. Says Cockey, “The biggest surprise this year has been the offensive line because we came in thinking that would be our weakness with such small, inexperienced players but it seems to be our strength, we can power run on any team.”
The Indians are excelling this year with contributions from upperclassmen but also maintain a large sophomore contingency. The O-Line features three sophomores: Tim Mullane, Pat Flynn (who doubles on D-Line) and Matt Hughes. Jeff Wheeler sees lots of playing time as Wide Out and Corner Back as well as being the teams main Kicker. Matt Lanagan has been starting at Safety and Mike Nimeskern got a start a Defensive End against Scituate. Kenny Janotta has also seen starting time at Linebacker and Brad Rogers was the Tail Back before an ankle injury. Besides the returning three, many other seniors have led the team with an excellent work ethic and production of their own. Miles Lombardo has been starting at Linebacker and has seen time at Fullback. Mike McLeod and Evan Kazmouski have made impacts on the offensive line and defensive front seven. Three returnees to football, Jesse Sellier (FB/LB), Mike Barry (OL/DL), and Shane Fallon (TE) have given the team a huge talent boost. In terms of juniors Joe Byrne has played well at Quarterback and Dimitry Laforest has been dynamic at Running Back. Xaverian transfers Teddy Flaherty and Colin Boutin have had success at Wide Receiver and Defensive Back for the Indians. Cory Devlin has also been a go-to receiver for Byrne.
Senior Fullback Steve Cockey picks up some yards after a reception
Following up a team that had a tremendous season, made the playoffs for the first time in awhile, lost to an eventual state champ and the finished the year 3-0 is a tall task. Yet this years team has the capability to exceed all that. Senior captain Steve Cockey simplified their ambitions into 7 words, “Win the league, then on to Gillette.” Indians have league games remaining against Plymouth South, North Quincy and undefeated Middleboro as well as the Thanksgiving game against Norwell on the docket. Due to new MIAA playoff system (instituted as of last year), Hanover has 3 games that will be playoff games or assigned games. Specific details about the games are TBA but Hanover is in shape for playoff berth right now. Cockey has been incredibly proud of the team up to this point. “Our biggest challenge is we are the smallest, lightest, and youngest team in the league. But we make up for it with speed, intensity, and playing as one team, one heart. I’ve never been on a team that plays with more heart than my current teammates.” says Cockey. The team will play at North Quincy Friday and you won’t want to miss it.
Coming off a successful season last year, the varsity Golf team knew they were in a great position this fall. That being said, even they are surprised by their current level of success on the course. Up to this this point, the Golf team is 11-0 and has the ability to finish the season undefeated.
Based out of Harmon Golf Club in Rockland, the team has brought their best to each match, home and away. The core 6 players that compete for varsity are seniosr Tyler Powers and Sophie Morrill, sophomores Charlie Banks and George Lastowka, Junior John Carroll, and freshman Luke Smigliani. According to John Carroll, “What we do best is a different kid steps up when we most need it. We are really get along and are a team even though it’s mostly an individual sport.” That team chemistry as well as exceptional skill on the course has brought the team down its current path.
The team has won some matches with ease and has had some come down to just a couple of strokes. The most difficult match so far has been a 3 stroke win over a talented Hingham team. On Wednesday October 8, the team will face its biggest challenge yet against Duxbury at the Duxbury Yacht Club. This match is the biggest roadblock in achieving perfection. No matter the result of the match against Duxbury, Hanover will still head into the tournament with a great record and still has a great shot of clinching the league title.
The boys varsity soccer team is off to a good start this year, though they still realize they have room for improvement. After 10 games, Hanover has a record of 5 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties. Despite their middle of the road record, the team has had some ups along with the inevitable downs. Hanover started the season with a disappointing 1-0 loss at Rockland before school had even started. It was a game where they out-hustled and
Junior sweeper Liam Riley covers a Scituate forward earlier this year
outplayed Rockland for most of the game but they just couldn’t put one in the back of the net and it cost them. Their next game was at Top 25 Silver Lake, where they lost 3-1 but put up a great battle with the game being remembered as a moral victory. After two relatively easy victories over Middleboro and North Quincy, the team traveled to Pembroke for what might have been their toughest game all year. Facing arguably the best team in the league, Hanover played an incredibly tough game all around and led Pembroke for a good portion of time after a Zach Chase goal. Toward the end of the game, Pembroke dominated play and scored in the last 5 minutes of action to force a tie. It was an upsetting result at the time but, looking back, the team acknowledges that they nearly beat an exceptional team that has been dominating all year.
Despite the Indians playing a fiery, competitive style all year coming into the Scituate game, the Sailors took it to them for a 4-0 drubbing in which Hanover showed little resistance. Hanover quickly recovered, coming back to beat Plymouth North 3-0 and program nemesis Hingham 1-0, a feel-good win for the Hanover program and alumni as well. The following week. Hanover beat Plymouth South 1-0 with Joe Maguire getting the deciding goal. After a rain postponement last night Hanover felt another game slip away as they tied Quincy 2-2. Despite scoring 2 well executed goals and controlling play in surges for a lot of the game, Hanover let Quincy steal a point by scoring on 2 set pieces.
Captain Drew Zwart still regards the season a success at this point. “We have a young team and a lot of younger guys have stepped up big time,” said Zwart. “The team chemistry has been great and everyone gives everything they have. All the seniors have been good examples as well as fellow Tri-Captains Johnny Ferrarini and Jack Phelan. They play their heart out and bring physical tone to every game and people follow their lead.” At this point in the season Ferrarini has kept opponents’ totals low with good defensive games while Zwart (5), Nick Kelsey (5), Chase (2), and Maguire (2) have done the bulk of the scoring.
Hanover’s record might be surprising to some outside the program who saw a lot of inexperience in this year’s team. Zwart himself was somewhat
Sophomore midfielder Zach Chase scores a goal in a 2-0 victory over North Quincy. Nick Kelsey scored for Hanover as well
surprised with how well the team has battled. “Not to say I didn’t think we could compete with teams like Hingham, but the fact that we came out and took it to them shows hows defiant of a team we have. On any given day we can compete with any team in the state.”
The second half of the season will be similar to the first, a mixed bag of very good teams with some sub-par teams that can still pose a threat if overlooked. Hanover will face Patriot-Fisher foes Scituate, Pembroke, Plymouth South, North Quincy, and Middleboro each one more time as well as match ups with talented Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson and Rockland squads. According to Zwart, “The biggest challenge going forward is taking advantage of our opportunities and building upon leads, our defense has been exceptional all year and played large minutes, but we still need to take some pressure off them by expanding the difference margins in our games.” If the team can do that, they have a chance to make a deep run in the state tournament.
Hanover resumes play on October 7 against North Quincy. You won’t want to miss it.
The HHS track team sent 13 competitors to the MIAA Division 4 state championships at Durfee High School in Fall River. In the long jump, senior Elijah Abi-Kheirs placed fourth and junior Sarah Miller finished sixth. Sophomore Stephanie Flynn finished sixth in the mile run. Freshmen Niamh Kenney finished eighth in the two-mile and Emma Buckley was sixth in the 200 meter run.
Going into the spring it looked bleak. Losing seven out of nine starters to graduation in a game where experience is so important was not a good sign. With only three upperclassman remaining, it was their turn to provide some serious leadership to the mainly freshman and sophomore team. For the underclassman, myself included, it was our turn to prove something. We needed to prove that our work ethic and dedication could match the experience and age of the other teams in our league.
By attending pre-season practices led by team captains Morgan Delaney and Angela Katsikis, it was hard to gage how our team was going to end up. With only three juniors and seniors to demonstrate how it’s done, the underclassmen approached the practices timidly. The team had great attendance and quickly understood the drills, yet anyone could see that something was missing. Whether it was not being used to each other, being cooped up inside in a long winter that bled into the spring, or just rustiness, we were missing the cohesiveness that we had last year.
However, this gap disappeared as soon as we stepped on the field for our first game. We went all the way to North Plymouth for opening
day. It was clear in this game that we were not just a “developing” team. We got hit after hit, including two homeruns from freshmen Lindsey North and Abby Harrison.
Our first game was a strong victory. We hit the ground running and didn’t stop for seven games straight. These wins included an extra inning win against Plymouth South, where Emma Hardy got the RBI single to put the game into the eight inning. Also, in a game against
Rockland, Morgan Delaney hit a triple to give Hanover the lead after being down in the fifth. In the same game Linnea Martin got two doubles.
The freshmen more than stepped up as the season progressed. Lindsey North hit so well, she was moved to the leadoff position and became a permanent starter at second base. Additionally, Alyssa Tofuri had several key hits, including a double against Hingham. Sophomores Emma Hardy, Caroline O’rourke, and Joy Replogle worked their way into the starting lineup and more than held their own. Upperclassmen Angela Katsikis, Stephanie Spitz and Morgan Delaney displayed their skill and leadership throughout the season.
Sadly, this glory did not last when we took our game to Silver Lake. Not only is this team a division above us, but they are probably ranked among the very best teams in the state. With a knockout pitcher-catcher combo and an incredible hitting team, they provided quite the match. To put it delicately, we lost. As the pitcher I am especially sorry to say we gave up nine runs. We scored no runs of our own.
After this, we carried on with a few successes, but played shakily. We even lost to Hingham, providing them with their only win of the season. Thankfully, we regained the luster we had prior to Silver Lake, with a win against North Quincy to enter the tournament. Sadly, we lost to Quincy’s superior pitching to miss the league championship by one game. The Quincy game was a sad way to end the season, but the season was a success overall.
If you look around the sports team at HHS, you will see many of them play very similar schedules. They are mandated to play other Patriot League teams (Keenan Divison once, Fisher Divison twice) and a handful of selected non-conference games. Almost all the teams stay pragmatic and schedule Norwell, Rockland, Abington and one more relatively local team. Not the boy’s Lacrosse program. Partially because Lacrosse on the South Shore is still growing and Hanover is ahead of the curve, and partially to be challenged, Boy’s Lax has arguably played the most difficult schedule of any HHS athletic team the past two years. Already in a league with two teams perennially in the state’s top 15 (Hingham and Duxbury ), the boys load it up in non-conference too. Last year the program faced Mansfield, Milton, Acton-Boxborough, and Cohassett out of league. Three of those teams are classified as Division 1 by the MIAA while Cohasset has been a powerhouse the past five years. The schedule resulted in an excellent season in which they dabbled in and out of power rankings and eventually fell to a great Dover-Sherborn in a thriller of a game.
This season has held a similar tough schedule in which they face Division 1 teams Weymouth, Falmouth, and Sandwich, along with D3 stalwarts Cohasset and Norwell. The boys have jumped out to a 8-2 start while overwhelming teams with their talent and performing well offensively and defensively. As of Thursday, they were #6 in the Boston Globe South Rankings and named to the ESPN Boston High Schools’ top 25. Their two losses came at the hands of reigning D3 State Champ Cohasset (#13 ESPN Boston) and a talented Hingham group (#10 ESPN Boston). Both games were tightly contested and were lost by a 2-goal margin. Their record has put them second overall in the Patriot League, behind only Duxbury.
The remainder of the schedule will continue to challenge the team as they will take on a good Scituate team as well as a solid Silver Lake squad, both winnable yet challenging games. Hanover will also have to face state #1 Duxbury, as well as Scituate and Cohasset again. If the past is any indication, they boys will still make it though with an outstanding record and high playoff seed.
The Hanover Indians baseball team has started off to a pedestrian first half and they know it. It took the team longer than usual to get through 10 games due to four rain postponements against Norwell, Pembroke, Quincy, and Middleboro. The second half of the season will be very compacted with three to four games a week and will require great stamina from the boys. If they play in a way similar to the first half, they very well may miss out on a coveted MIAA postseason birth.
Junior Shane Fallon takes a lead off first vs. Duxbury.
The Indians started out rough with a blowout loss to Norwell, followed by a disappointing 8-4 loss to a mediocre Scituate team. The subpar play was picked up slightly in a 2-0 victory over North Quincy with Ryan Kelleher getting the win and Mike McLeod’s surprise success at the plate. Hanover continued to struggle against Whitman-Hanson through 6 innings, but a change was sparked with a 4-run rally to come within one before the umps took the tie away from them.
Heading into vacation week, Hanover lost freshman Matt Lanagan and junior Mike McLeod to travel, but their absence opened it up for the emergence of sophomore Sean Cornell. Hanover hit Rockland all over the place, taking a 7-0 lead before Rockland made a comeback and Troy Bridson had to come in for the save. Thursday of vacation week marked a doubleheader against a highly touted and undefeated Abington team. The first game, Kelleher pitched a complete game gem and Hanover hit Abington hard for a 5-0 victory. In the second game, Dave Griffin went out and topped Kelleher’s performance while getting an early 2-RBI hit from Kelleher to back him up. The game would end 2-0. Hanover then got beaten 4-1 by a highly ranked Silver Lake team. Matt Sointu threw his best but Hanover couldn’t get its bats moving til the end. In the next outing, Hanover was tied with a good Duxbury squad 1-1 through 5 innings but a few mistakes in the 6th lead to a domino effect and Duxbury won with ease.
Despite the inconsistency, some Hanover players still put up great numbers. Pitchers Sointu and Kelleher are pitching great, each with a 1.94 ERA. Kelleher has also been hot at the plate, leading Hanover with a .345 batting average, followed by junior Justin Paskell at a .344 clip. In limited action, Phil Levangie is hitting .294 and just getting started.
Despite their ups and downs, Hanover is ready to get rolling in the second half. The second half of the season will be a grind for the Indians but that doesn’t mean they can’t be successful. Says senior captain Kelleher, “We need to have more timely hitting if we want to start winning games. Our pitching has been strong but we need to start scoring more runs.”
Kelleher pointed to the performance of Sointu, who has a 1.94 ERA but is 0-3 due a lack of run support, and team batting average of .210 when he is pitching.
Kelleher is very optimistic about the second half. “I’m looking forward to getting the bats going. As soon as we start to hit we are capable of going on a 5-game win streak. Tourney Time is the best time of year and hopefully we can make a run this year after an extra innings loss to Apponequet last season.”
Hanover gets back at it May 5th in Patriot League play.
The Hawk 