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HAVERHILL — Angel Escalera rushed for 151 second-half yards and scored the clinching touchdown with less than 3 minutes remaining as Lowell defeated winless Haverhill 21-13 yesterday. Leading at intermission for only the second time this season, the Hillies (0-11) were unable to stop Escalera, who finished with 202 yards on 41 carriers. The 149-pound junior scored on runs of 9 and 34 yards to lead the Lowell (2-9) comeback. “We were one block away from doing a lot of things offensively in the first half,” Lowell coach Al Pare said. “Anyone can say what they want (about a two-win season), but I’ve got some great kids. They play as hard as they can.” Coming off a season-high 21 points in a loss to Dracut last week, Haverhill got some big plays from Connor Tufts and Blaine Joia as the Hillies went after their third victory in three years. After spotting the Red Raiders a 6-0 advantage when Shane Walsh recovered a fumble in the end zone midway through the first period, Haverhill grabbed the lead on a 65-yard pass from Tufts to Joia a minute later. Tufts threw for a team season high 176 yards — 149 of them on three completions to Joia, who set up Haverhill’s final touchdown with a beautiful one-handed catch he took 68 yards to the Lowell 2. Tito Morel ran for the touchdown on the next play to cap the game’s scoring. In between Haverhill touchdowns, Lowell used Escalera extensively. Of the Red Raiders’ 31 second-half plays, Escalera carried the ball 23 times. Lowell took the lead for good on a 15-play, 81-yard drive that consumed 7:58. On the possession, the Red Raiders faced third downs of 24 yards and 22 yards. The first time, Kyle Edwards completed a 23-yard pass to Joshua Ouellette before Escalera moved the chains with a 16-yard run. On the third-and-22 play, Thiago Silva went 12 yards on a screen pass before Edwards kept the drive alive with a 14-yard pass to Jimmy Ricoy. “With the game on the line, we didn’t get the job done,” Haverhill coach Tim Briggs said. “(Lowell) had some kids who made some plays, and we didn’t make a play. That’s what it comes down to.” Among the other Haverhill highlights were Malcolm Novello, who had 67 yards rushing, including runs of 20 and 44 yards. Senior defensive end/offensive tackle Kyle Sullivan had a team-high 12 tackles. “The first thing is I’ll be sitting down with a new athletic director to come up with a plan to get this (program) straightened out,” Briggs said. “If you take a look around, we have more things than football to worry about at Haverhill. We have some good young kids, but we need to have them stay with us. They need to stay together and work our way up.

ANDOVER — At points in his career, Andover’s Jimmy Johnson has played everywhere from defensive line to defensive back. But on Friday, defensive coordinator Derrik Beasley had another plan.

LOWELL — Lowell did a good job scouting for last night’s Merrimack Valley Conference matchup with Central Catholic.

However, Central did a better job of adjusting, the result being a 21-0 shutout for the Raiders (5-1), who won their fifth straight game.

METHUEN — This one was special for defensive captain John McCarthy and the rest of the Methuen Rangers.

Following an impressive Merrimack Valley Conference 20-0 shutout of Lowell last night, the Rangers huddled in a large group and chanted “Coach Graham, Coach Graham,” in salute of their third-year head coach, Pat Graham.

LOWELL - Lawrence's Merrimack Valley Conference bliss lasted absolutely one week. The Lancers stumbled and Lowell High made them pay repeatedly, pinning a 40-34 loss on Lawrence, which only a week earlier had returned to conference play by knocking off Tewksbury. "This is MVC football and you can't make mistakes like that," said Lancer coach Mike Yameen. "It was a pretty undisciplined game on our part, with the fumbles, dropped passes, blown coverages and the penalties. "We can't come out and make mistakes and turnovers like this against good teams." Now 1-2, Lawrence committed three excruciating facemask penalties late in the fourth to blunt its own momentum and pave the FieldTurf for the game-clinching insurance TD. "I want to see the film on that (last one)," said Yameen of the flag that nullified a brilliant tackle in the backfield by Harvey Blanco. "But it never should have come to that." The penalties (8 for 82), three turnovers and three different blown coverages in the secondary spoiled what might have been a special night for Lawrence, which hadn't played against Lowell since Thanksgiving morning 1997. Clearly, knotted 12-12 at halftime, victory was there for the taking. But it was Lowell, not the Lancers, who claimed it, as QB Kyle Edwards hit Josh McGlauflin for three third-quarter TD passes all on post patterns down the middle of the field. Trailing 33-12, the Lancers showed some serious heart, rallying behind senior QB Nick Elwell (13 of 22 for 190 yards) for a pair of quick scores. But Lawrence needed a stop defensively midway through the fourth and didn't get one with Lowell chewing up over six minutes and punching in the decisive score with only 2:01 to play. Senior Michael Calzetta caught two TDs and a two-point pass in a six-catch, 70-yard effort. Harvey Blanco caught four balls for 76 yards, running for one TD and grabbing a two-point pass of his own. Lawrence, which gave up 40 points in an opening night loss before holding Tewksbury to just 8 points last week, had better shore up the defense quickly. The Lancers face a football steamroller in Chelmsford Friday night.

LOWELL - Lawrence's Merrimack Valley Conference bliss lasted absolutely one week. The Lancers stumbled and Lowell High made them pay repeatedly, pinning a 40-34 loss on Lawrence, which only a week earlier had returned to conference play by knocking off Tewksbury. "This is MVC football and you can't make mistakes like that," said Lancer coach Mike Yameen. "It was a pretty undisciplined game on our part, with the fumbles, dropped passes, blown coverages and the penalties. "We can't come out and make mistakes and turnovers like this against good teams." Now 1-2, Lawrence committed three excruciating facemask penalties late in the fourth to blunt its own momentum and pave the FieldTurf for the game-clinching insurance TD. "I want to see the film on that (last one)," said Yameen of the flag that nullified a brilliant tackle in the backfield by Harvey Blanco. "But it never should have come to that." The penalties (8 for 82), three turnovers and three different blown coverages in the secondary spoiled what might have been a special night for Lawrence, which hadn't played against Lowell since Thanksgiving morning 1997. Clearly, knotted 12-12 at halftime, victory was there for the taking. But it was Lowell, not the Lancers, who claimed it, as QB Kyle Edwards hit Josh McGlauflin for three third-quarter TD passes all on post patterns down the middle of the field. Trailing 33-12, the Lancers showed some serious heart, rallying behind senior QB Nick Elwell (13 of 22 for 190 yards) for a pair of quick scores. But Lawrence needed a stop defensively midway through the fourth and didn't get one with Lowell chewing up over six minutes and punching in the decisive score with only 2:01 to play. Senior Michael Calzetta caught two TDs and a two-point pass in a six-catch, 70-yard effort. Harvey Blanco caught four balls for 76 yards, running for one TD and grabbing a two-point pass of his own. Lawrence, which gave up 40 points in an opening night loss before holding Tewksbury to just 8 points last week, had better shore up the defense quickly. The Lancers face a football steamroller in Chelmsford Friday night.