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H.S. Football: Hanover Area routs Holy Redeemer; referee suffers injury

john erzar, the times leader, wilkes-barre, pa.
·4 min read

Sep. 30—KINGSTON — The only time Hanover Area failed to score in the first half Saturday night was when time ran out. A minor technicality in an otherwise dominant performance.

Jaydon Skipalis scored four first-half touchdowns as the Hawkeyes rolled up a 42-point lead on the way to a 56-6 victory over winless Holy Redeemer in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 game.

The game had a scary moment late in the third quarter when referee Jay Rowan suffered an injury. The Hanover Area defense was chasing down Redeemer quarterback Thomas Dugan in the backfield when Rowan got tangled up in the play. He was knocked backwards and hit his head on the turf. Rowan was taken from the stadium in an ambulance and was reportedly alert.

Although the game was in the mercy rule at the time, the officiating crew decided to accelerate the end by keeping the clock running at all times. The fourth quarter consisted of 11 plays, including a pair of kneeldowns by Hanover Area. Still, the game approached three hours due to injury delays, numerous penalties and Redeemer's homecoming ceremonies at halftime.

The game also marked the return of Hanover Area coach Jason Majiros, who missed the last two games due to a health issue.

"I was watching film, talking to (the coaches) on the phone," Majiros said. "They were letting me know what was going on and I was watching film from practice. Things like that."

Majiros believed his team needed to get back to executing better and it did just that. Skipalis finished with 241 yards and five touchdowns on 14 carries. The defense recorded nine sacks for minus-102 yards. AJ Kistner and Deacon Eisenbach had interceptions. Redeemer finished with minus-83 yards on 18 rushing attempts.

Skipalis scored on a 2-yard run on Hanover Area's first possession. The Hawkeyes (1-2 Div. 2, 2-4 overall) then trapped a Redeemer running back Ryan Garvin in the end zone for a safety before Skipalis added TD runs of 5 and 30 yards. Aiden Safriwe's 22-yard touchdown catch from Rahmel Currie made it 29-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Skipalis scored on a 23-yard run early in the second quarter and Currie followed with a 2-yard TD run to increase the lead to 42-0 with 4:20 left until halftime.

Redeemer got on the board on a 1-yard run by Dugan with 1:10 left after he completed two long passes. The Royals (0-3, 0-6) took a delay penalty to give themselves more room for a two-point conversion try to hold off the 35-point mercy rule. The two-point pass fell incomplete.

Skipalis finished off his night with a 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Jayden Shortz added Hanover Area's final score on an 11-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

Wyoming Area 56, Holy Redeemer 6

Hanover Area'29'13'7'7 — 56

Holy Redeemer'0'6'0'0 — 6

First quarter

HAN — Jaydon Skipalis 2 run (Conor Engelman kick), 8:37

HAN — Safety, Ryan Garvin tackled in end zone, 8:24

HAN — Skipalis 5 run (Engelman kick), 7:30

HAN — Skipalis 30 run (Engelman kick), 2:04

HAN — Aiden Safriwe 22 pass from Rahmel Currie ( kick failed), 0:00

Second quarter

HAN — Skipalis 23 run (Engelman kick), 10:33

HAN — Currie 2 run (kick failed), 4:20

HR — Thomas Dugan 1 run (pass failed), 1:10

Third quarter

HAN — Skipalis 42 run (Mckenzie Bannon kick), 3:35

Fourth quarter

HAN — Jayden Shortz 11 run (Bannon kick), 9:17

Team statistics'HA'HR

First downs'20'4

Rushes-yards'31-359'18-(-83)

Passing yards'94'148

Total yards'453'65

Passing'6-12-0'6-20-2

Sacked-yards lost'0-0'9-102

Punts-avg.'1-33'4-19.8

Fumbles-lost'2-0'4-0

Penalties-yards'11-120'6-29

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Hanover Area, Skipalis 14-241, Shortz 4-65, Deacon Eisenbach 2-9, Currie 5-17, Al-Quaron Michel 1-4, Tyler Herbert 2-7, Ken Roman 1-18, team 2-(minus-2). Redeemer, Ryan Garvin 1-(minus-2), DJ McDermott 3-3, Dugan 12-(minus-93), Zach Schultz 1-10, Tristan Block 1-(minus-1).

PASSING — Hanover Area, Currie 6-12-0-94. Redeemer, Dugan 6-20-2-148.

RECEIVING — Hanover Area, Skipalis 1-23, Safriwe 2-34, Eisenbach 2-32, Derek Warman 1-5. Redeemer, Mike Zbierski 3-62, Kayaire McClean 1-45, Nick Latinski 1-5, Kyle Ly 1-36.

INTERCEPTIONS — Hanover Area, A Kistner 1-2, Eisenbach 1-20.

MISSED FGs — none.