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Pereira, Central deliver convincing win over Andover

Saturday, October, 02 By David Willis
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — Having long ago left Friday night's game, spending the entire second half relaxing on the sidelines, Central Catholic star quarterback Ayden Pereira was all smiles as he celebrated a truly dominant performance with his teammates.

"This was great," said Pereira. "Andover is such a big rival every year, and we needed a good win. Especially the way we did it today, with such a great first half, was great. To come out here and play like that was awesome."

Pereira threw three touchdowns and ran for two more scores, all in the first half, then watched from the sidelines as the Central Catholic reserves continued to roll on the way to a commanding 56-0 victory over archrival Andover on Friday night in front of an estimated crowd of 2,000 fans.

"Beating Andover means so much to us and to everyone who has put on the jersey before us," said co-captain Justice McGrail, whose Raiders have not lost to Andover since 2012. "We had a great game plan going into the game, and we went out and executed. It was great to get a good win in front of a great crowd."

Central took control from the start on Friday. On the third play of the game, Raider Marcus Rivera intercepted a pass. Three plays later, McGrail got behind the defense and Pereira hit him for a 30-yard touchdown.

After forcing a three-and-out, Pereira hit Preston Zinter for an 18-yard completion, then found McGrail again, this time for a 35-yard touchdown.

"We wanted to strike first, keep striking and not let them strike back," said McGrail. "We go into every game feeling like we can control the tempo, and we did it tonight."

Pereira then used his legs to add to the lead. First, he plunged in for a 2-yard touchdown, then a possession later he took a keeper to the left, made a cut and raced for a 59-yard score.

In the final seconds of the first half, Central saw a touchdown called back for a penalty. Undaunted, Pereira dumped a swing pass off to Matthias Latham as time expired in the half, and the running back weaved his way through the defense and in for a 55-yard touchdown.

"I didn't think that first score should have been called back," said Pereira. "But I got the ball to Matthias, he made an amazing play and he picked up a few blocks. Matthias was great."

Leading 35-0 at halftime, most of the Central starters didn't play after halftime. Pereira finished 10 of 14 for 229 yards passing and carried six times for 95 yards rushing. 

Even after the starters were gone, the Raiders added three more touchdowns, courtesy of Markys Bridgewater (33-yard run), Quinton Deloury (36-yard run) and Matthew Blanchard (6-yard run).

The Central defense, meanwhile, limited Andover to just three first downs and 138 yards of total offense, 70 of those coming on one drive when the Warriors advanced to the Central 9-yard line before turning it over on downs. The Golden Warriors also removed many of their starters after halftime due to the score.

Defensive lineman Jaden Wiggins — brother of former Central star Jermaine Wiggins Jr. — excelled with eight tackles.

"I'm proud of the defense," said Raiders coach Chuck Adamopoulos. "Their QB and running back (Scotty Brown and Lincoln Beal) are playmakers. I thought we defended well. We didn't defense well the first couple weeks of the season, but we defended well tonight. We have guys getting better, and we're getting everyone healthy."