Hanover football team wins first game since coach's funeral

Senior Kyle Runyon first met Erik Pierson, the man who would start the Class A 8-Man football program at Hanover, in 2003.
Pierson, who rallied the tight-knit community around the new football team, died July 28 at age 38 of complications from leukemia treatment -- two weeks after summer football camp and two weeks before the first practice.
"On the first day of practice, we all got together and asked ourselves, ‘What do we need to do differently to make a name for Hanover football?'" Runyon related.
Winning never hurts.
On Saturday, Runyon caught the game-winning touchdown pass -- his third of the game -- with 8.2 seconds remaining for a come-from-behind, 40-36 nonconference victory over Pikes Peak Christian.
"I could feel Coach pushing me into the end zone. I had to give it everything I had," Runyon said.
In his pocket at all times, new coach and former defensive coordinator Luke Decker keeps a stone with a "P" painted on top -- a keepsake from a memorial service for Pierson.
In the locker room before Saturday's season-opener, Decker handed out "P-72" stickers -- Pierson's number when he played football for Colorado College -- to his players for the backs of their helmets.
"There was not much time to grieve before we had to go out for our first practice," Decker said Friday. "Our motivation is to play well for him."
On Saturday, they did.
"Erik was great guy. That's one reason we can't hang our heads," Eagles coach Kelvin Thorne said. "Hanover brought it for every play. They were grunting every play."
On an emotional day, the Hanover players struggled to with self control.
Five Hanover penalties in the first six minutes of the third quarter helped the Eagles take their first lead, 22-18, entering the fourth.
The lead changed four times in the topsy-turvy fourth quarter, with a 47-yard pass from Kirk Simpson to receiver Andrew McFarlin giving the Eagles a 36-32 lead with 2:39 left. The Eagles converted a 4th and 5 on their own 48 thanks to an offsides call on the Hornets (1-0).
But Hanover took the ball 67 yards on eight rushes before Davis made the winning pass to Runyon.
After the game, Runyon, tears in his eyes, hugged Margie Pierson, Erik's mother, who had cheered from the sidelines.
"I'm so glad I didn't miss this," Pierson said. "I've been handling things well, but there are all kinds of things to cry about today. I can't get over it. It makes me so proud of Erik. He loved his football."