ANDOVER — This one had everything.
Nine touchdowns.
Big plays all over the field.
Two of the top teams in Division 1, No. 6 Andover and No. 11 Methuen going back-and-forth for 48 minutes with the game coming down to the final minute.
Drama. Anxiety. Intensity.
And when it was all said and done, Methuen’s third-string quarterback Caden Hartley-Didio scored four touchdowns, tossed another, and watched his teammate Alex Santiago seal the deal with an interception to lead the Rangers to a thrilling 35-29 victory over the Golden Warriors in a Merrimack Valley Conference showdown played before a large crowd at Lovely Field.
“This is such a great win for us. After that devastating loss to Tewksbury, it’s a great feeling to come back and bounce back against such a great team like Andover,” said Hartley-Didio. “I knew it was going to go back and forth all game long. It was a great battle by both teams all night.”
Hartley-Didio rushed in four scores — all from 1 yard out. He finished the game with 83 rushing yards. He ran behind a strong and physical offensive line made up mostly of Jayden Nicola, Vinny DeMaio, Deyvian Rios, Jayden Guzman, Myckal Pitman.
“It was just Power-I formation and just ran right through the middle and it was there all day because of the offensive line,” said Hartley-Didio. “That was their best performance all year. I love those guys with all my heart. They won us the game tonight.”
Hartley-Dido also did it with his arm. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 108 yards, including a huge 34-yard strike to Tim Dornezon with 3:13 left in the third quarter, just six plays after Andover had cut the deficit to one.
“We motion every play, we run trick plays, reverses and all types of different things so it’s not just line up and run power,” said Methuen head coach Ryan Dugan. “Caden has to handle a lot of stuff and he’s so tough mentally. He has spent so much time getting better physically but also mentally and I couldn’t be more prouder of him.”
On the other side, Methuen’s defense came up big when needed — behind interceptions from DeMaio and Santiago, and two fumble recoveries by Pitman and Dornezon.
“Coming into this game, Andover has punted twice and let up just two offensive touchdowns,” said Dugan. “We challenged our kids this week to be angry and to come off the bus tonight and play angry and play with an edge. You come into games with a third-string quarterback and teams can take you lightly. We came here and we wanted to show that we’re not just a one-trick pony.”
Andover trailed 8-0, 15-7, 22-13, 29-21 before Marcus Dejesus made an incredible catch off a tipped ball for his third touchdown of the night and followed it up by rushing in the conversion to tie up the game at 29 with 7:10 remaining.
After Hartley-Didio rushed in his fourth TD with 3:15 to go, Andover gained two first downs and moved the ball to the Rangers 46, but the interception by Santiago ended any thoughts of pulling out the late win.
“I knew they were going to come with a physical plan and they pushed us around, and they executed their game plan,” said Andover head coach Jay Fielding. “I knew this was going to be the most physical team that we were going to face to this point of the season, and (Methuen) executed and gave it to us.
“You can’t turn the ball over four times and expect to win. We just didn’t make enough plays. We had some penalties at the end which hurt us, so we need to be more disciplined and that’s on me. You are riding high when you’re 3-0, so tonight is a good learning lesson.”
Andover was led by QB Kyle Olson, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 205 yards and three TD passes, while also rushing for 55 yards. Dejesus scored three touchdowns, including an 85-yard kickoff return touchdown, and finished with 171 all-purpose yards.
Methuen 35, Andover 29
First Quarter
M: Caden Hartley-Didio 1 run (Cole Smith pass from Alex Santiago)
A: Marcus Dejesus 85 kickoff return (Henry Belscher kick)
Second Quarter
M: Hartley-Didio 1 run (Hicham Aboutoui kick)
M: Hartley-Dido 1 run (Aboutoui kick)
A: Rodrigo Siqueira 10 pass from Kyle Olson (Belscher kick)
Third Quarter
A: Dejesus 38 pass from Olson (Belscher kick)
M: Tim Dornezon 34 pass from Harley-Dido (Aboutoui kick)
Fourth Quarter
A: Dejesus 15 pass from Olson (Dejesus rush)
M: Hartley-Dido 1 run (kick failed)
Individual Statistics
Passing: M, Caden Hartley-Dido 5 of 7, 108 yards, 1 TD; A, Kyle Olson 15 for 24, 205 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs.
Rushing: M, Caden Hartley-Didio 25-83, 4 TDs; Tim Dorenzon 3-53; Al Kalle 4-23; A, Kyle Olson 10-55; Marcus Dejesus 6-17.
Receiving: M, Dylan Conway 1-34; Thomas Rodriguez 1-30; Tim Dornezon 1-29, 1 TD; Alex Santiago 1-12; Al Kalle 1-3; A, Marcus Dejesus 4-64, 2 TDs; James Capachietti 2-54; Michael Crowley 4-46; Rodrigo Siqueira 4-34; Nick IIsley 1-7.