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Andover can't run with Tewksbury

Saturday, September, 24 By David Willis
Staff writer

TEWKSBURY — At halftime, it looked as if Andover had taken control of the game.

Forcing a turnover with less than a minute to go in the half, the Golden Warriors quickly drove 34 yards and Mark Zavrl booted a 28-yard field goal to give his squad a two-point lead at the break.

“We had the field goal and we felt good,” said Andover coach E.J. Perry. “But we had to do a better job of stopping the run.”

Tewksbury used a powerful running game to dominate the clock in the second half, scoring touchdowns on three straight possessions, as the injury-riddled Golden Warriors fell to the Indians 38-28 yesterday afternoon.

“We made some errors in the first half that were key,” said Perry.

The Golden Warriors struck first, with star running back Andy Coke breaking free for a 28-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. But Tewksbury tallied two scores in the second, and Andover’s only other lead was at halftime.

Coke faced eight-man fronts for nearly the entire contest, but was still able to 103 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns.

But Andover struggled to slow the Indians in the second half.

Employing an old-fashion single-wing offense, consisting almost entirely of straight-ahead rushes, Tewksbury was able to pile up 372 yards on 50 carries, including 196 in the second half, while passing the ball only four times on the day.

They were paced by Chris Bettano, who carried 21 times for 233 yards and three scores. That after he rushed for just 80 yards in a loss to Lawrence last week.

“They had a game plan to attack the edges,” said Perry. “They did it well.”

Andover was battling major injury issues. Three key starters missed the game — defensive lineman Matt Crush and defensive backs Freddie Scribner and Jimmy Walsh — and linebacker Zavrl missed the second half with an apparent leg injury suffered before kicking the field goal. That for a team that lost starting linebacker Will Clark in the preseason to a knee injury.

“It’s difficult right now,” said Perry. “The injuries hurt everything. Crush is a top lineman on both sides of the ball, and without Scribner we lost a defensive back and our No. 2 running back. They are all important.”

The Andover passing game came to life in the second half, with quarterback C.J. Scarpa (182 passing yards) hitting Cam Farnham and Will Heikkinen for a touchdown each in the fourth quarter.

But it was more bad news as Farnham, who also made an acrobatic catch, had to be helped off the field with an injury after sustaining a massive hit near the goal line.

“I’m optimistic some guys will be back soon,” said Perry. “This is a resilient group. I never felt like we were out of the game. But we need to work on a few things.”