ANDOVER — Andover High quarterback Scotty Brown certainly made his 17th birthday a special one.
The birthday boy completed 16 of 23 passes for a season-high 230 yards and a touchdown to lead the Golden Warriors to a come-from-behind 20-13 win over MVC Division 2 power Tewksbury on Friday night.
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Football, 10/30/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LOWELL — Trailing by eight points at halftime, Andover scored the
next four touchdowns on the way to beating Lowell 35-21 on Friday night.
"It
was a great win," said Golden Warriors head coach EJ Perry. "We were
down 14-6 at halftime. Then we came out, got a big stop and scored the
next (29) points. If we keep playing the type of football we played in
the second half tonight, we are very dangerous."
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Football, 10/23/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
HAVERHILL — Lincoln Beal ran for two touchdowns and caught two more through the air, as Andover High pulled away from Haverhill, 42-21, Friday night at Haverhill Stadium.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Golden Warriors (3-3) and kept their tournament hopes alive heading into next weekend's game against Lowell. Andover Coach EJ Perry told his team after the game he considered this win "Game 1" as they head down the stretch of the regular season.
"This was huge for us. That's why I brought out the seniors (in his post-game speech)," said Perry. "We have just nine seniors on the team and every one of them did their jobs tonight."
Two of those seniors are Tyler Fabbri and Luke Newton, each of whom came up with huge turnovers leading to touchdowns, as Andover pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Andover held a slim 22-21 lead entering the final quarter. But Beal (12 carries, 119 yards, 2 TD) changed that quickly, bolting 54 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the quarter. The Haverhill defense stuff Beal's 2-point rush attempt to stay within a touchdown at 28-21.
Haverhill, which used a ground and pound attack to roll up 266 yards on 56 carries, got into trouble when they strayed from their game plan. On their ensuing possession, the Hillies (0-6) from inside Andover territory and faced a 4th and 3 at the Warrior's 43. On came back up quarterback James Farrell who tried to throw for the critical first down.
But Farrell never saw Fabbri, who stepped in front of the receiver at the 39 and raced, untouched, 61-yards for the "pick-6" and a 35-21 Andover lead.
Things only got worse for Haverhill on its next possession. The Hillies drove from their own 24 to the Andover 5 (all on the ground) and appeared poised to slice the lead in half with just under three minutes. But an errant pitch from quarterback Nolen Skafas put the ball on the turf. Newton, a defensive lineman, scooped up the ball and started rumbling toward the end zone. Around the Haverhill 40, he handed the ball to teammate Patrick Cote, and the fleet-footed defensive back finished the touchdown return and put the game away.
"We just had too many mental mistakes," said Haverhill Coach Tim O'Connor. "We were undisciplined a couple of times and got out of our offense. A couple of times we thought we'd be able to do certain things but we weren't able to."
Haverhill ran the ball effectively out of their double-wing formation. Wingback Tristin Naylor (19 carries, 84 yards) and fullback Victor Martinez (15 carries, 80 yards) did the majority of their damage between the tackles. The yardage didn't come in huge chunks, but Andover had trouble getting its defense off the field.
Beal gave the Golden Warriors the early lead on a 1-yard touchdown run, capping a 13-play, 76 yard drive. But Haverhill answered with a lengthy drive of its own (15 plays, 75 yards), with Martinez barreling in from seven yards out to tie the game, 7-7, early in the second quarter.
Following an Andover fumble, Haverhill grabbed its only lead on a 3-yard run by Martinez to make it 13-7 (the PAT try was blocked by Beal).
Andover quickly regained the lead on a 52-yard scoring strike from Scotty Brown (7 of 12, 142 yards, 2 TD) to Beal. The pair hooked up again just before the half, this time from 34 yards out, giving Andover a 22-13 lead at intermission.
Haverhill was able to make a game of it, taking the second half kickoff and marching 57 yards in 15 plays, capped by a 3-yard keeper by Skafas for the score. He also rushed for the conversion to make it 22-21.
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Football, 10/15/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
LAWRENCE — Having long ago left Friday night's game, spending the
entire second half relaxing on the sidelines, Central Catholic star
quarterback Ayden Pereira was all smiles as he celebrated a truly
dominant performance with his teammates.
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Football, 10/02/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
BOXBORO — With the game tied in the fourth quarter, after another drive fell short, Andover was in need of a spark.
So, the Golden Warriors utilized some trickery.
Andover ran a fake punt, with punter/quarterback Scotty Brown completing a key 16-yard pass to his favorite target, Lincoln Beal. Six plays later, Brown ran in a 4-yard touchdown, and the Golden Warriors topped Lincoln-Sudbury 23-16 on Friday night.
"I think opening the season 2-0 is unbelievable," said Andover head coach E.J. Perry. "We've beaten two Division 1 teams, so the competition has been good. It was another big win."
Kicker Andrew Wetterwald was the star for Andover early. He made field goals of 26, 30 and 28 yards in the first half, giving the Golden Warriors a 9-3 victory at halftime."
The Golden Warriors extended their lead in the third, when Brown found Brett Mondejar for a 17-yard touchdown.
"That was an unbelievable catch by Mondejar," said Perry. "It was on a post corner, and he made a huge play."
Acton-Boxboro tied the game 16-16, but Andover bounced right back with the fake punt that set up Brown's game-winning score.
Brown finished the game with a game-high 92 rushing yards on 16 carries and threw for 172 yards. Beal added 82 rushing yards and a team-high 61 receiving yards.
Beal once again led the defensive effort from linebacker. Wetterwald knocked down three passes, Sam Joseph stepped up big at middle linebacker, Patrick Cote knocked down a pair of passes and Andrew Walles also stepped up.
The Golden Warriors next host Lawrence on Friday (7 p.m.)
"A lot of guys stepped up," said Perry. "Wetterwald kicked great and make plays on defense. Lincoln ran great and made big tackles. Scotty made plays. We have seven sophomores and three juniors on offense alone. We're excited with the way the team is playing."
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Football, 09/18/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
ANDOVER — It was obvious to anybody watching Andover High football play last year that those two then-sophomore speeders, one at quarterback and the other at tailback, were on the verge of becoming very special.
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Football, 09/11/21 » 0 Comments & 0.0 Stars
