ANDOVER – In a year where nearly every Merrimack Valley Conference football team has earned a signature win, and had a head-shaking loss, there is Tewksbury High.
Every game has been the same. A gem.
Tewksbury came to Andover High’s Eugene Lovely Field undefeated, with a top three seed in Div. 4 all but assured, win or lose, in the power rankings heading into next week’s opening round of the playoffs.
But there was no let up in the 41-14 win last night. There hasn’t been from Day 1 this fall, outscoring the opposition 276-76 in Tewksbury’s eight straight wins.
In fact, to the contrary, as the Redmen opened the scoring with 34 straight points in the first half, including an 11-play 70-yard drive to open the game and two touchdowns in the last minute.
They were a juggernaut.
“Tewksbury is so tough. They’re always tough,” said Andover High coach Jay Fielding. “I played against coach (Brian) Aylward when I played at Central. They play hard every game. You have to take a few extra hours a week just game-planning them on all their formations.”
Tewksbury, led by sophomore quarterback Will Harrison, completed all nine of its pass attempts, including a half-back jump pass on fourth down and goal from the 2.
Andover had opportunities early to stay in the game, but barely missed two long passes for scores. Two first half interceptions also sealed the Golden Warriors’ fate.
“I didn’t think we could start slower than we did last week against Central, but we did,” said Fielding. “We had some drives. We slowed them a bit. But then they made big plays and those turnovers were turned into touchdowns.”
Andover, though, earned some kudos, particularly speedy junior running back Marcus DeJesus.
While he finished with 101 yards on 12 carries, 69 of those yards came in the second half. He also added a 30-yard reception and a 30-yard kickoff return.
“If we were on the other side, I’d be very proud of DeJesus,” said Aylward. “He fought hard in the second half. We had a tough time with him.”
Andover’s sophomore quarterback John Stadler played the second half and guided two touchdown drives, going 7-for-12, 82 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run.
Andover finishes a respectable 5-3 and will wait to hear about their Div. 1 playoff game, which will be on the road.
“We have some work to do this week,” said Fielding. “This was disappointing, really the first half, but we played tough in the second half.”
As for Tewksbury, which has been a Final Four team the last two seasons, Aylward got emotional when asked about his team’s consistency since early September.
“We’ve been on the other side of a lot of these games against Andover over the years,” he said. “But every once in a while you have a group that believes in their abilities and has done the work not just during the season, but long before it. We have a chance to do something special, but right now everybody is 0-0.”
Tewksbury 41, Andover 14
Eugene Lovely Field, Andover
Tewksbury 14-20-0-7—41
Andover 0-0-7-7—14
1Q
T – Ben Christopher 17 run (Fuedo Jackson kick), 4:12
T – Jonny Sullivan 70 return (Jackson kick), 1:05
2Q
T – Jake Burns 2 pass from Christopher (kick blocked), 4:42
T – Christopher 78 run (Jackson kick), 0:38
T – Emeka Olu 2 run (Jackson kick) 0:00
3Q
A – John Stadler 8 run (Henry Belscher kick), 7:14
4Q
A – DeJesus 5 run (Belscher kick), 10:49
T – Burns 4 pass from Will Harrison (Jackson kick), 4:45
Stats
Rushing: T – Christopher 7-111, Harrison 7-0, Olu 9-21, Desisto 8-20, Sullivan 1-9, Curreiri 1-9; A – Marcus DeJesus 12-101, Kyle Olson 4-14, John Stadler 3-11, J.C. Jimenez 1-9
Passing: T— Harrison 8-8-0, 108 yards, Christopher 1-1, 2 yards; A – Olson 4-10-2, 35 yards, Stadler 7-12-0, 82 yards
Receiving: A – James Capachietti 6-58, Michael Crowley 2-32, Rodriqo Siquera 2-1, DeJesus 1-30