RallyNorth.net

Carroll, Rangers roll over Andover

Tuesday, November, 03 By David Willis
Staff writer

METHUEN — All Methuen needed was three plays.

Quarterback draw right, left, and up the middle.

Working almost exclusively out of an old-fashion single-wing offense, Cal Carroll and his Rangers dominated the line of scrimmage on the way to downing red-hot Andover 14-7 last night.

The win was the third straight for the Rangers (5-2), and snapped a four-game winning streak for the Golden Warriors (5-2).

 “We call it our jumbo set,” said Carroll. “We just put it in last week. We’ve been working on it, and just ran it at them.”

The formation, which Mike Bartlett ran to Eagle-Tribune Offensive Player of the Year honors a year ago, worked to perfection.

“We didn’t run that many different plays,” said starting guard Sean Whittaker. “We just kept running the same plays and they just kept working. We put it behind the core of the offense.”

Of the Rangers’ 254 yards of offense, Carroll was involved in 238 of them. The junior finished with 28 carries for 184 yards and both Methuen touchdowns. He also chipped in with 54 yards on 5 of 8 throwing.

Andover was short-handed due to injuries, playing without leading rusher and top linebacker Nick Enxing (season-ending knee injury), top receiver and linebacker Brian Miller (shoulder) and starting linebacker Ned Deane.

The Rangers did most of their damage on back-to-back drives. They closed out the first half with a 16-play, 92-yard drive that Carroll capped off with a 3-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left.

Methuen then received the kickoff after halftime, and Carroll scored from 34 yards out just 2:05 into the third quarter.

“That second touchdown was a killer,” said Andover interim head coach John Rex. “They simply made more plays than we did.”

The Golden Warriors were able to answer. After a 30-yard kickoff return by Christopher McConnell to the 50-yard line, Hennessy hit Jimmy Johnson on a 20-yard pass, then the QB rushed for a score.

Andover then delivered a stop, led by Jake Lebowitz (team-high nine tackles) and went on a 13-play, 71-yard drive to the Methuen 14. It was highlighted by a play in which Hennessy avoided two sacks, reversed field and hit McConnell on a 30-yard pass.

But Hennessy was sacked twice, once by Mike Lussier and another by Pat O’Leary, for a combined 20-yard loss to kill the final drive. Methuen took over and recorded two first downs to run out the clock.

“Hennessy made a few nice plays under pressure,” said Rex. “But it wasn’t enough. Their quarterback played a heck of a game.”