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WILKES-BARRE — Forgive the GAR players if they showed just a little too much emotion as they climbed the fences to celebrate with their fans.

It has been a long season.

For the first time all year, the Grenadier players were able to stand arm-in-arm to sing the alma mater with smiles on their faces after capturing their first victory of the season. GAR defeated Hanover Area 30-13 on Friday night in a battle of the last remaining winless teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference.

Was it pretty? Hardly. Were there mistakes? You bet. Did that even matter? Of course not.

After getting its first lead since the opening game of the year, GAR was amped to get off the schneid before next week’s Meyers rivalry game.

“They’re a little pissed off – a lot pissed off,” GAR coach Paul Wiedlich Jr. said. “They finally just decided to put it together tonight. Better late than never.”

From the opening kickoff, GAR wore a sense of urgency on their sleeves. After Hanover Area botched two consecutive kickoff attempts, Justice Lomas scored on an 80-yard return for an early six-point lead.

After Hanover Area threw it away on its first pass attempt of the game, Lomas went 8 yards on a pitch to the left to give GAR a two touchdown lead with 5:30 left in the first quarter.

“I have to give a lot of credit to our defense,” Wiedlich said. “They’ve been on the field just so much all season. It was nice to control the minutes about 6:30 that first drive. Even though our kids go both ways, (Lomas’ touchdowns) gave them a sense of ‘Hey, we’re actually winning.’ ”

The Hawkeyes looked sluggish against a GAR team that showcased its speed on the Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium turf. The Grenadiers ran nearly all of their rushing attempts to the outside.

Hanover Area received a burst of energy when Sean Coleman exploded for 69 yards to set up a David Fedorczyk rushing touchdown with 30 seconds left in the first. The Hawkeyes’ score trimmed the deficit to 14-7.

GAR capitalized with a 25-yard Tyrone Qualls touchdown down the right sidelines late in the second quarter. Hanover Area responded when Coleman crossed the goal line 10 seconds before the end of regulation to go into the break trailing 22-13.

The Grenadiers held Hanover Area scoreless in the second half.

Qualls finished with 120 yards for the Grenadiers. Coleman led the Hawkeyes with 168 yards on the ground.

GAR’s four touchdowns on Friday night were half of what the team had produced through the first eight games of the season.

“Every week, the kids, they come prepared to the best of their ability,” Wiedlich said. “They don’t want to be a part of history. They wanted to get a win. They get off the schneid. The kids stepped up for us.”

GAR 30, Hanover Area 13

Hanover Area`7`6`0`0`—`13

GAR`14`8`8`0`—`30

First quarter

G — Justice Lomas 80 kick return (kick miss), 11:45

G — Lomas 8 run (Kadin Taylor pass from Ronald Peguero), 5:30

H — David Fedorczyk 1 run (Augie George kick), :30

Second quarter

G — Tyrone Qualls 25 run (Peguero run), 2:39

H — Sean Coleman (kick blocked), :10

Third quarter

G — Peguero 24 run (Malachai Williams pass from Peguero), 3:40

Fourth quarter

No Scoring

Team statistics`H`G

First downs`10`13

Rushes-yards`32-204`37-247

Passing yards`13`43

Total yards`217`290

Passing`4-15-1`2-8-1

Sacked-yards lost`1-8 `1-10

Punts-avg.`6-35.3 `3-26

Fumbles-lost`2-1`3-1

Penalties-yards`13-75`8-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING —HAN, Fedorczyk 10-22, Coleman 16-168, Aaron Hummer 5-14, Trenton Ambrose 1-0. GAR, Gerson Peralta 2-8, Peguero 8-58, Qualls 12-120, Lomis 12-60, Williams 1-3, TEAM 2-(minus-2).

PASSING — HAN, Hummer 4-15-1-13. GAR, Peralta 1-1-0-9, Peguero 1-7-1-34

RECEIVING — HAN, Bobby Sabecky 2-11, Coleman 1-3, Fedorczyk 1-(minus-1). GAR, Peguero 1-9, Kadin Taylor 1-34.

INTERCEPTIONS — HAN, Tanner Bednarski 1-12. GAR, Peguero 1-6.

MISSED FGs — HAN, George 1-40.

By Jay Monahan

For Times Leader

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