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Throwback Thursday: Hanover football ended 13-year drought against Delone Catholic in 1991


Revist more memorable moments in York-Adams sports history in GameTimePA.com's Throwback Thursday series.

The Hanover-Delone Catholic football rivalry is the longest, most storied rivalry in the Hanover area.

The two teams have played each other every year since 1934, and the Squires lead the series 48-28-5.

The 1980's were not particularly friendly to the Nighthawks, at least when it came to their success against their crosstown rivals.

Hanover had not defeated Delone on the gridiron since 1978. But in 1991, years of frustration ended when Hanover toppled Delone, 26-6, earning a taste of victory that so many former teammates had missed.

"We were a very good football team," former Hanover head coach Jack Connor said. "We weren't that big or that great, but we were capable of doing a lot of damage to you if you gave us a chance."

Before the 2001 season, the two teams always met in the first game of the season, which for more than a decade left Hanover at 0-1.

"Playing those guys in the opening game, we really needed to get ready from the start," Connor said. "When we lost to them, it would give us low self-esteem. It was a battle."

Things were different in 1991.

Led by Mike Mummert, who finished as the team's leading scorer with eight touchdowns, Jake Rice and Adam Brown, Hanover got off to a quick start against the Squires and never looked back.

"I think after the first quarter, we were in control," said Steve Little, then an assistant coach for Hanover. "We had a very physical team. Early on in the game, Delone's best running back, Chris Timmons, got injured, and I think that helped us out quite a bit. He was a really good player and running back. Our offense did a really good job that game, scoring 26 points."

The Nighthawks won two scrimmages and entered the regular-season opener riding the momentum.

One key player that night was Steve Wilder, Hanover's nose guard and lineman. It was his hit that put Timmons out of the game, giving the momentum to Hanover.

"That was a big momentum-hit I had," Wilder said. "We game planned around stopping him. He came off tackle, and I popped him, and his knee popped. That made them more one-dimensional."

As the clock ticked down, Wilder remembers standing there saying to himself, 'Wow, we won'.

It served as redemption for Wilder. The Nighthawks lost his sophomore year because of a mistake he made.

"We were driving for the winning score, and it was my fault," Wilder said. "I was the starting halfback. It was a play we ran all the time, and I false started. We were 20 yards away. I knew I was getting the play. I was so fired up to get off the ball that I jumped."

No one was more excited about the Delone/Hanover rivalry than former Hanover assistant coach Don Coffman. Former coaches and players all remember Coffman circling the calendar for the Delone game. But 1991 was the first season that he did not coach because of health reasons.

"He was kinda like the coach at practice that would go crazy," Wilder said. "Screaming and get you fired up. We told coach Connor to tell Coffman we did it for him. We put his initials on our helmet. He would yell, "Win" and we would yell, "Beat 'em." He would get more fired up than we would. He was the guy who you would get so mad at him, you'd just play better because you were mad."