With Good out, Haverhill steamrolls Knights
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HAVERHILL — Two North Andover High football teams hit the turf at Trinity Stadium here last night:
One led by senior Ryan Good, bursting to a 14-0 early lead.
The other severely missing the fullback/linebacker.
Good's exit in the second quarter with a knee injury sparked a furious rally from host Haverhill High, which ran off 35 straight points to steamroll the Knights, 35-14, and rise from the ranks of the winless.
Off to an 0-2 start and trailing 14-0 on your home field in your league opener. Could things have been worse for Haverhill?
"We were trapped and we knew it," said Hillies coach Tim O'Connor. "We knew we couldn't go to 0-3. There's nothing more dangerous than a trapped rat. We held them accountable. And we righted the ship."
The Hillies did what they do best. Fight.
Defensively, O'Connor's gang simply filled all the gaps and wouldn't allow the chains to move.
A North Andover offense that rolled up 197 yards on its first 19 plays — with Good in the game — was limited to 45 yards on the 19 plays without him.
"I'm not one to make excuses for injuries, but losing Ryan Good was just a massive blow," said first-year North Andover High coach John Dubzinski. "To lose a kid like that, losing your best player like that ... you just become a different team."
Good (11 carries, 90 yards) and Jukka Morales ignited the Knight faithful in the place with early TD runs of 22 and 43 yards, respectively.
But Haverhill has a big-play threat or two on its side, too.
And the Hillies clawed back on the legs, not the arm, of junior QB Broghean McGovern.
Pulling the rock from Pedro Santiago on a read-option handoff, the 6-5 McGovern burst 75 yards, nearly untouched to slice the margin in half, 14-7, midway through the second quarter.
Santiago was next, picking off a pass to put the Hillies in business again at their own 40 with 5:38 left before the half.
McGovern hit Navin Cruz on a key 35-yard hookup to the Knights' 16 then scrambled to the 10.
It took Santiago a pair of runs to make it 14-13 heading to the half.
The bad news for the Knights, Good wasn't coming back, and Haverhill had no sympathy.
Santiago (21 carries, 119 yards) put the Hillies on top with his second score, a 16-yard dash up the gut. McGovern rolled and zipped a strike to Luc Chretien for the two, making it 21-14.
Minutes later, McGovern tossed his second TD pass of the year, to Santiago, who made a nice sliding catch.
"(Good) is an incredible player, and I knew he was going to bring it," said the junior Santiago. "I knew I had to bring it harder than him, and it showed."
By this time, the Haverhill defense smelled blood and finished the deal with a four-and-out. Chretien closed out the scoring with a 14-yard run, again right up the middle to end it.
Game Statistics:
First Quarter
NA — Jukka Morales 43 run (Ryan Weinberg kick) 1:56
Second Quarter
NA — Ryan Good 22 run (Weinberg kick) 9:17
H — Broghean McGovern 75 run (Cam Lynch kick) 8:40
H — Pedro Santiago 1 run (rush failed) 3:30
Third Quarter
H — Santiago 16 run (McGovern to Luc Chretien pass) :57
Fourth Quarter
H — Santiago 7 pass from McGovern (Lynch kick) 3:37
H — Chretien 14 run (Lynch kick) 2:02
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: H — McGovern 7-95, Santiago 21-119, Chretien 8-40, J.C. Laguerre 7-28; NA — Good 11-90, Morales 3-46, Seamus Lambert 6-13, Joseph Samuelman 7-49, Will Testa 1-2
PASSING: H — Mcgovern 6-16-0, 75; NA — Lambert 4-10-2, 42
RECEIVING: H — Bobby Brown 1-8, Chretien 1-3, Owen Keegan 1-6, Navin Cruz 1-35, Santiago 1-7, Mike Gleason 1-16; NA — Samuelman 2-11, Tom Regan 2-31
