RallyNorth.net

Andover, Cambridge

Friday, September, 05 By Dan Hogan
Correspondent

 CAMBRIDGE — Andover rolled to a lopsided 48-0 season-opening victory over Cambridge Rindge & Latin Friday night.
“It feels great to start out on the right foot,” said sophomore quarterback E.J. Perry IV. “Last year we started the season off shaky, but the defense really stepped up tonight and put that zero on the board.”
Perry who split time last year with Oliver Eberth, who is now starting at St. John’s Prep, completed 15 of 27 passes for 289 yards and threw three touchdowns.
Two of the scores came on big plays — a 48-yard pass to Dan Gemmell and a 69-yard strike down the middle to Juan Quelis. 
“We want to throw,” said head coach E.J. Perry III. “We even missed out on a couple others that could have blown the game wide open.” 
Senior Kevin Chen is taking over the ball carrying duties after spending seasons past as a defensive back. Chen had a strong debut for the Golden Warriors, rushing for 102 yards TDs of 28 and 3 yards.
Perry said of his teammate, “Chen and me had two tough weeks of practice, but now we really have our tempo down and my mojo with him is great.” 
The unsung heroes of the game would have to go to Andover’s offensive line.
“Our line was tremendous. It starts and ends there,” said Coach Perry.  “My offensive line is really helping me out,” added Chen. 
Andover’s defense was as aggressive as its offense. The Warriors forced Cambridge to a punt on all but two drives, forcing and recovering two fumbles on the remaining drives.
Andover also managed to keep Cambridge’s quarterback to just one completion on ten attempts. All told, the Falcons had seven passing yards on the game.  
One player who was noticeably absent from the field and the sidelines was Eagle-Tribune All-Star nose tackle Omel Bonilla.
Coach Perry declined to comment.
Andover will play its first home game next Friday night when it hosts North Andover.
Andover 48, Cambridge 0
Andover (1-0):    8 21 13 6 — 48
Cambridge (0-1):    0  0  0 0 —  0
First Quarter
 A — Kevin Chen 28 run (conversion good), 4:43
Second Quarter
 A — Dan Gemmell 48 pass from E.J. Perry IV (conversion good)
 A — Chen 3 run (Brian Duffy kick), 5:38
 A — Gemmell 6 pass from Perry (kick fail), :52
Third Quarter
 A — Juan Quelis 69 pass from Perry (Duffy kick), 6:09
 A — Malique Meija 1 run (kick fail), :00
Fourth Quarter
 A — QB 6 run kick fail), 3:47

ANDOVER LEADERS
RUSHING (27-218): Kevin Chen 14-102, Jeremy Travaglini 4-58, E.J. Perry IV 2-15, Max Grant 2-17, Malique Meija 3-20, Aleck Chen 2-8
PASSING: Perry 15-27-3, 289
RECEIVING: Dan Gemmell 5-114, Juan Quelis 3-85, Brandon Marti 2-42, Andrew Soucy 2-16, Chen 1-8, Anthony Christopher 1-13, Alexander Marshall 1-11