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Sylvester, Eberth give Andover revenge win over Chelmsford

Friday, November, 15 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER — Six weeks may have passed, but Andover’s memories of the 21-point October loss to Chelmsford on the Eugene V. Lovely Field turf were all too fresh.

So last night, the Golden Warriors earned their redemption.

Jack Sylvester threw a touchdown on a halfback pass to give Andover the lead, then ran for a 48-yard score that locked up the victory as the Golden Warriors beat Chelmsford 26-14. The Lions has bested the Warriors 43-22 on Oct. 4.

“After not making the playoffs, this was our game,” said Sylvester. “We wanted payback on our home field, and we couldn’t have asked for anything more tonight.”

Sylvester certainly showed what this game meant. In addition to his two touchdowns, he finished with 131 yards rushing and twice intercepted Chelsmford QB Campsmith. One pick came with the Lions at the Andover 23 looking to make it a two-touchdown game, and the other late in the fourth quarter.

Paced by Sylvester, Campsmith was limited to 65 passing yards after throwing for 206 yards in the first meeting.

“I can’t even describe how great it feels to have this revenge victory Chelsmford,” said defensive lineman Ben Hartford. “We were well tuned on defense today. Our d-line played great, with a special shout-out to Ommel Bonilla. We were communicating with our linebackers and the defensive backs were on point.”

QB Oliver Eberth also delivered a breakout day. The sophomore set career-highs in passing yards with 174 and rushing yards with 136 — including 109 in the second half.

“Olly had a tremendous day,” said receiver Cam Davey, who had a game-high 67 receiving yards. “He just did everything. Jack was running the ball, and that opened up Olly. He had such a great day. In our last home game to beat Chelmsford was just icing on the cake.”

After Chelmsford scored to open the game, on a Jeff D’Auria 55-run touchdown run, the Golden Warrior defense was a force the rest of the way, led by Bonilla (12 tackles), Will Eikenberry (14 tackles) and Hartford (8 tackles).

Kicker Ryan Payne played a key role early, booting a 37-yard bomb of a field goal, and following that up with a 28-yard field goal boot later.

The Golden Warriors have now won three straight going into Thanksgiving.

“This was my last game on the turf, and since I’m not playing college football I only have one game left,” said Sylvester. “So to go out like this is really a dream come true.”