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North Andover, Lowell

LOWELL — It will be difficult if not impossible to duplicate what Jake McElroy did as the North Andover quarterback last year when the Knights were the undefeated Division 2 state champions.

But McElroy's backup, junior Will Schimmoeller gave a pretty good imitation Friday night as the Knights romped over Lowell, 41-14, for their first win of the season.

Schimmoeller, whose name was misspelled in the program, led the Knights with 54 yards rushing and a touchdown while also completing 7 of 9 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

"I thought everyone improved from last week but Will took a huge step forward," said North Andover coach John Dubzinski, whose club is now 1-1. "I thought he was quick on his feet, made some really nice passes and managed the game well."

For his part, Schimmoeller said: "It feels amazing to get the first win.I think I improved from last week but the whole team improved. ... I learned a lot from Jake (McElroy) last year. He really helped me a lot."

Schimmoeller got the Knights on the board early on their first possession. A 25-yard Schimmoeller keeper brought the ball to the Lowell 23-yard line. Then, after three unsuccessful plays, on a 4th-and-13, he delivered a beautiful 26-yard fade pass to Max Wolfgang in the endzone.

North Andover quickly made it 14-0 in the first quarter when Jake Wolinski intercepted a pass and zoomed down the sideline 42 yards for the score.

Lowell cut the gap to 14-7 when shifty quarterback Naujiye Neal dashed 45 yards for a TD, but the Knights came right back to make it 21-7 at halftime. Ricky Brutus had a nifty 30-yard kickoff return, caught a 17-yard pass from Schimmoeller and took a pitchout for 12 yards to key a 56-yard drive and Mike Difo scored from four yards out.

The Knights put the game out of reach early in the second half, scoring on the opening kickoff on an 83-yard TD return by Matt captain Matt Chicko, who made two tremendous cuts on the runback.

Scoring on the next two possessions, first on a terrific 15-strike over the middle to Brutus and then on a four-yard run by Schimmoeller, the Knights took a commanding 41-7 lead into the fourth quarter, which allowed for a running clock in the final frame.

As impressive as Schimmoeller ran the offense was the Knights' defense, especially in the second half. Lowell had only one first down in the last two quarters and, except for a 65-yard run by Kevin Yrrizarry, managed just 27 yards of total offense.

Joining Wolinski with an interception was Shaun Nichols, Christian Ortega recovered a fumble and junior lineman Jack Roche was in the Lowell backfield throughout the game. He was in on 12 tackles including five for negative yardage.

"You talk about needing to win on special teams, defense and offense and I thought we won all three," said Dubzinski. "I thought the kids really bounced back this week."