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Denose, McAndrew lift Methuen over Chelmsford

Saturday, November, 07 By Duffy Dyer

METHUEN — During the week, Methuen seniors Kendrick Denose and Brian McAndrew were not feeling all that great.
Denose was still hobbled by a toe chip fracture suffered in a win over North Andover and McAdam was battling an ailing shoulder.
But Friday night, the offensive standouts ignored the pain to help carry the Rangers (now 4-5) to a never-safe 43-34 victory over Chelmsford.
Denose was outstanding with three touchdowns and 148 yards rushing while throwing two TD passes while McAndrew rushed for 141 tough yards and a TD on 26 carries despite aggravating his sore shoulder.
“The shoulder was bothering me all week, but I overcame it,” said McAndrew. “I’ll be all right.”
Denose felt pretty much the same way.
“During the week (toe) hurts a lot, but I don’t think about it during the game,” said Denose.
The offensive exploits of the dynamic duo were a must because the Rangers, leading 30-7 late in the third quarter, gave up three straight touchdowns and then had to hang on for dear life, only clinching it on a 39-yard scoring run by Denose with 59 seconds remaining.
“This is November and there is going to be a lot of bruises, and they’re banged up, but they continue to suck it up,” said Methuen coach Tommy Ryan. “Brian is about as tough as any kid I’ve been around. He has a real high pain threshold.”
McAndrew scored the game’s first TD, early in the second quarter on a one-yard plunge, and then Denose took over.
Two minutes after McAndrew’s score, he zoomed around the left side for 59 yards and then, after a 25-yard field goal by Jordan Perdomo, threw a 22-yard scoring strike to Michael Bodenrader (5 catches, 97 yards and 2 TDs) to make it 23-7 at halftime.
After Denose scored on a 12-yard run early in the third, the Rangers seemed to be in total control, 30-7, but  — depending on how you look at it — either the Lions’ offense (285 yards in the second half) cranked it up or the Methuen defense faltered.
In a span of 11 minutes, Chelmsford scored four touchdowns, including three in a row to make it 30-27 and later 37-34, but Denose had the last TD run to wrap it up.
“It’s nice to get the win but our defense has a lot of problems,” said Ryan. “We were on a mess on defense. We just have to keep working at it.”
 For Chelmsford (1-8), the worst season in recent memory continued, but head coach Bruce Rich was encouraged by the comeback. “We had a lot of positives tonight,” said Rich.