Lawrence tops Andover through air
LAWRENCE 37 ANDOVER 26
ANDOVER — Lawrence went to Andover High seeking a statement victory. They came away with that and even more on a pictureperfect afternoon. The Lancers threw four TD passes, including three in the first half, as they upset Merrimack Valley Conference opponent and seventhranked Andover, 37-26.
“I’ve been outcoached by (Coach EJ) Perry a number of times,” Lawrence coach Rhandy Audate said. “I’m not saying I outcoached him here, but I’m telling you that the heart of these kids came through. This has everything to do with the kids and the coaching staff. … Today, going through the air really did help.”
Sophomore Jayden Abreu got things going with his first pass, a 76-yard catch and score to senior Joenel Figueroa to put Lawrence up 7-0.
Abreu wasn’t done as he completed his next three passes a couple drives later with a 16-yard strike to Figueroa again along the sideline to put the Lancers in front for good, 14-12. The Lancers’ defense forced a three-and-out and with 28 seconds left Abreu needed just two pass plays to find a streaking junior Andy Medina to go up 21-12 at the half.
“The first couple games all we did was rush, rush, rush, rush, rush,” said Audate. “All we were concerned about is playing our game. We like matchups and wherever we like the matchup every week whether it be throwing it or rushing it. That’s what we are going to do.”
Abreu ended up going 8-for-8 for 171 yards in the first half and completed his first 11 passes to go 11-of-12 for 202 yards.
The pass play that put this game away came on a trick play to open the fourth quarter as Abreu followed a fake handoff with a real handoff to Figueroa. The senior then threw it towards the end zone as a draped Estarling Morales completed the catch while on his back. A two-point pass from Abreu to junior Janiel Herrera made it a two-possession contest at 29-20 early in the final frame.
The ground game took over from there as junior Jadiel Gomez ran it four times in the fourth for 76 yards, including two 30-yard runs to eat up some clock and a 10-yard touchdown run to put this game away, 37-20.
“They put their trust in me today,” Gomez said about the Lancers’ coaching staff. “They put all their trust in me. … I showed them why they could trust me. We are 3-0 now and it is just going to keep getting better for us.”
Andover (2-1) was led by junior Lincoln Beal, who scored three touchdowns, including his second rushing score to cut the deficit to 2120 with 9:23 left in the third. He added a 54-yard catchand-run from junior Scotty Brown in the final minutes to make it a closer 37-26.