Hanover Central High School

by Kevin Driscoll (Wheatfield, IN) The Wildcats found themselves in a close football game late in the second half at Kankakee Valley Friday night. Senior Caiden Verrett used his legs—and his right leg specifically—to make sure the Wildcats would not suffer an upset defeat. Verrett had 14 carries for 169 yards and four touchdowns, leading HC (4-1, 3-0 NCC) to a 34-20 win at Kankakee Valley. The game was closer than the final score might indicate. With 10:51 to go in the 4th quarter, Kougar running back Marco Castro scored a 1 yard rushing TD, completing a 19-play, 76-yard drive that consumed 9:21 of game clock. An extra point made the score 20-13 Hanover, and when the Cats went three-and-out on their next possession, all in attendance were on upset alert. That’s when Verrett made arguably his most important play of the game: a 58 yard punt. Verrett’s boom flipped the field to the Kougar 8 yard line. The Wildcat defense responded with a three-and-out of their own, and a few plays after a short Kougar punt, Verrett deflated the spirits of the KV Homecoming crowd with a 40 yard TD run that reminded everyone that a ball control offense only works if you can keep your opponent out of the end zone. Verrett tacked on another 32 yard run one possession later to drive home that point. Castro—named Homecoming King at halftime—carried out coach Kirk Kennedy’s game plan well, with 41 carries for 145 yards and two TDs. For much of the night, KV used short-yardage Castro runs to keep Hanover’s dynamic offense off the field: the Kougars were five-for-16 on 3rd down conversions, but six-for-seven on 4th down conversions. While the Kennedy game plan successfully limited Hanover to just eight offensive possessions, the Cats scored on five of them. The Kougars (2-3, 0-3 NCC) won the Time of Possession battle nearly two-to-one: 31:30 to 16:30. On a night when Verrett found the end zone on half of HC’s offensive possessions, QB Tommy Bonner didn’t need to be spectacular: he had an efficient night, going 10-for-12, including a 37 yard TD strike to Rocco Bartolomeo on 4th down. Kankakee Valley’s offense ran twice as many plays as Hanover—68 to 34—and that allowed Dylan Bowen to collect a career-high 21 tackles to lead the Wildcat defense. Those are the second-most tackles ever recorded in a game by a Wildcat in the modern era, behind only Max Warchol’s 24 (11/6/20, vs. Calumet New Tech). Lincoln Zerby added 12 tackles. Defensive back Evan Marsiglio made two key plays that prevented Kougar touchdowns at key moments. His early-2nd quarter interception in the end zone thwarted a game-tying TD, and a 4th quarter open-field tackle after a long KV pass completion led to a deflating turnover-on-downs that sent a lot of KV fans to their cars early. Hanover remains unbeaten in conference games since joining the Northwest Crossroads Conference at the beginning of the 2023 season (9-0). The Wildcats haven’t lost a conference road game since 2020 (9/18/20, 35-8 loss at Griffith, Greater South Shore Conference). The Wildcats return home Friday, September 27, hosting Munster for Homecoming. HC hasn’t lost a Homecoming game at the Wildcat Den since 2018 (9/14/18, 41-26 loss to Boone Grove).