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Fumble recovery jumpstarts North Andover

Friday, November, 06 By Christopher Smith
Staff writer

NORTH ANDOVER — Quarterback Brandon Walsh gave North Andover the spark it needed midway through the third quarter but he did not do it with his right arm or legs.
He did it by alertly recovering a fumble on the North Reading 10 yard line after teammates Alex Blane and Kyle Kobierski stripped the ball from a Hornet running back.
“They just punched it out and it came right to me,” Walsh said. “I just fell on it. It was a big turning point. We then put in a big score right there. It kind of got us going.”
North Andover scored two plays later to build a two-touchdown lead, energizing the sluggish offense that had not posted any points since early in the first quarter.
The Scarlet Knights scored 21 second-half points to beat North Reading 28-0.
“On that fumble, they just came from the backside and just made a great play,” the Hornets’ Robert Rosano said. “I couldn’t find a hole and it was just stripped from me. We can’t make mistakes like I made on that fumble. We had to play a perfect game to beat them and we didn’t.”
North Andover failed to score after blocking a punt and recovering the football on the North Reading 25 in the first quarter.
“It doesn’t matter about those misses,” junior David Foote said. “We got it together.”
North Andover received a spark from fullback Jack Murphy, who ran for touchdowns of 45 and 39 yards. He finished with six carries for 92 yards.
The junior knew he needed to step up after struggling in the first half.
“I don’t feel like a played a very good first half defensively or offensively,” Murphy said. “I dropped an interception. I wasn’t getting off of blocks well and I blew a few tackles.”
But all that was soon forgotten.
“Any time he (Murphy) takes the weight off my shoulders, that’s fine,” said star tailback Zac Iovanella. “He hit the hole real hard and he showed us some speed I didn’t think he had.”