Hanover claws back for overtime victory
Senior wide receiver Daniel Passafiume (Louisville, Ky.) scored on a 25-yard run in overtime as the Hanover College football squad rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to defeat the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 33-27. The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle was held Saturday, Sept. 29, at L.S. Ayres Field.
Sophomore running back Spencer Corrao (New Albany, Ind.) rushed for a career-high 156 yards and Hanover overcame five first-half turnovers and the double-digit margin in the second half to post the victory.
Down 27-7 early in the fourth period, Hanover reeled off 20 consecutive points to knot the game in the closing 77 seconds.
Junior quarterback Dexter Britt (Louisville, Ky.) scored on a one-yard run to cut the margin to 27-14 with 10:11 left in the game.
Corrao scored on a 21-yard pass reception with 6:54 to play and added a one-yard run to tie the score at 27-27 with 1:17 left. The Panthers missed the potential go-ahead extra-point to give Rose-Hulman a final shot in regulation.
The Engineers (2-3; 2-1 HCAC) advanced to the Hanover two-yard-line in the closing seconds, but were whistled for a substitution infraction during an ill-fated field-goal attempt as time expired to send the game into overtime.
Rose-Hulman had first possession in the extra session, but the Engineers' quarterback Mitch Snyder fumbled on the second play. Senior linebacker Andy Dalton (Guilford, Ind.) recovered to give the Panthers possession and a shot at the squad's second come-from-behind win this season.
On the Panthers' sole overtime play, Britt rolled to the right and handed the ball to Passafiume, who sprinted around the left corner and scampered into the corner of the endzone for the game-winner.
Hanover, now 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the Heartland Conference, totaled 465 yards of offense, including a season-high 270 yards on the ground.
Corrao banged his way to 156 yards on 17 carries, including the one-yard touchdown.
Britt, who spent time on the bench after tossing three interceptions and fumbling twice in the first half, directed all four scoring drives in the second half. He finished the game 15-of-25 for 164 yards with a touchdown. He also rushed 15 times for 31 yards and a score.
Passafiume caught nine balls for 89 yards and rushed twice for 28 yards, including the 25-yard game-winner.
Rose-Hulman had 399 yards with 230 through the air and 169 on the ground. The Engineers had 264 yards in the second half, but lost the ball twice on turnovers, once on downs and were forced to punt three times.
With Rose-Hulman ahead 27-7 early in the third quarter, junior defensive back Matt McConnell (Buckner, Ky.) picked off a pass inside the Hanover 10-yard-line to thwart a potential scoring drive.
Dalton had 14 tackles and junior linebacker Brandon Foster (Haubstadt, Ind.) added 10 stops.
McConnell and sophomore linebacker Justin Magaw (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added eight tackles apiece for the Panthers' defense.
