RallyNorth.net

Andover rolls over Somerville

Friday, October, 19 By David Willis

SOMERVILLE — Just moments after Andover’s seventh straight victory, Golden Warriors QB C.J. Scarpa’s eyes began to glow at the mention of their next opponent.

“Oh man, Chelmsford is a big game,” said Scarpa. “We are heading into the most important part of our season with four huge games, especially Chelmsford.”

In the watchup for their MVC Division 1 opener against their long-time nemesis Lions, the Golden Warriors hardly broke a sweat last night in dispatching of overmatched winless Somerville 34-6.

“We played pretty well,” said senior lineman Andres Christopulos. “There were a few things we could have done better, be we came out smacked them on offense and smacked them on defense, and everyone was hitting.”

The starters played just one possession in the second half, building the 34-0 advantage and letting the backups finish the job.

Scarpa again led the way, tossing a pair of touchdown passes to Will Heikkinen in the first half, then adding a score to Andrew Deloury in his only appearance after the break. He also rushed for Andover’s first score of the day.

Jack Sylvester added 116 yards rushing, all but 10 in the first half, and in his first serious action of the season at running back, Jesse Greaves also ran for a score. Chas Heseltine led the defense with 12 tackles.

Chelmsford on the mind: As soon as the game ended, the Golden Warriors began talking about their matchup at Chelmsford next Friday.

“Chelmsford is a very good team,” said Scarpa. “As seniors we have worked so hard to finally beat them. They are tough, but we feel like we can beat them.”

The Lions have been a thorn in the Golden Warriors’ side for decades. Last season’s 48-28 Chelmsford win marked the 12th time in 13 years that the Lions defeated Andover, and since The Eagle-Tribune began keeping complete records in 1984, the Golden Warriors are 5-22-1 against Chelmsford.

“They beat us as freshmen, then beat us sophomore year and junior year (on varsity),” said linebacker Jake Flaherty. “As seniors, if we can get a win against Chelmsford it would be huge. It is going to be an intense week.”

Calling them back: The score could have been much more lop-sided in Andover’s favor had it not been for penalties.

Cam Farnham ran the game’s opening kickoff back 77 yards for a touchdown, but it was called back for an illegal block, and Sylvester had a 75-yard TD brought back for a block in the back. Brandon Marti also had a 22-yard score disallowed for holding.

“The penalties definitely hurt us bigtime,” said Christopulos. “We lost three touchdowns. But we will work on that.”

Taking it away: Three of Andover’s scores in the first half came after recovering Somerville fumbles. Flaherty, Ommel Bonilla and Nathaniel Altman each recovered one fumble.