On Friday night, the Brickies made the long trek down to Cedar Lake to face the Hanover Central Wildcats. The 'Cats had won each of the previous two meetings - both having implications on the NCC title. Hobart ... having lost back-to-back heartbreakers to Andrean & Lowell as well as battling some adversity with illness & injury ... was looking to get back on track.
It was Homecoming and the host Wildcats were FIRED UP! Hanover scored 9 first quarter points to claim an early lead. In the 2nd stanza, the Brickies came to life and scored on a 1-yd plunge by junior quarterback Aleks Tatum to get within 9-7!
After the Brickie D-D-D-DEFNSE forced a punt with just over 2 minutes still left in the quarter, Tatum connected with classmate Stephen Miller on a long pass to get the offense within striking distance ... and two plays later Tatum ran it in to make it 13-9 BRICKIES heading into the halftime break!
Hobart got the ball to begin the 3rd quarter, but the Wildcat defense forced a punt. On Hanover's 3rd play, junior Nathan Sobczynski stepped in front of a pass, intercepted the ball, and raced down the sidelines into the endzone for a PICK 6 TOUCHDOWN!!! The Bricks were successful on a 2-pt conversion and with 8:30 left in the quarter, the scoreboard showed a 21-9 Hobart lead!!
Hanover Central responded quickly with a score cut the deficit to 21-16, but Sobczynski struck again when he returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Wildcat 26 yard line! WOW! Two plays later, Tatum found Miller in the endzone for a 23-yard TOUCHDOWN!!
Early in the final period, sophomore Miles White effectively closed the door on any hopes of a Wildcat comeback when he took a handoff and sprinted around the left side for a 61-yard TOUCHDOWN!!!
Each team would tack on one more score to arrive at the final tally of Hobart 42, Hanover Central 23!!
Tatum finished the game with 157 yards passing to go along with 105 yards rushing and 4 TOTAL TOUCHDOWNS!! WOW! White had 75 yards on the ground and junior Luke Richardson carried the pill 10 times for 40 yards. Miller ended up catching 6 passes for 94 yards and junior kicker Peter Janda went 4/4 on extra points.
Sobczynski had a MONSTER game with 2 catches for 54 yards, 4 tackles, 1 kick return for 64 yards and 1 interception that he returned for a TOUCHDOWN! WOW!!
For the Brickie D-D-D-DEFENSE, White (12) and senior Josh Diaz (10) each recorded double-digit tackles ... senior Preston Perez, sophomore Terry Earvin, Miller & fellow junior Vontrell Jones each added 9 ... and sophomore Michael Klaich punted 5 times with an average kick of 47.5 yards - pinning the 'Cats inside their own 20-yard line 4 times in the NCC win!
Hobart is now 5-2 on the year and 3-2 in the NCC. Our boys will return home for the final two weeks of the regular season with games against Morton (10/10) and Highland (10/17) before IHSAA Sectional play begins.
#DOUBTUS
