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Methuen keeps rolling

Saturday, November, 15 By David Willis
Staff writer

METHUEN — Judging by the tears Methuen’s Justin Marsan was pushing away from his red eyes after the game, this was not just another win for the Rangers.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been here,” said the emotional Marsan. “From where we were the last few years, you would never think that we would be back to where we are now. It is just overwhelming.”

Andover twice drove inside the Rangers’ 35-yard line in the final five minutes, and on both possessions Methuen turned them away without points on the way to a 20-16 victory over the Golden Warriors last night.

“Those plays were the biggest of our season,” said Rangers linebacker Matt Gordon, who made tackles on second and third down of the closing drive. “To do this on our last night game, and to win the (Dick Collins-Larry Klimas) Cup is just unbelievable. We have never been so happy.”

With the win, the Rangers improved to 6-4, clinching their first .500 season since 2002 (6-4). It also marks their first above-.500 Merrimack Valley Conference record (5-2) since 1998 and their first win over the Golden Warriors since 2002.

“We haven’t won like this in a long time,” said Jason Doyle. “It means a lot now to finally be winning after so long. People are finally coming out to game and playing attention to football again.”

It was Doyle that clinched the victory. On fourth down at the Rangers’ 30, the sophomore defensive lineman stuck his hand up, batted the pass into the air and pulled it down for the interception. Methuen then ran out the clock.

“I saw the ball coming and just put my hands up,” said Doyle. “The ball ended up in my hands and I was scared for a second. I didn’t know what to do and got turned around. But then I was the happiest I think I have every been. Everyone loves me right now.”

It was the Bartlett brothers once again that led the Rangers. Matt Bartlett hit on 9-of-18 passes for 128 yards and a 65-yard score to Joenrry Acosta. That gave him 1,066 yards for the season, giving him over 1,000 yards passing for the second straight season. Since The Eagle-Tribune began keeping the record in 1995, no other Ranger has passes for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.

Mike Bartlett, who went over 1,000 rushing last week, ran for 136 yards on 19 carries and the 15-yard touchdown that was the winning margin. Acosta made three catches for 83 yards and Pat Phillion caught four balls for 30 yards and returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown.

Andover found some success through the air. QB John Hennessy completed 16 of 27 passes for 200 yards. He hit Chris McConnell on a 57-yard touchdown and Brian Miller for a 25-yard score 1:54 before halftime. Kicker Matt Murray booted a 41-yard field goal to open the scoring.

“We knew they had some fast kids,” said Gordon. “So we were ready for that. It took a while, but we knew we had to do it.”