RallyNorth.net

A pair of plays dooms Knights

Friday, October, 17 By Mike McMahon
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — Out of last night’s 106 plays, two were all that separated North Andover and Staples.

In what was otherwise an even game, a pair of one-play breakdowns doomed the Knights, as they fell to Staples (Conn.) 23-8 at Walsh Stadium last night.

Of the Wreckers 23 points, 14 were scored on long dashes.

In the first quarter, the Knights had Staples pinned on the two-yard line after a tremendous play by Chris Buco to down a punt before it entered the end zone. Two plays later, the Wreckers’ Tae Dangerfield slashed his way 98 yards to make it 7-0.

In the third quarter, Staples’ quarterback Brandon Picilio snuck between the tackles and torched the North Andover secondary for a 52-yard TD run.

Other than those two snaps, the Knights kept the Wreckers (5-1), who were ranked No. 21 in Connecticut by Max Preps coming into the game, out of the end zone.

“We played a very tough team, very tough,” said Rafferty. “I’m proud of the way my guys played. We played like a football team tonight. We made a few mistakes, you saw that on their touchdowns, but I thought overall, we played a real good football game against a very talented opponent.”

North Andover struggled to consistently move the ball. But, on the last drive of the game, freshman quarterback Brandon Walsh connected on back-to-back passes of 36 and 21 yards to David Foote and Ricky Williams that spotted the ball at the four-yard line. After a Buco carry brought the ball to the goal line, Walsh called his own number on the keeper to put some points on the board for the Knights. He then connected with Aaron Brunette for the two-point conversion.

“Our guys never gave up,” Rafferty said. “They put their first string back out there at the end of that drive because they wanted the shut out, but out guys never gave up, and we punched it in. We’re young, we’re inexperienced, but we played a very talented football team and hung in there with them. That’s promising.”