By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com
Wow! What a weekend.
Just when you think you’ve got this Division III football thing figured out and you think all the teams are ready to fall into place, last weekend reminded me of the old television show where Gomer Pyle exclaimed to his superior officer: “Well, surprise, surprise, surprise.”
From North Central’s stunning comeback 35-26 victory over then-nationally ranked Wheaton, Monmouth’s convincing win over Lake Forest 34-0, and previously undefeated Rockford’s homecoming game loss to Westminster (Mo.) 14-7, the Midwest was full of eyebrow-raisers. But did anyone see outside of Hanover see Hanover’s 41-35 overtime victory over Mount St. Joseph coming? Well, Wayne Perry, coach of the Panthers, said he did. He said his players did, too.
Mount St. Joseph, the consensus HCAC favorites, was riding a 13-game regular season winning streak and had beat a senior-laden Hanover team last year at their place. The Lions were playing at home this year against a young Panther team that Perry even admitted took a step backwards in a 34-17 loss to Waynesburg the week before.
“I think no one expected us (to win against Mount St. Joseph) except for us,” Perry, right, said. “They had the winning streak and to go in there and to beat them in their new stadium where they have never been beaten before was a wonderful accomplishment for us. Mount St. Joseph is a very good football team.”
Hanover, with a 2-3 record, is now in the driver’s seat in the HCAC title chase. But don’t get the impression that the win was easy or overwhelming and Perry said there is a lot of work that still needs to be done.
The game’s final quarter takes your breath away just reading the play-by-play. Hanover jumped out to an early lead, only see the Lions rally around backup quarterback Bryan Hamrock to take the lead 28-21 in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Tyler Gholston scored a touchdown in the middle of the quarter to tie it and took the lead with 1:21 left to play a short touchdown run by sophomore running back Corey Fogle.
But HCAC offensive player of the year last season Andy Wellendorf caught an 18-yard TD pass from Hamrock with only seconds left to send the game into overtime. Fogle scored on another short touchdown after Lions failed to score with their overtime possession and the Panthers had their redemption.
“We have a young team but they learned a lot in those losses,” Perry said. “You could see it in their eyes that they didn’t want to lose this one.”
The victory also gave Perry a place in Indiana collegiate coaching history as the winningest coach in all divisions. His 24-year record at Hanover of 166-72-2 now surpasses Tony Hinkle, of Butler (165-99-13 in 33 seasons). Perry also leads Stewart Faught of Franklin (160), Pete Vaughn (113) and Greg Carlson (112) of Wabash and even Knute Rockne (105) at Notre Dame.
“It was a long time in coming,” Perry said of the honor. “To do something that no one else has done is special, but I tell everyone it’s a team achievement. I have to give credit to the assistant coaches and the players. The record is more of a reflection on the program we have here. The record wasn’t a goal of mine. At first all I wanted to do was win 50 games. Then the next goal was 100. I’ll have to find a new goal now.”
Hanover has arguable the toughest schedule in the HCAC. They have played two nationally ranked teams, both ended up in losses — 50-20 against No. 16 Washington & Jefferson and 56-42 against No. 18 Bridgewater (Va.). Three of the five teams the Panthers have played this season have one loss with an overall record of 16-6 (.727).
“When you play the schedule we’ve played and face teams like Washington & Jefferson and Bridgewater, those guys expose your weaknesses pretty quick,” Perry said. “The good thing was that we were able to see those things and work on them. If we would have played games that we won pretty easy, we probably would not have seen those weaknesses.”
What could Perry do for an encore? Maybe another HCAC title and a trip to the playoffs? Perry said he is concerned about what happens next. He said the conference title is by no means wrapped up. He said Manchester, at 1-4, provides a perfect setup for one of those “looking-ahead-too-early” games if his Hanover team is not careful. “They scored all of those points against Earlham (69-62 Manchester loss) earlier in the year and their quarterback got hurt,” Perry said. “I think they played Waynesburg (Manchester lost 28-7) better than we did. I’m very concerned about coming off of a big game like this and not being focused. We will be stressing that all week in practice.”
Perry knows something about the impact an injured quarterback can have on your team. He lost current senior signal-caller Rick Webster on the third play of the season last year, sliding from a season full of promise to a 6-4 finish.
After virtually a missed season, Webster seems to be finding his stride in Hanover’s spread offenses, completing 26 of 45 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns against Mount St. Joseph.
“He has completed about 65% of his passes against some of the best teams in the nation,” Perry said. “You have to remember he missed last season so there will be some times. In Waynesburg he threw three interceptions, back-to-back-to-back. But he’s improving every day.”
Hanover seems to be doing the same and that’s not good news for HCAC opponents.
Games to Watch
Augustana (3-1, 1-0) vs. Carthage (4-0, 1-0), at Kenosha, Wis., 6 p.m.: Augustana is getting a lot of respect in the polls (only four spots out of the Top 25) after its opening-season loss to Central 25-24 in overtime. Augustana is averaging 43 points per game, including a 50-6 victory over North Park in its conference season opener. Nationally ranked Carthage (No. 13), riding one the top defenses in the nation, scratched out a hard-fought 19-7 victory over Millikin last week in its conference opener. This one should keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
Rockford (4-1, 1-1) vs. Maranatha Baptist Bible (3-1, 2-0), at Watertown, Wis., 2 p.m.: Now that the shot at an undefeated season is done, Rockford now fights to continue its shot at a South Division title in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference at Maranatha Baptist. Another loss would just about put Rockford out of the running. Rockford scored an eye-popping 82 points in its 82-12 victory over Principia. It’s only eye-popping until you realize Rockford was the second team to score 80 points on Principia this season. Maranatha Baptist apparently called off the dogs early last week in a 60-26 win over the same team. This game — even though Westminster still lurks in the shadows — could give one of these two teams the upper hand in the division.
