RallyNorth.net

AVON, Conn. — The game had already swung violently in Phillips Academy’s favor.

The Big Blue, which had trailed by as many as 22 points late in the third quarter, had exploded in the fourth quarter to tie the Jack Etter Bowl, and took the ball back with less than two minutes left when Alex Tolentino made a stop on fourth down to cause a turnover.

With the 135-year-old rivalry on the line and less than a minute left on the clock, Ryder Stone and Phillips Academy locked down one of the most thrilling finishes in the historic meeting.

With 31 seconds left and Andover trailing by five, Stone took a handoff and burst in from 3 yards out to give his team the lead, and Alec Tolentino picked off a pass in the waning seconds to give the Big Blue a 13-12 win over archrival Phillips Exeter.

With its matchup with historic rival and fellow unbeaten Phillips Exeter a week away, Phillips Andover hardly broke a sweat in its warmup, jumping out to a 34-point lead and rolling to a 47-14 drubbing of Worcester Academy yesterday afternoon.

Deerfield — Not accustomed to playing on real grass, Phillips Academy ventured to Deerfield Academy on Saturday and still put a beating on. Phillips came away with a 45-12 victory and remains unbeaten at 6-0 on the season.

Led by 141 yards for Ryder Strong, Phillips rushed for 328 yards as a team as the Big Blue pounded N.M.H. 50-6.

"We ran the ball very nicely and threw when we had to," said Phillips coach Leon Modeste. "Our offense was very out of sync last week. We just couldn't get anything done. This week we really showed what we can do."

KENT, Conn. — Facing a four-plus hour bus ride home from deep into Connecticut, something would make the journey quite a bit more palatable for Phillips Academy.

A victory.

The Big Blue made that trip well worth it, as Matt Lialio scored with 8:42 left in the game and the Phillips defense made it stand for a 20-13 victory over Kent.