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Andover passing attack erupts

Saturday, September, 26 By David Willis
Staff writer

TEWKSBURY – Through two tough weeks, Andover receiver Jimmy Johnson knew it was only a matter of time until his team’s passing game would click.

“You just look at the team,” said Johnson. “We have Chris McConnell, the fastest guy in the state, a guy that’s going to play Division 1 (football) in Brian Miller going over the middle and I’m a guy that runs across the middle. With Hennessy throwing the ball the way he does, it can be amazing.”

After plenty of struggles through the air early in the season and a 1-1 start, the Golden Warriors finally did click yesterday, as Hennessy and his group of receivers shredded Tewksbury on the way to a 47-34 victory.

“I think when things aren’t working out you’re going to get frustrated,” said Hennessy. “But once Brian Miller made that amazing catch over the middle, we knew it was going to be a good day.”

Hennessy, an Eagle-Tribune All-Star a year ago after throwing for an area-best 20 touchdowns, had not thrown for a single score through the first two games of the season and had recorded just 223 total passing yards.

But yesterday, the senior QB hit on 13-of-21 passes for 235 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran for an eye-popping 60-yard touchdown run during which he appeared to be down at least twice.

Fellow reigning Eagle-Tribune All-Star McConnell had an equally frustrating start to the season. After catching 36 passes for 556 yards and an area-high eight touchdowns last year, he had just four catches for 60 yards in the first two weeks of this season.

But the senior track star broke out against Tewksbury. He made just two catches, but those two grabs went for touchdowns of 21 and 70 yards.

It was Miller, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound receiver, that set the tone just a minute into the second quarter. Hennessy threw a pass over the middle that Miller snatched out of the air with one hand, eluded one defender and ran over another before scampering 32 yards for a touchdown.

“It was nice to see Brian Miller go out and catch a few balls,” said Andover interim head coach John Rex. “That first catch was a fantastic grab through the air in traffic. And it was good to see McConnell do a few good things and Jimmy Johnson made some plays.”

Johnson continued his breakout season, making three grabs for 68 yards. Junior fullback Ned Deane added two catches for 20 yards and a touchdown and Miller had four grabs for 47 yards. He entered the game with just 37 yards receiving for the season.

“The first two weeks we were rusty,” said Johnson. “That Miller catch was great, and when I brought in my 41-yard pass on the up-and-out we’ve been working on all week, I knew we could play with this team.”

The Warriors also had an attack on the ground, with senior Nick Enxing rushing for 81 yards on just 12 attempts and Hennessy adding 50 yards on seven carries.

The Golden Warriors defense was also up to the task. They held the normally run-happy Redmen to just 55 yards on the ground on 19 attempts. And while Tewksbury QB Sean Connoly did record 246 yards through the air, 191 yards came late in the third and in the fourth, long after the Warriors had sent in their backups to face the Redmen starters. Andover led 21-12 at halftime, and were ahead 47-12 before Tewksbury’s late flurry.

Deane paced the defense with a team-high 12 tackles. Jake Lebowitz added six tackles and a sack while linemate Pete Theodorou made four stops. The Warriors twice punch the ball away from a receiver that appeared bound for the end zone, once by Miller and another by Hennessy, and recovered both fumbles. Brian Martin also recovered a fumble and returned it 15-yards for a touchdown, Andover’s final score of the day.

“It’s good to see them bounce back after the tough loss (to Gloucester),” said Rex. “We saw a lot of what we expected to see today.”

Additional stories:

• Andover passing attack erupts