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Hanover beats Bermudian Springs with second-half surge


The Nighthawks scored 24 of their 37 points in the second half

Entering Friday night's contest, Hanover guard Kyle Krout never expected his team to be losing to winless Bermudian Springs at any point during the second half.

But that was the situation the senior and his teammates found themselves in three minutes into the third quarter, trailing the Eagles 18-15 on the road. At that point, the Nighthawks had converted just six field goals and hardly looked like themselves.

"It didn't feel great," Krout said. "I don't think it deterred us when they took the lead, but it was surprising."

It didn't take long for the Nighthawks to regain control of the game, as they shut out the Eagles for the rest of the third quarter on their way to a 37-24 win. Hanover improved to 3-1 on the season while Bermudian Springs dropped to 0-4.

In an ugly game where offense was hard to come by, both teams combined to make just 25 field goals and score 61 points, a total Hanover topped by itself in its 67-59 win over Biglerville on Tuesday. The game was particularly low-scoring early on, and went to halftime tied 13-13.

The quarterback for Hanover's football team, Krout joked that he felt like he was back on the gridiron for much of Friday night.

"It does feel like that sometimes," Krout said. "I'll be blunt, the first half was horrible. The thing I was most proud of was that we kept fighting. If anything, after that point we really played harder."

Krout was his usual stellar self, scoring 12 points in the second half and 16 overall. Hunter Martz and Will McQueen chipped in with eight points each and both hit clutch shots in the second half.

Still, it was the play of Hanover's defense that really made the difference in the game. After five quick points gave Bermudian Springs its 18-15 third quarter lead, the Nighthawks didn't allow the Eagles to  make a field goal until only four minutes remained in the fourth quarter.

At the same time, Bermudian Springs entered the Friday having scored less than 40 points in its three previous games. According to Hanover coach Nathan Myers, the Eagles' low point total on Friday was a combination of their style of play and his team's defense.

"It was a little bit of both," Myers said. "But we always say that if we get three stops in a row that allows you to start runs. We were able to put together more than three stops."

Although they started off slow and trailed 10-2 at one point in the first quarter, the Eagles managed to go on an 11-3 run that tied the game at the half. Only four Eagles managed to score Friday, with Quinton Nace finishing with half the team's points with 12.

Bermudian Springs coach Ton Flaherty said while his team is clearly still developing, he thought his players took major strides by being able to play with the Nighthawks as long as they did.

"At this point in time we have a lot of new guys but I think eventually we'll start speeding up," Flaherty said. "It's got to be step by step and progressive. This is our fourth game and score wise it was one of our better games. You just have to take small steps."

Hanover (37)

Kyle Krout 7 2-2 16, McQueen 3 1-2 8, Martz 3 1-2 9, Hill 1 0-0 2, Kenworthy 1 0-0 2, Hart 0 0-0 0, Bowman 0 0-0 0  Totals — 15 4-6 37

Bermudian Springs (24)

Quinton Nace 5 0-0 12, Kasulin 3 0-0 6, Long 1 1-2 3, Byers 1 0-0 3, Hoke 0 0-0 0, Staub 0 0-0 0, Petrosky 0 0-0 0 Totals — .  10 1-2 14

Hanover _ 10 _ 3 _ 8_ 16 _ — _ 37

Bermudian Springs _ 6 _ 7 _ 5 _ 6 _ — _ 24

3-point goals — Hanover 3 (Martz 2, McQueen), Bermudian Springs 3 (Nace 2, Byers)

JV score — Hanover 39, Bermudian Springs 34