In the middle of the third quarter of Andover’s game against Cushing last weekend, Hallvard Lundevall ’16 snagged a touchdown pass from Robert Jones ’16 to extend Andover Football’s lead to 19-3. Andover ended up winning the contest 32-22 to improve its record to 3-1, bouncing back from its first loss of the season against a still-undefeated Choate team the week before.
Lundevall and Jones spearheaded the offense on Saturday, just as they had in prior games. Lundevall tallied 96 receiving yards against Cushing and currently leads the team with 75 yards per game, while Jones recorded 249 yards through the air – 74 yards on the ground and three total touchdowns.
Lundevall said, “[Jones] was doing a good job getting us the ball and audibled at the right time when he saw a mismatch, and [Head Coach Leon Modeste] knew what plays to call to get the wideouts open.”
In addition to producing effectively on offense, Andover was able to control the game defensively as well. The team turned in a season-high five sacks, with two coming from Co-Captain Jumaane Ford ’16.
Keegan Cummings ’17, who played on the defensive line, added, “Our defense was strong throughout the whole game and shut down their offense repeatedly.”
Despite rebounding well from the Choate loss that very well could have derailed the season, Andover is still searching for the holes in its game.
Linebacker Jack Legler ’17 said, “[Our linebackers] definitely need to be more aggressive on the line and make sure we’re not over pursuing.”
With a promising 3-1 start to the year, Andover is gearing up for the second half of its regular season. The key to the team’s success over the coming weeks will be maintaining strong team chemistry and keeping up the high energy that has been present in practices thus far.
Legler added, “We just hope to build off our successes, keep on improving week after week, fix the little things in practice and really try and keep the good team dynamic we have.”
The team’s next meeting against an undefeated Suffield team will be one of its most taxing games of the season – both physically and mentally. Last year, Andover was shut out 34-0 at Suffield, but the players hope that playing in front of a raucous crowd of family members on Family Weekend might give it an edge.
