Fri, Oct 15, 2021
07:00 PM @
Haverhill
| Team |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Final |
| Andover |
7 |
15 |
0 |
20 |
42 |
| Haverhill |
0 |
13 |
8 |
0 |
21 |
Beal, Andover pull away from Hillies
- Currently 0.0 with 0 votes.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
Friday, October, 15
By Bill Gilman
Correspondent
HAVERHILL — Lincoln Beal ran for two touchdowns and caught two more through the air, as Andover High pulled away from Haverhill, 42-21, Friday night at Haverhill Stadium.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Golden Warriors (3-3) and kept their tournament hopes alive heading into next weekend's game against Lowell. Andover Coach EJ Perry told his team after the game he considered this win "Game 1" as they head down the stretch of the regular season.
"This was huge for us. That's why I brought out the seniors (in his post-game speech)," said Perry. "We have just nine seniors on the team and every one of them did their jobs tonight."
Two of those seniors are Tyler Fabbri and Luke Newton, each of whom came up with huge turnovers leading to touchdowns, as Andover pulled away in the fourth quarter.
Andover held a slim 22-21 lead entering the final quarter. But Beal (12 carries, 119 yards, 2 TD) changed that quickly, bolting 54 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the quarter. The Haverhill defense stuff Beal's 2-point rush attempt to stay within a touchdown at 28-21.
Haverhill, which used a ground and pound attack to roll up 266 yards on 56 carries, got into trouble when they strayed from their game plan. On their ensuing possession, the Hillies (0-6) from inside Andover territory and faced a 4th and 3 at the Warrior's 43. On came back up quarterback James Farrell who tried to throw for the critical first down.
But Farrell never saw Fabbri, who stepped in front of the receiver at the 39 and raced, untouched, 61-yards for the "pick-6" and a 35-21 Andover lead.
Things only got worse for Haverhill on its next possession. The Hillies drove from their own 24 to the Andover 5 (all on the ground) and appeared poised to slice the lead in half with just under three minutes. But an errant pitch from quarterback Nolen Skafas put the ball on the turf. Newton, a defensive lineman, scooped up the ball and started rumbling toward the end zone. Around the Haverhill 40, he handed the ball to teammate Patrick Cote, and the fleet-footed defensive back finished the touchdown return and put the game away.
"We just had too many mental mistakes," said Haverhill Coach Tim O'Connor. "We were undisciplined a couple of times and got out of our offense. A couple of times we thought we'd be able to do certain things but we weren't able to."
Haverhill ran the ball effectively out of their double-wing formation. Wingback Tristin Naylor (19 carries, 84 yards) and fullback Victor Martinez (15 carries, 80 yards) did the majority of their damage between the tackles. The yardage didn't come in huge chunks, but Andover had trouble getting its defense off the field.
Beal gave the Golden Warriors the early lead on a 1-yard touchdown run, capping a 13-play, 76 yard drive. But Haverhill answered with a lengthy drive of its own (15 plays, 75 yards), with Martinez barreling in from seven yards out to tie the game, 7-7, early in the second quarter.
Following an Andover fumble, Haverhill grabbed its only lead on a 3-yard run by Martinez to make it 13-7 (the PAT try was blocked by Beal).
Andover quickly regained the lead on a 52-yard scoring strike from Scotty Brown (7 of 12, 142 yards, 2 TD) to Beal. The pair hooked up again just before the half, this time from 34 yards out, giving Andover a 22-13 lead at intermission.
Haverhill was able to make a game of it, taking the second half kickoff and marching 57 yards in 15 plays, capped by a 3-yard keeper by Skafas for the score. He also rushed for the conversion to make it 22-21.
Game Statistics:
First Quarter
And — Lincoln Beal 1 run (Andrew Wetterwald kick) 7:10
Second Quarter
Hav — Victor Martinez 7 run (Joe Spero kick) 11:23
Hav — Martinez 3 run (kick failed) 6:17
And — Beal 52 pass from Scotty Brown (Wetterwald kick) 4:28
And — Beal 14 pass from Scotty Brown (Beal rush) 1:55
Third Quarter
Hav — Nolen Skafas 3 run (Skafas rush) 1:55
Fourth Quarter
And — Beal 54 run (rush fails) 11:47
And — Tyler Fabbri 61 Interception return (Wetterwald kick) 8:57
And — Patrick Cote 40 fumble return (Wetterwald kick) 2:20
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: ANDOVER (16-118) — Lincoln Beal 12-119, Scotty Brown 2-0, Campbell Morrison 2- minus 1
HAVERHILL (56-266) – Tristin Naylor 19-84,Victor Martinez 15-80, Joseph Spero 7-41, Nolan Skafas 9-29, J-Kwon Peguero 5-38, James Farrell 1- minus 6
PASSING: ANDOVER – Scotty Brown 7-12-0-142
HAVERHILL – Nolan Skafas 1-2-0-14, James Farrell 1-4-1-8
RECEIVING: ANDOVER – Lincoln Beal 5-115, Bret Mondejar 1-21, Campbell Morrison 1-7
HAVERHILL - Tristin Naylor 1-14, J-Kwon Peguero 1-8
