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Second-quarter flurry lifts Andover over Lawrence

ANDOVER — By mid-second quarter, all the boxes were filled for Andover High.

Offense??? Check.

Defense? Check

Special teams? Check mate.

In a 28-point second-quarter flurry, the unbeaten Warriors sizzled in all three phases against Lawrence, building an insurmountable advantage and rolling over the winless Lancers, 42-14.

For Andover, it's the school's first 6-0 football start since 2004.

"It feels good to come together here as a football team," said Andover coach E.J. Perry. "After a couple of very tough games, we came in and did exactly what we had to do. A lot of guys, filling in for the other guys, and they picked it up."

Not so special: Struggles in the punting game for Lawrence were evident on film, and the Warriors made the Lancers pay.
"That's like four blocks in three games," lamented Lawrence skipper Mike Yameen after he watched the first of two swats by Andover junior Cole Organisciak.
The 172-pounder pounced on the bouncer — boxing out a pair of teammates on the way — and hoofed it 14 yards for the first of two special teams TDs on the night for the Warriors.

"There was no way I wasn't going to get that ball," said Organisciak. "When I got it, I knew exactly where I had to go."

Senior Cam Farnham had the other, chasing down a low squib kickoff at his own 10 and ripping it up the far sideline 90 yards for the kick-six.

Light night on offense: With the starters basically done by 4 minutes into the second period, there weren't a ton of offensive numbers to speak of for the Andover aces. QB C.J. Scarpa was just 4 of 5 for 112 yards and a pair of TDs, one to Andrew Deloury and the other to Will Heikkinen.
Lead back Jack Sylvester carried 8 times for 56 yards and a score, and Jesse Greaves came off the bench nicely to provide 80 yards on 11 tries.

"It was nice to see a lot of different weapons get used," said coach E.J. Perry. "We showed tonight that we have some different ways to hurt you."

The crossroads approaches:  At 0-6, Lawrence's season has barely taken shape, leading Yameen to hold out a little bit of optimism.

"Win the rest of our games, and get a little help with someone beating North Andover, and we could take this league," said Yameen. "But we will see. At this point, I think we will see the guys who really love to play this game."