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Zavrl, McGovern huge in epic Andover win

Thursday, November, 25 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER — Never, in his wildest dreams, could Michael McGovern have predicted his performance.

“I really couldn’t,” said McGovern. “Of all my visualization I went through before the game, this isn’t what I thought was going to happen at all. I never thought I’d have the game I had today.”

Mark Zavrl admits he was more shocked than anyone when he bombed through a 42-yard field goal late in the first half.

“I thought it was just 32 yards so I kind of chipped it,” he said with a laugh. “Then they told me it was 42 yards and I said, ‘Wow!’”

Fans may not have known those names before the game, but they won’t soon forget the 154-pound senior, who had a touchdown and an interception, and the steely-eyed sophomore that provided key plays on both sides of the ball for Andover, which earned the MVC Large title and a berth in the Division 1 playoffs yesterday with a 19-7 win over Central Catholic.

“I didn’t expect this at all,” said Zavrl. “Crazy. I tried to pretend they were extra points.”

Fans and players alike were buzzing about the leg of Zavrl yesterday. The youngster opened the scoring when he easily booted a 37-yard field goal into a swirling wind to make the score 3-0.

But even more impressive was his 42-yarder with 1:50 left in the first half, that cleared the crossbar by more than 5 yards. Not bad for a player who had just one career field goal heading into the day, a 35-yarder against Dracut.

“Zav is going places as a kicker,” said quad-captain Connor Clancy. “He kicks 50-yarders in practice. We have all the faith in the world in him.”

But Zavrl didn’t limit himself to kicking duties. The linebacker added six tackles and knocked down a pass.

“I was having dreams he was going to win it,” said Andover coach E.J. Perry. “He does it all. Kicks field goals, hits hard and his kickoffs were great.”

For McGovern, it was the most daunting of tasks. Already a starter as a defensive back, he was asked to add offense to his resume — to replace of all people Boston College-bound Brian Miller, who is out for the year with a leg injury.

“We kept him on defense for most of the year,” said Perry. “Then because of injuries we needed him to play some receiver, but even then he was third string. Then Miller got injured and we said, ‘Mike, you’re going to have to learn receiver and back.’”

On just the second carry of his varsity career, McGovern took a pitch and sprinted in from 3-yards out for his first career touchdown to give Andover a 9-0 lead.

“We had gone over the run a lot in practice,” said McGovern. “I saw (tackle) T.J. Leeman pull and open a hole and just ran through it.

But McGovern wasn’t done there.

With Central Catholic at Andover’s 11 with 26 seconds left in the first half, McGovern reached to pick off the pass and close out the period.

“It was what we needed at the end of the half,” said McGovern. “We needed to stop their momentum, and I feel like it was a game-changer.”

McGovern added five tackles and was named Andover’s Player of the Game, an honor he happily shared with Zavrl.

“Michael is a kid that works and works and works and finally got an opportunity,” said Perry. “And Zavrl is becoming quite a weapon.”

Additional stories:

• Andover playoff bound, wins MVC Large title over Central Catholic