RallyNorth.net

Knights' title hopes washed away

Friday, November, 11 By By Hector Longo
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — The fight just wasn't a fair one, and Lynn English exploited it.

The Bulldogs, behind their healthy star quarterback Jermaine Kelley, laid claim to the Cape Ann League/Northeastern Conference Division 1 crown, rapping North Andover and hobbled senior signal-caller Brandon Walsh, 24-13, at a chilly Walsh Stadium.

"You want to be full strength, but hey, we drew it up there with what we had. That's just the way it goes," said coach John Rafferty, whose Knights fell to 8-2 and will have to settle for a Turkey Day battle for second place with rival Masconomet.

All week the spotlight focused on Walsh and his injured ankle, which he suffered last Friday at Peabody.

Walsh didn't start — his little brother Casey did — but did play sparingly in the first half before playing the entire second half.

The senior All-Scholastic was clearly hobbled, though, and finished the night just 8 of 18 for 98 yards.
Still, offense wasn't the problem as senior John Iannone strapped the team on his broad shoulders.

Iannone finished a huge night with 184 yards and a pair of TDs on 29 carries.

"Johnny is a great kid, works hard, and the people up front did a really nice job," added Rafferty.

Ultimately, though, it was the kick return game that let the Knights down.

They made a mistake taking the ball out of the end zone in the first quarter and were pinned deep in their own end and failed to fall on a kickoff in the fourth. That led to a pair of English scores.

"To be honest, we knew with playing a quality opponent, we had to do a great job all the way around," said Rafferty. "Offense, defense, special teams, you can't make mistakes. Field position was critical. We gave up some scores that put us 14 down in the hole. We never made it back."

North Andover had trouble slowing down the English offense with the multi-talented Kelley running things.
Kelley hit 15 of 22 passes for 162 yards and added 85 more on the ground.

Meanwhile, Brandon Walsh started and played the whole second half, but the Knights just couldn't dig their way out.

"Brandon brings a little more to the table than Casey. He can throw the ball better, can throw better than most people. So we wanted to give that a shot."