RallyNorth.net

Samuelman’s heroics lift Knights to victory over Lawrence

Friday, October, 23 By Mac Cerullo

NORTH ANDOVER — Clinging on to a 28-23 lead, North Andover found itself backed into its own end zone with Lawrence driving for the lead.
The Lancers had just converted two long fourth downs, and now one more play would give the Lancers an incredible comeback win.
But then Joe Samuelman stepped in front of the ball for the interception, and just like that, the game was over.
With five starters out, including key playmakers Jukka Morales and Ryan Good, the Knights needed Samuelman to do it all, and their senior tri-captain came through. Samuelman finished with 118 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries while grabbing two interceptions at linebacker, including the game-winner with 27 seconds to play.
"It was an All-Scholastic performance," said North Andover coach John Dubzinski. "On offense he ran the ball great, on defense he was all over the field, he was just a menace to their offense."
The win all but assures that North Andover (4-3) will qualify for the Division 2 North playoffs, while handing a major setback to the Lancers (3-4). The Knight's opening round opponent will be announced later this weekend.
The Knights completely stuffed Lawrence's run game, holding the Lancers to negative 33 yards overall, but the Lancers proved resilient in other areas, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns while recovering a pair of North Andover fumbles.
The first kickoff return came on the game's opening play, when Darryl Munoz went 85 yards to the house to put Lawrence up 7-0. North Andover came back with a 2-yard touchdown from Samuelman later in the quarter, but the Lancers blocked the kick to maintain a 7-6 lead.
North Andover quarterback Seamus Lambert rushed for a 29-yard touchdown midway though the second to briefly take a 12-7 lead, but after Lawrence stripped a North Andover player near their own end zone two possessions later, QB Ismael Jenkins found Angel Abreu for a 5-yard score to make it 14-12.
The Scarlet Knights grabbed the lead again in the third quarter after Samuelman rushed for another 2-yard score, which he followed with a 2-point conversion to make it 20-14. The Knights extended that lead early in the fourth when Lambert hit Thomas Regan, who deftly juked a defender for a 54-yard touchdown.
It was 28-14 and North Andover's game to lose, but then Lawrence responded with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown courtesy of Abreu, and just like that, it was all wide open again.
Lawrence stopped North Andover on third and short to force a punt with 2:04 to play. A bad snap dribbled out of the back of the end zone for a safety, meaning Lawrence would have a chance to drive for the win.
Lawrence returned the kickoff past midfield to start off with great field position, but then a sack and an intentional grounding penalty pushed the Lancers into a 3rd and 20 situation. Needing a conversion, Jenkins went to receiver Luis Crispin, who rewarded him with a 14-yard completion and then a 9-yarder on fourth down to keep the drive alive.
Then, facing 4th and 10, Crispin saved his team again with a diving catch out of bounds to set up a 1st and goal from the 10, winner-take-all scenario.
"If they scored the game would be over, because we had no time," Dubzinski said. "They did great with clock management, they made great plays and we were very fortunate that Joe was in the right place at the right time."
The late interception was the latest in a series of setbacks for the snake-bitten Lancers, who will now need a lot of help to qualify for the playoffs.
"This team is pretty resilient, it's been like that all year, things just haven't fallen our way this year," Lawrence coach Mike Yameen said. "Hopefully we'll get a second chance, we have to hope a couple of teams knock each other off."