Hollis Brookline football picks up where it left off, cruises to win over Hanover

HOLLIS - Chris Lones challenged the Hollis Brookline High School football team to play Saturday like the group that came out strong in the second half of the Cavaliers' season-opening loss to Milford.

The players listened and HB never took its foot off the gas pedal in the first half.

Sander Wimmer accounted for six touchdowns, as the Cavs scored on every possession in the first half, and HB's defense kept Hanover in check until the game was out of hand in a 48-14 win in Division II action.

"We’re hard workers and we’re a good team, and I think we proved that," Wimmer said. "We knew going 0-2 on the season would be tough and playoffs would be hard to get into if we lost this game. We just tried our best to play like we did in the second half last week against Milford."

Wimmer finished the day 16 of 21 passing for 271 yards and five touchdowns while adding 79 yards and a touchdown on six carries, as the Cavs (1-1) piled 412 yards on offense. Blake Bergeson caught four passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns and Shea Philbrook had two catches for 73 and two scores.

Isaiah Velez also found the end zone on a 17-yard catch-and-run, part of a four-catch, 47-yard afternoon, while Kyle Manley also scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

It was a complete turnaround from how HB started its season a week ago in a 35-21 loss to Milford, when the Cavs trailed 28-0 at halftime.

"I challenged them this week," Lones said. "Who is going to show up on Saturday? Game 1 first half or Game 1 second half? It was two totally different teams. The entire mindset of the team was different. Things weren’t going well. In the second half, they took ownership and hung together. We came out and played well from the start."

After giving up a first down on Hanover's first possession, the Cavs held the Marauders in check until their final drive before halftime. Hanover had 123 yards in the first half, with 76 of that coming on a drive that ended with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Morse to Seamus Murphy with eight seconds left in the half.

Murphy finished with 154 total yards for Hanover (0-2) and Benjamin Williams had 105 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a 68-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter. But the Cavs' fast start was too much for the Marauders to overcome.

HB started its first drive from its own 36-yard line and needed just four plays to find the end zone, as Wimmer hit Bergeson for a 38-yard touchdown. A fumble and some confusion in the backfield led to Hanover losing 25 yards on its next possession and punting from its own 13. After a short punt, the Cavs took over at the Marauders' 29 and took just three plays before Wimmer scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown.

The Cavs caught a break on their next drive, when a fourth-down pass from Wimmer hit off the hands of Manley. The ball popped up and continued forward toward the goal line, where Philbrook was able to haul it in for a 12-yard touchdown with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

"Sander played a clean game, which was the thing going into this week," Lones said. "You can’t turn the ball over. At Milford last week, throwing a pick early in the game, it kills us. You’ve got to take care of the ball and we did. We took care of business and did what we were supposed to do."

With senior Quinten Wimmer - Sander's twin brother and HB's top receiver - still sidelined, it was up to other guys to step up and they did.

"I knew our receivers could take their defensive backs," Sander Wimmer said. "If all of our players come out with the mindset that no one can tackle us, we’re going to come out and be the best football team. We did that. Multiple receivers were breaking tackles. They couldn’t bring us to the ground."

That was evident on Bergeson's second touchdown, when the junior caught a short pass from Wimmer, danced his way through the Marauders' defense and carried three players with him into the end zone. That score made it 34-0 for the Cavs with 6:09 left in the first half and Manley's touchdown run made it 41-0 with 3:18 to play before halftime.

HB goes on the road on Friday to face ConVal (1-1) at 7 p.m. while Hanover returns home to host Kingswood (0-2), also Friday at 7 p.m.