The adrenaline was flowing for Hanover Central’s Matt Koontz.
After sitting out the first three games while recovering from multiple injuries he suffered in March, the junior quarterback made his season debut against visiting River Forest on Friday night.
“I felt good,” Koontz said. “This was the first week I came back live to practice, so I felt a little rushed out there. But I know I’ll be back. I’ll be good for next week.
“It definitely felt weird to get hit. I haven’t gotten hit in a while. I have to get my rhythm down with the receivers. But we’ll be good.”
Koontz entered Hanover Central’s 35-0 Greater South Shore Conference crossover win for the final play of the first quarter. He completed a 4-yard pass to Tony Bartolomeo, a receiver by trade who had taken over at quarterback in Koontz’s absence.
Koontz played the rest of the first half for the Wildcats (4-0), completing 5 of 11 passes for 51 yards and running for 22 yards on three carries against the Ingots (3-1).
“He was really excited to get out there,” Hanover Central coach Brian Parker said. “He was really built up. We wanted to put him in a position to succeed. With a 14-point lead, set up with some good field position, that was a really good time to put him in there.
“Just getting him out there on the field, going through a cadence, accepting snaps, accepting signs, just getting guys into their stuff. There were some hiccups along the way, but that was to be expected when it came to him being out there. But it was great having (No.) 13 on the field.”
Parker considered putting Koontz back into the game in the second half, which included a running clock, but opted against it. Freshman Luke Kopec played the final 8:42 for the Wildcats, who improved to 10-0 against River Forest since they restarted the program in 2014, including a sectional win in 2020.
“We figured that wouldn’t be a good idea,” Parker said of playing Koontz more.
As a sophomore, Koontz completed 104 of 181 passes for 1,891 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and he ran for 740 yards and 14 TDs on 113 carries. He was a Class 3A junior all-state selection.
The crowd cheered loudly when Koontz made his first appearance this season.
“It was nice,” senior running back Kyle Haessly said. “The vibe was different in the backfield. The fans feel that too.
“He’s definitely a dual-threat quarterback. So is Tony as well. But it’s different when we have our guys back in their original spots.”
On the first day of baseball tryouts, Koontz crashed into the fence pursuing a fly ball, breaking a bone in his left (throwing) hand and tearing three ligaments in his left foot. He underwent surgery on both, having a plate inserted in his hand.
“It’s been tough,” Koontz said. “But I have trust in my coaches. My coaches know where I’m at. I trust my teammates. Everybody’s helping me on the road to recovery. We’ll see how it goes.
“It was just to get out there and get used to everything, get back into things. … Hopefully I’m able to start next week, depending on how I do in practice.”
Hanover Central plays at Griffith next.
“We’ll see how the practice week goes,” Parker said. “It could look something similar to what we saw (Friday night). It could be him. Because we get a lot better because Tony goes back to receiver.”
Bartolomeo completed 9 of 10 passes for 135 yards and a TD and also had two catches for 10 yards. Gannan Howes had six catches for 104 yards and a 19-yard TD from Bartolomeo.
Haessly ran for 122 yards and three TDs on 16 carries.
Wally Koontz completed the scoring with a 1-yard fumble return for a TD on the kickoff following Haessly’s third score.
River Forest’s do-it-all quarterback, Ayden Silver, suffered an apparent injury in the first quarter and did not return to the game. Kaleb Short, mainly a receiver, shifted to quarterback.
“He’s a really good player,” Parker said of Silver. “That obviously put them behind the eight ball when he went down. The Short kid who came in, No. 2, is a really good athlete as well. He’s played a little bit of quarterback for them in the past as well. But obviously losing (No.) 1 is a huge thing for them.”
Hanover Central’s defense impressed Parker with another shutout.
“Our defense is playing extraordinary,” he said.