For Delone Catholic High Friday night, the importance of a victory was very clear.

With a win, the Squires would secure the outright YAIAA Division III title, and the No. 2 seed in the PIAA District 3 Class AA playoffs. A win over the Squires' oldest rivals, Hanover, would also secure the Hanover Area Divisions II-III Cup.

Dusty Reed reaffirmed the importance of the latter following the Squires' 42-14 victory at Sheppard-Myers Athletic Field.

"It means a lot. It's the 77th meeting between these two teams and it makes it one of the greatest rivalries in Pennsylvania," Reed said.

Playing in his final Delone-Hanover game, the senior tailback left it all on the field, bashing his way for 107 yards on the ground and three scores. Reed

Hanover quarterback Jake Goodfellow runs the ball in the first quarter of the Nighthawks' 42-14 loss to Delone Catholic. (Evening Sun - Eric Drummond)
added a fourth touchdown on an 11-yard strike from quarterback Austin Brady.

Early in the second quarter with Delone already in the drivers' seat 21-0, Reed turned in his finest run of the night. Reed took a handoff and attacked the left side of the Nighthawk defense. After clattering through a would-be tackler, Reed found a sliver of daylight. Delone's leading rusher catapulted himself over a falling Hanover defender and burst into the open field, scampering the final 30 yards down the sideline to paydirt.

"The line made a good hole and I just hit it," Reed stated. "I just got past that defender and I almost fell, but I regained my footing and took off."

As has been the case for much of the season, as the elder Reed brother took flight, so did the other facets of Delone's offense. While Reed was finding success on the ground, Austin Brady found success through the air.

Despite only being called to throw the ball five times in the ballgame, Brady made the most of his chances, completing three attempts for 75 yards and two scores.

On the game's opening drive, with the Squires facing third down-and-3 from the Nighthawk 33, Brady dropped back to pass and tossed the ball down the home sideline and into the waiting arms of Matthew Haines. The junior receiver caught the ball in stride and nearly broke away for the game's opening touchdown. However, he was caught from behind and hauled down about a foot from the goal line by a Hanover defender.

Following a penalty, Reed punched the ball through the middle of the defense and into the end zone for the first score.

"Penalties. They're going to kill us if we keep doing that in districts," Reed said. "Hopefully we have a good week of practice."

In the fourth quarter, the Nighthawks finally managed to put points on the board. Jake Goodfellow scrambled out of the pocket and rifled a deep ball into the hands of receiver Colton Dils for a 41-yard touchdown.

Hanover would give the home fans one more reason to cheer during the 2009 season in the Senior Night game's closing minutes. Payton Caler recorded a blocked punt and then promptly scooped up the loose ball, rumbling 39 yards to the end zone for the game's final score.

Even the final flurry by Hanover could not dampen the Squires' spirit after the contest.

"We came in with a chance to win the league championship outright, won the City Cup for the fourth straight year and put ourselves (in position) for a home playoff game next week in districts," Delone head coach Steve Wiles said. "It's always nice for the seniors to get a win in a rivalry game like this."

 

Delone  21  21    0    0 -- 42
Hanover    0    0    0  14 -- 14

First Quarter
   DC -- Dustin Reed 14 run (Porter Strickler kick), 9:35
   DC -- Sam Comly 15 run (Strickler kick), 7:59
   DC -- D. Reed 11 pass from Austin Brady (Strickler kick), :03
Second Quarter
   DC -- D. Reed 47 run (Strickler kick), 10:18
   DC -- Matthew Haines 32 pass from Brady (Strickler kick), 5:05
   DC -- D. Reed 15 run (Strickler kick), 3:11
Fourth Quarter
   Han -- Colton Dils 41 pass from Jake Goodfellow (pass failed), 8:02
   Han -- Payton Caler 39 punt return (Dils pass from Goodfellow), 4:16
 
-- DC -- Han
First downs -- 17 -- 9
Rushes-yards -- 42-299 -- 31-32
Passing -- 3-6-0 -- 4-11-1
Passing yards -- 75 -- 88
Total yards -- 374 -- 120
Punts -- 1-38.0 -- 4-32.8
Fumbles-lost -- 0-0 -- 2-2
Penalties-yards -- 4-35 -- 1-5

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Delone Catholic, Dustin Reed 12-107, Wes Smith 5-80, Kodi Reed 3-46, Aidan Carroll 2-22, Comly 2-16, Nathan Bell 3-14, Brady Arentz 2-5, Jordan Updyke 3-4, Daniel Wildasin 3-4, Luke Clabaugh 4-1, Colby McMaster 3-0; Hanover, Billy Hill 7-34, Matt Felton 6-12, Joe Null 4-8, Wes Reichart 2-7, Billy Heltzel 4-(-5), Payton Caler 2-(-8), Jake Goodfellow 6-(-16).
   Passing -- Delone Catholic, Austin Brady 3-5-1-75, Brayden Orndorff 0-0-0-0, Brett Collins 0-1-0-0; Hanover, Jake Goodfellow 4-11-1-88.
   Receiving -- Delone Catholic, Matthew Haines 2-64, Dustin Reed 1-11; Hanover, Payton Caler 2-29, Colton Dils 1-41, John Perdue 1-18.