Click here to subscribe today or Login.
HANOVER TWP. — Even 27-point victories have their flaws.
And for a team like Lake-Lehman, which defeated Hanover Area 36-9 Friday night, those miscues need correcting if the Black Knights plan to make a playoff run when the District 2 Class 3A playoffs roll around in November.
“Lots of penalties,” Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “Two touchdowns called back in the first half. Senseless penalties hurt us.”
The Black Knights (2-1) had touchdown passes of 42 and 17 yards negated by penalties. The first was for an illegal formation, and the second for holding.
Neither hurt in the long run as Lehman was able to control the flow of the game though the running of Zack Kojadinovich and the dual threat of quarterback Ethan Adams.
Kojadinovich rushed for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. Adams threw for 115 yards — connecting four times with Ryan Eiden — and rushed for 73 more.
Kojadinovich scored on runs of 14 and 4 yards in the first quarter. He added a 1-yard run in the second quarter as Lehman built the lead to 23-0 with 2:16 left until halftime.
Hanover Area (1-2) then went on its only touchdown drive of the game, moving 68 yards in less than two minutes. Quarterback Joe Curcio completed three passes on the drive, including a 6-yard toss to Connor Hummer on fourth down to make it 23-6 going into the break. Curcio also added a 25-yard run during the possession.
“Defensively, we were misaligned and they got a touchdown on that,” Gilsky said. “There were a lot of mental mistakes. We’ve got to get better at that. Hats off to Hanover. They really fought. You really can’t look at the score because, hey, the kids never gave up.”
The Hawkeyes drove down the field after the second-half kickoff, but the possession stalled and Auggie George booted a 43-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 23-9.
“We did some things right, we did some things bad,” Hanover Area first-year coach Rick Hummer said. “It’s a process. Lake-Lehman is a very good team, very physical, well coached. We’ve got to get there. We’re still in the building process, but I did see some positive things.”
The two drives to close the first half and start the second half were the positives. A negative came on the ensuing kickoff after George’s field goal. Lehman’s Luke Spencer returned the kick all the way to the Hanover Area 30-yard line to set up another Black Knights touchdown.
Kojadinovich ran five consecutive times and Eiden carried the ball the final two, scoring on a 6-yard run. Hanover Area went three-and-out on its next possession, and Lehman needed just three plays to cover 73 yards.
Adams hooked up with Spencer on a 30-yard pass on the first play and ran for 20 yards on the next down. He finished off the drive with a 23-yard TD pass to Colby Kennedy.
Lehman host Carbondale (0-3), which is still looking for its first points of the season, next Friday. Hanover Area travels to Riverside (2-1).
Lake-Lehman 36, Hanover Area 9
Lake-Lehman`15`8`13`0 — 36
Hanover Area`0`6`3`0 — 9
First quarter
LL — Zack Kojadinovich 14 run (Luke Spencer kick), 10:05
LL — Kojadinovich 4 run (Danny Kutz from Ethan Adams), 2:53
Second quarter
LL — Kojadinovich 1 run (Josiah Thomas from Spencer), 2:16
HA — Connor Hummer 6 pass from Joe Curcio (run failed), 0:22
Third quarter
HA — Auggie George 43 FG, 7:17
LL — Ryan Eiden 6 run (Spencer kick), 3:55
LL — Colby Kennedy 23 pass from Adams (kick failed), 1:20
Team statistics`LL`HA
First downs`25`8
Rushes-yards`47-322`31-92
Passing yards`115`82
Total yards`438`174
Passing`8-14-0`9-14-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-25
Punts-avg.`1-28`5-36
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-50`3-24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lehman, Kojadinovich 18-135, Eiden 5-49, Admas 9-73, Spencer 1-5, Jeremy Scouton 11-61, William Labar 1-(minus-2), Jacob Monko 2-0. Hanover Area, Curcio 12-8, Hummer 1-2, Hunter Karpowich 14-60, Matt Salwoski 1-3, Justin Stefanowicz 3-19.
PASSING — Lehman, Adams 8-13-0-115, Jake Ferguson 0-1-0-0. Salwoski 1-1-0-7, Curcio 8-13-0-82.
RECEIVING — Lehman, Kutz 1-9, Spencer 2-37, Eiden 4-46, Kennedy 1-23. Hanover Area, Hummer 6-45, Tanner Bednarski 1-21, Bobby Sabecky 1-17, Salwoski 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — Hanover Area 42 WL.
