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Zac is back for Knights; North Andover takes down Newburyport in OT

Friday, September, 26 By Mike McMahon
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — The Zac Iovanella mystery is solved.

The North Andover star was missing for the first three games of the season, but returned last night against Newburyport to the tune of 116 yards on 25 carries as the Knights came from behind to take down the Clippers 15-13 in overtime at a soggy Walsh Stadium.

"It feels great," said Iovanella, who missed time with a bad ankle sprain according to head coach John Rafferty. "I knew I'd be in there all week, I was practicing at full speed all week. For the first time since August, I can honestly say that I felt 100 percent. It's great to be back, but obviously it's great to be back with a win."

Despite the horrendous weather conditions, which saw heavy rain carry well into the fourth quarter, Rafferty never considered holding Iovanella out another week.

"We knew he was ready to go," he said. "If we didn't think he was 100 percent, then maybe, but we knew that he was good to go. He's a football player."

Christopher Buco torched the Clippers defense, sloshing down the water-logged field turf for a 28-yard touchdown run with 7:05 left in the game to knot the score at 7-7. Buco flew under the radar, rushing for 44 yards on just four carries.

After forcing Newburyport to go three and out to keep the score tied, freshman Brandon Walsh, who filled in for Iovanella at quarterback during his time on the sidelines, almost led the Knights to a game-winning score with 1:41 left. Walsh, who lined up in the shotgun with Iovanella as the running back, moved the Knights 59 yards completing a pair of passes to Andrew Brunette of 21 and 13 yards, but the drive stalled at the 21 yard line, sending the game to OT.

"Brandon is going to be a very good quarterback," said Rafferty. "You can see it already, he was so composed under pressure. You have to remember that he's only a freshman, and I think we have to remember that he's only a freshman, because when you watch him, he doesn't look like one."

Newburyport's David Freeman (117 yards on 25 carries) hammered a 10-yard touchdown run on the first play of the opening possession in overtime, but was stuffed by the Knights' defense on the mandatory two-point conversion.

On North Andover's first possession of the OT, Iovanella lined up in the shotgun for the Knights, losing three yards on his first attempt before weaving his way downfield and into the end zone for a score.

On the two-point conversion, Iovanella was wrapped up at the three yard line before powering his way towards the goal line and breaking the plane with the nose of the ball just before his knees hit the ground.

"I kept moving my feet and then felt someone push me," he said. "I'm not even sure who. I was just focused on keeping myself up and moving forward. As I felt myself going down, I knew I just had to get the ball stretched out as far as I could."

As the referees signaled he was in, the Knights stormed the field, piling on top of each other in the end zone.

"It was a nice welcome back present," Iovanella said. "We were struggling, we had some tough weeks, and to come back tonight, with these guys, and get the job done feels great. I had holes to run through that were enormous. I don't know if the offensive line felt like they had to protect me more, but I had huge holes. Brandon (Walsh) comes in and makes some great completions for us when we were going for it in the fourth. It's a great win, everyone played a part. The defense came up huge after our score to tie it to force them three and out. Just an awesome feeling to be back."

Added Rafferty, "We're a young team, so this was nice to get under out belt. We had a lot of guys who had never been in a situation like this before. You learn from games like this, and you learn to win from games like this."