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LAWRENCE — The effort and attitude was there. Lawrence just couldn’t back it up with points.

The Lancers stood toe-to-toe with defending Division 2 champion Dracut last night. But as the smoke from a factory fire in the area cleared Veterans Memorial Stadium in the second half, so did the obstacles blocking the Middies in an eventual 21-7 victory.

METHUEN - Emotion spurs greatness.

The Central Catholic-Methuen athletic rivalry has been forged on that premise.

Last night before a packed house of about 2,000 at Nicholson Stadium, Cal Carroll, Raudy Minaya and the Rangers chiseled out their own chapter in this history matchup, rally from nine points down in a frenzied final 12 minutes.

METHUEN - Emotion spurs greatness.

The Central Catholic-Methuen athletic rivalry has been forged on that premise.

Last night before a packed house of about 2,000 at Nicholson Stadium, Cal Carroll, Raudy Minaya and the Rangers chiseled out their own chapter in this history matchup, rally from nine points down in a frenzied final 12 minutes.

HAVERHILL — Haverhill played credible defense and moved the ball at times, but turnovers doomed the Hillies to their ninth straight loss last night, 24-8 to Tewksbury.

Haverhill rushed for 104 yards, led by Tito Morel (10-64), and passed for 112 yards, but three interceptions and two lost fumbles prevented any consistency on offense.

ANDOVER — It took just 14 seconds for Andover to fall behind, and the Golden Warriors were never able to recover.

Andover allowed a touchdown on the opening kickoff, and despite a rally were never able to tie the score and fell to Merrimack Valley Conference large foe Billerica 35-14 last night.

SALEM, N.H. — Fortunately, the Salem football team will begin its “second season” at home next Saturday in the Division 1 playoffs.

That will give the No. 1-seed Blue Devils something to focus on all week rather than dwelling on the end of their first season last night, which was nothing short of a disaster.

WILMINGTON — North Andover got its scoring from a familiar face, but it was an unlikely source that kept the Scarlet Knights conference-title hopes alive.

Playing on the road for only the third time this season, North Andover eked out a 14-12 victory over Cape Ann Conference rival Wilminton last night. Leading rusher Zac Iovanella scored both touchdowns for the Scarlet Knights (7-2 overall, 2-1 conference). Kicker Dylan Lurvey, however, was the difference maker, converting both conversions while consistently putting the Wildcats in bad field position with his booming punts.

HUDSON N.H. — As the Alvrine Bronco marching band played on as its players celebrated a playoff berth for the first time since 2000, the Timberlane Owls across the field huddled together for the final time this season as Timberlane fell to Alvrine 32-7.

CHELMSFORD — Haverhill knew that stopping junior tailback Joe Gennaro was the key to shutting down Chelmsford. And for nearly three quarters, things wre going as planned.
But Gennaro, who rushed for 216 yards and four touchdowns, put the Lions on his back in the final 13 minutes of a 25-13 win over Haverhill.
Gennaro had just 46 yards at the half on 10 carries before exploding midway through the third quarter. The Hillies held a 7-6 lead over the heavily-favored Lions with 13 seconds left in the third quarter before Gennaro’s second score, a 4-yard scamper, to put Chelmsford ahead for good.
“Depth had a lot to do with it, but we have to continue to play,” Haverhill coach Tim Briggs said. “For the first three quarters we were getting in their faces and making hits with our hats. We get into the fourth quarter, we don’t have much depth, and guys are getting tired so we start trying to make tackles with our arms and [Gennaro] is too good to do that.”
Briggs continued, “But what can I say? I have a team full of guys who gave me everything that they had and it still wasn’t enough. Chelmsford is a great program in a city that really loves and supports its athletics.”
After 13th-ranked Chelmsford made it 12-7, Haverhill threw interceptions on consecutive possessions and Chelmsford converted both to put the game out of reach.
“We have a lot of younger guys in our starting lineup,” Briggs said. “Our guys did a great job making players early in the game.”
Before the interceptions, Connor Tufts was an extremely efficient 5 of 6 for 75 yards.
Miles Miller made 12 tackles at linebacker, helping stifle Gennaro for the better part of three quarters. Mackenzie Milewski (middle linebacker) and Aaron Bard (outside linebacker) each made nine tackles.
In the fourth quarter, Tufts injured his left leg playing defensive back and his regular backup, receiver Timothy Nutter, was already on the sideline with a sling. Austin Campbell entered at quarterback and connected with Blaine Joia on a 30-yard score late in the fourth quarter for both players’ first varsity touchdowns.

NORTH ANDOVER — Quarterback Brandon Walsh gave North Andover the spark it needed midway through the third quarter but he did not do it with his right arm or legs.
He did it by alertly recovering a fumble on the North Reading 10 yard line after teammates Alex Blane and Kyle Kobierski stripped the ball from a Hornet running back.
“They just punched it out and it came right to me,” Walsh said. “I just fell on it. It was a big turning point. We then put in a big score right there. It kind of got us going.”
North Andover scored two plays later to build a two-touchdown lead, energizing the sluggish offense that had not posted any points since early in the first quarter.
The Scarlet Knights scored 21 second-half points to beat North Reading 28-0.
“On that fumble, they just came from the backside and just made a great play,” the Hornets’ Robert Rosano said. “I couldn’t find a hole and it was just stripped from me. We can’t make mistakes like I made on that fumble. We had to play a perfect game to beat them and we didn’t.”
North Andover failed to score after blocking a punt and recovering the football on the North Reading 25 in the first quarter.
“It doesn’t matter about those misses,” junior David Foote said. “We got it together.”
North Andover received a spark from fullback Jack Murphy, who ran for touchdowns of 45 and 39 yards. He finished with six carries for 92 yards.
The junior knew he needed to step up after struggling in the first half.
“I don’t feel like a played a very good first half defensively or offensively,” Murphy said. “I dropped an interception. I wasn’t getting off of blocks well and I blew a few tackles.”
But all that was soon forgotten.
“Any time he (Murphy) takes the weight off my shoulders, that’s fine,” said star tailback Zac Iovanella. “He hit the hole real hard and he showed us some speed I didn’t think he had.”

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Penalties at crucial times in the second half destroyed Pinkerton’s chances for a comeback victory against Manchester Central yesterday. The plethora of penalties included a 15-yard facemask and a roughing the kicker call that greatly aided a late scoring drive by the Little Green, who beat Pinkerton 21-10.   “Penalties killed us,” Pinkerton quarterback Ryan Simpson said. “That’s what lost us the game today. We stopped them and stopped them and then gave them chances right back to score.” The Astros trailed 14-10 late in the fourth quarter when the hosts went for a fourth-and-nine play from the Astros’ 29. Pinkerton wrapped up running back Mike Cavanaugh four yards short of the first down marker. But wait one second. A facemask penalty gave Manchester Central a first down at the 11. The Astros held tough and forced Manchester Central to kick a field goal four plays later. But the running-into-the kicker penalty gave Manchester Central yet another first down and it scored after the Astros got called for another penalty for having 12 men on the field. Cavanaugh said, “We watched film all week. We took three days of practice just to watch film on them so we really knew what they were doing.” Pinkerton also got flagged early in the fourth quarter with an illegal procedure and a holding penalty after driving to the 10-yard for a first-and-goal play. Those penalties forced the Astros to kick a field goal, which it missed.   Pinkerton was without running backs Eric Guinto and Kevin Davies who were out with concussions. “We came in and we thought we were going to win,” Simpson said. “We thought we were going to come back in the second half and just shut them out but we didn’t.”

LONDONDERRY, N.H. — The birthday boy Alex Lambert caught a punt at his team’s own 47, burst through a hole near the center of the field, accelerated some more and darted 53 yards for the touchdown. The 5-8, 150-pound Londonderry senior, who turned 18 yesterday, celebrated his big day in impressive style, leading the Lancers to a 40-13 rout over Manchester West.
Lambert rushed 24 times for 217 yards, including touchdown sprints of 23 and 3 yards. He completed both passes he threw for 56 yards total, including firing a 46-yard TD.  
The highlight of the day for him though was his punt return since it is so rare.
“I haven’t done that in years,” Lambert said. “The last time was freshmen year. I just took the ball, got good blocking and just shot right up the middle and it was open.”
Lambert comes from an athletic family. His brother, Eagle-Tribune All-Star Ryan Lambert, played football for Londonderry before graduating in 2007. Although Alex certainly does not share the same large build as Ryan — who played linebacker and fullback — the younger sibling does a nice job relying on his quickness.
The senior rushed for 60 yards on Londonderry’s 68-yard opening drive, which resulted in a touchdown.
Lambert lined up at running back, with a wingback beside him, and took many direct snaps.
“I just get the balls straight up shotgun and the holes were huge,” Lambert said.
Sophomore wingback Sean O’Gorman added about Lambert: “He’s an all-around good player. His punt return was the first one we’ve had all season. Even coach Rich has been saying we needed one every game. He’s wicked fast and agile.”
Londonderry put the game away in the second quarter by outscoring Manchester West 27-6 to take a 34-6 lead.
The 27-point second quarter included a 43-yard TD pass from Ross Johnston to Kevin Hale.
Hale was mobbed by his teammates in the end zone. It was a well-deserved celebration as Hale was playing his first game after sitting out the first three weeks with a slight MCL tear suffered during the preseason.
“It was pretty exciting,” Hale said. “It was pretty cool that my first reception back ended up being a touchdown like that. It was a perfect pass by Ross. He put it right on me.” 

DEDHAM — Behind a career day by Andover's Andrew Coke, Brooks just kept rolling.

The sophomore gave his squad the lead with a sack of the QB in the end zone for a safety, and added the second score on a rushing touchdown as Brooks downed Nobles 23-0.

METHUEN — All Methuen needed was three plays.

Quarterback draw right, left, and up the middle.

Working almost exclusively out of an old-fashion single-wing offense, Cal Carroll and his Rangers dominated the line of scrimmage on the way to downing red-hot Andover 14-7 last night.

By Bill O'Connor sports@eagletribune.com

HAVERHILL — Stalwart defense and precise offensive execution allowed Lawrence to keep its postseason dreams alive as the Lancers shut out winless Haverhill 28-0.