Two Weeks To Go In The Regular Season

Amazingly, there are only two weeks to go in the regular season.  All four teams have busy schedules, beginning Tuesday when the JV2 team travels to Sunapee  (3:00 departure), and the JV1 and Varsity teams travel to Rochester to play Spaulding (1:30 dismissal).

Here are a few observations on what the end of the season will look like:

On Friday, October 19, the Varsity will host Londonderry at 4:00 on the HHS Turf for their final home game of the season.  At halftime, all of the seniors in the program will be honored with a Senior Day celebration.  All seniors on the Varsity and JV2 will be honored, along with parents and family members.  Seniors, please help us out and let us know who will be coming to stand with you.  Grandparents, mentors and siblings are welcome.

The schedule for Saturday, October 20 is actually still mushy.  The Freshman team was somehow placed on the waiting list for the Freshman Tournament on Concord.  How does the defending Champion wind up on the waiting list.  Feel free to offer your conspiracy theories.  We are trying to get a final word on this.  If the Freshmen cannot go to Concord on the 20th, they will instead go to Cardigan Mountain School.  Either way, they will be challenged.  The JV2 team will definitely go to Cardigan that day.  If the Freshmen go to Concord, the JV1 team will take their place at Cardigan.  The JV1s will play the next day at the Nashua JV Tournament.  All worries about playing time will be mitigated.

The Varsity will continue to play after the weekend of the 20th-21st.  The first round of the NHIAA Division One Tournament is on Wednesday, October 24th.  Hanover will almost certainly host a first round game, either at 3:00 or 6:00 p.m.  It is possible that they will host a game during the Quarterfinal round on Saturday, October 27th.  That has yet to be determined. The top four teams will host quarterfinal games.  Hanover is currently tied with Pinkerton for 4th with a 9-3 record.  They host Pinkerton on Friday.  Just ahead of them in third place is Nashua North.  Hanover plays at Nashua North next Monday. Their fate is in their own hands.

Finally, and importantly, all four teams will gather after the end of the season and celebrate the season together. In recent years, the Celebration is held during the second or third week in November, on an evening with no HHS musical program conflicts, and minimal conflicts with RMS, Ray, LES, CA and other feeder schools.  This is for all four teams, their parents, and their siblings.  It's not quite a banquet, since we invite everyone to arrive at 6:00 having had supper.  We serve the infamous All-Dessert Potluck, and then give each coach exactly 10 minutes to honor players and summarize their season. It's possible.  There will be Haikus.  This is probably the first time Coach Robel has heard about their 10-minute limit.  Following the sanely truncated awards portion, we hope to present a music recital.  The potential is there.  String players, now is the time to pull something together.  Soarthroats, same thing.  We also hope to give you a preview of our Guitar Benefit Concert scheduled for this December, featuring Assistant Coach Eric Jayne and featuring Hans Williams.  Stay tuned for the Celebration date, and be ready to mark your calendars.