RallyNorth.net

Coke, Andover rally for dramatic victory

Friday, November, 11 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER — It may not have taken eight overtime like a season ago, but the celebration on the Lovely Field turf was just as emotional.

“What a rivalry!” said quad-captian Matt Crush. “They need to start giving out a trophy for this rivarly.”

With 32 seconds to go in the game, Andy Coke sprinted left, picked up a pair of crushing blocks and scored the 21-yard touchdown that gave Andover a 26-21 come-from-behind victory over Lowell in the rematch of last season’s eight-overtime epic.

“I could see the end zone,” said Coke, who finished the day with 248 yards. “Once I got to the outside I knew no one was going to catch me. This was even more fun than last year.”

Lowell appeared poised to finish off the Golden Warriors after forcing a turnover with 2:03 to go in the game. But the Andover defense wasn’t about to give in.

“We had to send a blitz at them,” said Crush. “(Will) Eikenberry smashed the kid and suddenly I heard ‘ball.’ I looked down and the ball was at my feet. I dove on it and no one was ripping it away from me.”

Crush’s fumble recovery gave the Golden Warriors the ball at the Lowell 40 with 1:58 to play.

“I was feeling pretty down (before the turnover),” admitted lineman T.J. Leeman. “I was squirting water in my face on the sidelines when all of a sudden I heard we had the ball. I put on my helmet and had no idea what happened. After that, we knew we were going to score.”

But, five plays later the Golden Warriors faced a fourth-and-inches at the Red Raiders’ 11-yard line.

“We thought about kicking the field goal on fourth down,” said Andover coahc E.J. Perry. “But it was literally inches. Andy made a great play to get it.”

On a quarterback draw, Coke as hit in the backfield, spun off a defender and dove to pick up the first down. Then, a play later, he finished off the victory.

“I was going outside,” said Coke. “I saw (Will) Heikkinen throw a great block. I decided to go outside of him, and after that I knew I was going in for the score.”

Lowell was able to drive down to the Andover 32-yard line. But as time expired, R.J. Noel threw up a Hail Mary that was intercepted by Heikkinen.

“That’s why we have Heikkinen out there,” said linebacker Mark Zavrl. “He’s huge. He makes those plays.”

Despite feeling sick throughout the day, Coke was masterful. He carried 28 times for the season-high 248 yards and completed 6-of-8 passes including an 11-yard score to backfield mate Freddie Scribner.

Crush was dominant at middle linebacker, making a team-high 11 tackles. Zavrl and Brendan Paquette each added a sack and Jack Sylvester intercepted a pass on the final play of the first half and was tackled just short of the end zone.

 “This was an amazing win,” said Leeman. “This is one we will remember forever. I think this one was even better than last season.”

Additional stories:

• VIDEO: Andover wins thriller over Lowell