Perry lifts Andover in showdown
LEXINGTON — The quarterbacks were the talk of their hometowns — as well as the athletic department at The Heights — and they did not disappoint when they met last night on the football field.
Andover senior EJ Perry IV has committed to play football at Boston College and Lexington junior Sal Frelick has also verbally agreed to attend BC but for his baseball prowess.
At Crumb Field, they combined for 13 touchdowns with the last being Perry’s 8-yard run in overtime to lift No. 7 Andover to a 54-48 win in the Division 1 North quarterfinals matchup against second-ranked Lexington.
“We just battled,” said Andover coach EJ Perry. “Give Lexington a lot of credit. They are a great team.”
Perry combined for nearly 600 yards, including 400 through the air, as he scored the four touchdowns for the Golden Warriors in the second half. He finished with five touchdown passes and three scores on the ground for Andover (4-4), which will face the winner of today’s game between St. John’s Prep and Acton-Boxboro in the semifinals.
“He had a fantastic game and we are moving on,” the elder Perry said.
The Minutemen failed to score on their overtime possession. A loss of 14 yards on a scramble for Frelick put them at their own 20 on fourth down and an incomplete pass sealed their fate.
Perry opened up the second half down 42-29, but threw two touchdowns passes to Cedric Gillette to tie the game 42-42 before taking the lead 48-42 on a 10-play, 54-yard drive capped by a 6-yard keeper for Perry.
Lexington (7-1) tied it up with a touchdown pass from Frelick to Ben Quint with 6:38 to go, but both defenses stood tall to force the overtime. Frelick had three scoring strikes and TD runs of 47 and 14 yards.
Lexington used their ground game in the first quarter to build a 22-8 lead after the first 11 minutes as Frelick scored twice on the ground, including a 14-yard keeper with 3:43 to go to build the lead to 22-8.