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North Andover Scarlet Knights Football '10

Tue, Nov 30, 2010 TBA @ North Andover
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
Concord-Carlisle 0 20 7 8 35
North Andover 10 0 0 6 16

Concord-Carlisle defense solves Walsh, Knights

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Thursday, December, 02 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

LOWELL — The defensive game plan was rather one dimensional for Concord-Carlisle last night in the Division 2A playoff matchup with North Andover.

Contain Knights' quarterback Brandon Walsh, who entered the game with 23 touchdown passes without an interception and 661 rushing yards.

"We focused on him all the time," said Concord-Carlisle defensive back Jackson Finigan after the 35-16 win over the Knights. "We stunted a lot to pressure him and we played tough man-to-man (in the secondary)."

The Patriots were so worried about Walsh that head coach Mike Robichaud felt that his club would need to score at least four touchdowns to win.

"Anything less, I didn't think we'd win," said Robichaud. "We recognized how much he can do to beat you. Our idea was to cage him with our ends (juniors Henry Bumpus and Trevor Castrichini), keep him in the middle with pressure and play tight. We weren't quite as concerned about (Walsh) going up top."

The strategy worked brilliantly as the Patriots held Walsh to 96 yards passing on 11 of 23 and 34 yards rushing, a number that is deceiving because it includes 29 yards lost on four sacks. Also, Walsh threw his first two interceptions of the year, to Finigan and Evan Boynton.

"Once they started passing, we felt we had to blitz," said Bumpus, who was credited with two of the sacks. We could tell he (Walsh) was good and we didn't want to give him any time."

Walsh admitted that the pressure was effective.

"Their front three or four guys really got in on me, plus they had good coverage," said Walsh. "It was a combination of those things, and I made some throws that weren't good ones. They were just the better team today."

All in all, Robichaud couldn't have asked for more from his defense, the first unit of which gave up only 10 points, all coming after two early lost fumbles recovered by the Knights.

Junior defenders

Although Concord-Carlisle compiled 362 yards of total offense, including 163 yards and two TDs by junior standout George Craan, the Knights often made the Patriots work hard.

Said Craan: "The score might seem different, but this was a hard game for me. They were hitting me pretty good."

A bright note for the Knights was that their leading tacklers, linebacker Stephen O'Grady (nine) and defensive back Walsh (seven) are both juniors.

Game Statistics:

First Quarter

NA — Brandon Walsh 6 run (John Hufziger kick), 5:03

NA — Hufziger 29 FG, 0:18 

Second Quarter

CC — George Craan 1 run (Evan Boynton kick), 7:30

CC — Craan 6 run (Boynton kick), 3:51

CC — Max Barrett 14 pass from Peter George (kick blocked), 0:28

Third Quarter

CC — George 1 run (Boynton kick), 2:35

Fourth Quarter

CC — Craan 2 run (George run), 3:11

NA — Jack Murphy 39 run (run failed), 1:20

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: North Andover (36-144) — Jack Murphy 16-99, Brandon Walsh 18-34, David Foote 2-11; Concord-Carlisle (43-319) —George Craan 27-163, Tim Badgley 6-120, Tyquan Culbreath 5-31, Jabrail Coy 1-21, Peter George 4-(-16)

PASSING: North Andover — Walsh 11-23-2, 96; Concord-Carlisle —George 3-4-0, 43

RECEIVING: North Andover — Jon Swanton 6-50, Foote 4-43, Mike Weisman 1-3; Concord-Carlisle — Jackson Finigan 1-27, Max Barrett 1-14, Craan 1-2

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