ANDOVER — Heading into Friday night’s game, the Andover High coaching staff knew it had its hands full with Haverhill, led by senior quarterback James Farrell, who guided the Hillies to a combined 94 points over the last two games.
Quickly, those concerns went away, as the Golden Warriors’ defense set the tone early and kept that momentum through the four quarters, coming away with a convincing 29-0 victory.
Andover’s defense finished the game with nine sacks and an interception, while holding the Hillies running game to just 3 yards, and Haverhill to 117 total yards of offense.
“Coach (Shawn) Theriault, our defensive coordinator, said that this was our most dominating game that he’s ever coached and he did a terrific job calling our defense,” said Andover head coach E.J. Perry. “We were concerned, especially with their quarterback. He did a nice job tonight, but we took away a lot of things, so we were very excited about the way we played (defensively).”
The defensive line had six sacks in the first half and added three more in the second half. Lucas Souza and Jackson Fuller had three each.
“This is a huge win for us, especially on Senior Night. We were all just ready to play and we came out and hit hard,” said Souza.
Added Perry, “(Jackson) Fuller and Maliq Maliani were excellent on the edge, Josiah (Ymaya) was tremendous with three sacks, Lucas (Souza) had his sacks, our linebackers (Connor) Acheson and (Will) Dever were terrific and (James) Flagg had his pick. The whole front line was tremendous.”
Offensively Andover (5-2) jumped out to a 13-0 lead after the first quarter and led 19-0 at the break before cruising in the second half. Quarterback Dom Papa (12 for 25, 182 yards passing) connected on a pair of TD passes to Julius Martinez, while he also rushed in a score.
Freshman Henry Belscher connected on three field goals from 35, 26 and 27 yards.
“I gave (Belscher) a chance to get a fourth one which would have tied a school record (39 yards), but he was real good on those first three. He set the tone for us,” said Perry.
Haverhill (1-5) was able to get past midfield just twice during the game, turning the ball over downs at the Andover 41 in the first half, and then the Hillies put together a 21-play, 70-yard drive through the fourth quarter but a fourth down incomplete pass negated any chance of getting on the scoreboard.
“It’s all about trying to improve,” said Haverhill head coach Rob Pike. “It’s all you can do. It’s a lesson that we learn through sports and through other means. When things don’t go your way, you can cry about it and stop working, or you can keep working and move forward. We’ve got guys who are going to keep working to move forward. It’s disappointing, but there’s always another game.”
Twitter: @JamiePote
Andover 29, Haverhill 0First Quarter
A: Julius Martinez 40 pass from Dominic Papa (Henry Belscher kick)
A: Papa 1 run (pass failed)
Second Quarter
A: Belscher 35 Field Goal
A: Belscher 26 Field Goal
Third Quarter
A: Belscher 27 Field Goal
A: Martinez 13 pass from Papa (Belscher kick)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Passing: Haverhill, James Farrell 19-for-37, 120 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT; Andover, Dominic Papa, 12-for-25, 182 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT.
Rushing: Haverhill, Bryan Dos Santos 6-24; Andover, Dominic Papa 11-48, 1 TD; Nicholas DiBarai 2-31.
Receiving: Haverhill, Brandon Piraino 6-32; Jathian DeJesus 4-31; Andover, Julius Martinez 3-66, 2 TDs; Gus Concemi 2-35.