RallyNorth.net

back to eagletribune.com

North Andover Scarlet Knights Football '13

Fri, Oct 11, 2013 07:00 PM @ North Andover
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Lawrence 0 0 6 8 14
North Andover 14 0 14 7 35

Walsh, Stabile keep North Andover alive

  • Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Friday, October, 11 By Jeff Hamrick

NORTH ANDOVER — Two weeks ago, the Scarlet Knights were having a nightmarish season. This morning they woke up with playoff dreams.

North Andover continued its resurgence last night with a 35-14 victory over Lawrence to remain in the hunt for an MVC Small postseason berth.

"Winning is huge," said North Andover coach John Rafferty, whose squad is 2-1 in coference with two games left. "It's a different atmosphere and a confidence thing. But you have to earn it."

The Knights (2-3 overall) jumped on the Lancers (0-5, 0-4) with a pair of Tom Stabile rushing touchdowns in the first quarter. Three third-down conversions aided their first drive while only two plays were needed on the second possession.

While Stabile (107 of the team's 196 rushing yards) handled the ground game, quarterback Casey Walsh took care of the air attack, completing 14 of his 17 attempts. Seven different recievers hauled in passes, including Stabile's 36-yard touchdown with 5:56 left in the third that provided a 28-0 advantage.

"My main receivers all year have probably been Matt Iannone (3 catches-50 yards) and Bubba Shkliew (3-16), but tonight they were double covering Bubba," said Walsh, who also had a 20-yard rushing touchdown early in the third and a 4-yarder in the fourth. "But we try to spread the ball around as much as possible so they have to cover everyone."

Lawrence, which did sack Walsh three times, broke the ice when Tommy Tran stripped Walsh and returned the fumble 35 yards for a score with 3:53 left in the third. Kenny Richards added a 4-yard rushing touchdown midway through the fourth. Adrian Lopez and Darryl Munoz also recovered fumbles.

But the Lancers were stymied most of the game by a swarming North Andover defense that limited Lawrence to five first downs the first three quarters.

"I think we've stepped it up on the defensive side of the ball," Rafferty said. "We had to. We weren't a very good defensive unit the first three games, but we have come alive."

 

Game Statistics:

First Quarter

NA — Tom Stabile 1 run (Kyle Young kick) 4:26

NA — Stabile 5 run (Young kick) 2:18

Third Quarter

NA —Casey Walsh 20 run (Young kick) 9:58

NA — Stabile 36 pass from Walsh (Young kick) 5:56

L — Tommy Tran 35 fumble return (kick blocked) 3:53

Fourth Quarter

NA — Walsh 4 run (Young kick) 7:06

L —  Kenny richards 4 run (Justin Rivera pass from Nelson Valerio)5:08

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: L (23-62) — Richards 10-54, Eddie Cabrera 1-3, Christian Valentin 1-3, Valerio 10-2, Mikey Caban 1-0; NA (44-196) —Stabile 27-107, Walsh 10-44, Bubba Shkliew 5-41, Jake Burckhardt 2-4

PASSING: L — Valerio 16-26-135 (0 interceptions); NA (14-18-216, 0) —Walsh 14-17-216, Shkliew 0-1

RECEIVING: L — Luis Crispin 6-50, Rivera 3-62, Valentin 3-5, Cabrera 2-11, Richards 1-6, Rainer Almonte 1-1; NA — Stabile 4-72, Matt Iannone 3-50, Shkliew 3-16, James Foote 1-43, Tyler Salois 1-20, Charles Patane 1-13, Daniel Waddell 1-12

0 Story Comments