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Ramos (3 TDs) has huge day, but Andover falls late to Franklin

Saturday, September, 14 By Kyle Gaudette

ANDOVER - The record isn't quite going to reflect it, but Andover has played some pretty good football through its first two games of the season.

Last week, the Warriors played hard-hitting Wayne Valley (N.J.), which started practices before Massachusetts teams, and hung around until late in the fourth. As a reward, the Warriors got to welcome Franklin on Saturday, which was ranked No. 14 in EMass by the Boston Globe.

Talk about no rest for the weary.

But, after the final buzzer signaled Franklin's 28-25 win Saturday evening, Andover left the field probably thinking it had let one slip away. The Warriors took a 25-21 lead midway though the fourth quarter, but with 2:35 left - and on a 4th-and-6 - Panthers quarterback Thomas Gasbarro zipped a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jack Nally to put his team up for good.

After a pair of 3-and-outs, the Warriors started their final drive at their own 30-yard-line with no timeouts and 1:15 left.

But pressure on the first play resulted in an interception, and the Panthers were able to take three straight knees to close out their season-opening win.

"Obviously it was a hard-hitting game," said Andover coach E.J. Perry. "So we've now gone through two of the fiercest games that probably anyone in the state has gone through."

Senior Joshua Ramos tried everything he could to will his team to victory. The 5-8, 160-pounder ran like he was the biggest guy on the field, and finished with 31 carries, 149 yards, three touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He also caught four passes for 67 yards to put him over 200 all-purpose yards for the day. 

His final TD of the day - a 2-yard burst behind 6-4, 273-pound left tackle AJ Heidtke - gave the Warriors (0-2) a 25-21 lead with 6:16 left in the game. From there, it was on the defense to make a stop. Certainly not an impossible task with how the unit - especially the front-7 - had been playing all day.

Edge Michael Slayton was a star, getting in on a handful of tackles and landing a huge hit that forced a fumble early in the game. Linebacker Aneudy Moreno was flying all over the field making plays, and Heidtke, Parker Ranklin, Seth Jablonki and Shamus Florio helped lead a defensive charge that held Franklin to just 3.1 yards per rushing attempt. But Gasbarro made every throw he needed to. The senior finished 18 of 29 for 192 yards and four touchdowns through the air, with his final strike to Nally being the clincher.

"You can't ask for better individual performances then from (Ramos) and Slayton," said Perry. "So now you have to replicate that and get all 11 guys doing the same."

Up next for the Warriors, they'll be at Billerica for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.