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Morales, Knights rally past Woburn

Friday, September, 11 By Jeff Hamrick

NORTH ANDOVER — As far as Jukka Morales was concerned, there was no sense in even running the play because the North Andover junior figured he already knew the outcome.

"I saw victory right there," Morales said when asked what he saw when he lined up wide to the left less than a minute into the final quarter. "I knew it was going to be a touchdown as soon as (quarterback Seamus Lambert) said 'hut.' "

Moments after that snap, Morales was 10 yards behind his defender and Lambert was laying in a perfect throw 26 yards downfield that the receiver took the remainder 50 yards for the much-needed go-ahead score.

"All I know was there was a lot of green grass in front of me and no one to stop me," Morales said of his scamper.

That throw, the second of at least 74 yards by Lambert, provided the Knights with a five-point lead en route to a 27-15 opening-night victory for the Knights over Woburn. The win also provided the first for new head John Dubzinski.

"(The Tanners) really did a good job shutting our run down," Dubzinski said. "So, we took a shot at it. It was a play-action pass. We got behind them and (Lambert) made a great throw. (Morales) made a great catch, and I thought that was the turning point in the game. It changed our attitude."

Morales, who was asked to help the rushing attack after starting back Te'Shaun McCray-Watson injured an ankle, did a lot more to change the attitude on the Knights' ensuing possession.

Faced with a third-and-7 from the 30, Morales took a sweep right that he busted hard upfield at the sideline and exploded to the open field for a 70-yard jaunt for the game's final score with 5:20 remaining.

"It was a little blurry at first," said Morales, who had all but two of his 123 rushing yards on seven second-half carries. "There wasn't much of a hole, but I got to the sideline and the corner fell and I just hit up the seam."

That one carry should help spark whatever rehab will be needed from McCray-Watson, who had 80 yards on 14 attempts.

"He's very explosive, and a threat to score from anywhere on the field," Duzinski said of Morales, who's listed as a slot receiver on the program. "We heavily depend on that ... and expect good things from him this season."

After falling behind early on a 69-yard run from Woburn's Dan Moscat, North Andover, which reached the Division 2 semis last year, quickly tied the score on a 74-yard crossing pass from Lambert Nikhil Jain. Ryan Good, who also had a fumble recovery, then set up his 7-yard touchdown run with 3:31 left in the opening half with an interception at the Tanner 31.

But Woburn, which was 9-2 last year, responded with a safety and a touchdown pass to open a 15-14 lead at intermission.

"My first thought was that it was ugly," Dubzinski said of his initial start with the Knights. "I thought it was a very sloppy game in the first half, but I think you see that a lot in Week 1 of high school football where teams have some jitters."