RallyNorth.net

North Andover playoff hopes take late hit

Friday, November, 02 By Hector Longo
Staff writer

Desperation affects football teams in strange ways. Last night, it brought out the best in Wilmington, which was just minutes from being all but ousted from the Cape Ann League race.

Instead, the frenzied Wildcats escaped a 7-0 hole in the final minutes, pinning an excruciating 10-7 loss on North Andover High.

The Knights, instead of remaining on track for a potential Thanksgiving meeting of CAL unbeatens with Masco, now must beat Lawrence and then take out the Chieftains for a chance to return to the EMass playoffs for the second straight year.

And even that might not be enough, depending on tie-breakers.

"I don't know,"said Knights coach John Rafferty, when asked of the league race. "I've got to beat Lawrence next week." A gargantuan defensive effort had North Andover sitting pretty comfortable.

Up until the final 6:51, the Knights had absolutely stuffed any offense the Cats could muster. Wilmington had 103 yards of offense and just 15 yards of second-half offense until that point.

Knights Robert Marcin, Chris Friend, Adam Lurvey, Ricky Williams and others simply took turns, breaking into the backfield and wreaking havoc.

"It was a hard-fought game, a physical game," said Wilmington coach Bob Almeida. "Both teams played as hard as they could, then the last four minutes we just took over. I couldn't be more proud."

Something clicked on that penultimate Wildcat drive. QB Kyle Moon realized the season hung in the balance and just refused to be denied.