Sports

Big Blue Vs Loomis: The Breakdown

The first game of the year sets the tone for the entire season. A big win over the Loomis Chaffee Pelicans tomorrow, the Big Blue will have set themselves on the right path for the 2003 season. The Andover team is no secret on Academy Hill, and it has not been since Coach Leon Modeste took control of the team. The Big Blue is going to throw the ball and throw it a lot. On fefense, this season, the boys will run a standard 4-3 as they have in years past. When Loomis has the ball: Loomis Chaffee is a very powerful team, who will be very dangerous up the middle. The team also runs an option. In order to contain the Pelicans the Big Blue will need to step up put pressure on the Loomis quarterback. “We’ve been working the whole week to stop the option,” said lineman Uzoma Iheagwara ’04. “If we can shut down the option, we shut down their whole offense.” Iheagwara continued, “We want to hit their QB hard when he runs the ball, to make him think twice about running it again.” Look for big games from linebackers Captain Connor Hoesley ’04, Eddie Velez ’04 and Evan Platt ’06 to rack up the tackles. When Andover has the ball: Loomis starts a four-man front line, which will put an immense amount of pressure on quarterback Nick Stamas ’04. To stand a chance the PA offensive line will need to keep the rush off Stamas to buy him more time in the pocket. With that extra time, Stamas should be able to pick apart the Loomis defense. Loomis runs a 4-4, which means four downlinemen as well as four linebackers. The defense works wonders against most rush-heavy offenses in the Prep league. Andover, however, is a different story. With only three defensive backs in their standard set, Loomis can be very vulnerable to an air attack. As Iheagwara said, “Their outside linebackers can’t cover our recievers.” The boys will need to take advantages of the mismatches in the secondary. Add to that Loomis’ fear of Stamas running the ball himself, and that should make for a very long game for the Pelicans defense. Last season, PA dominated the Pelicans 41-22 in a tone-setting win. Andover broke the game open in the second quarter of that game, heading into halftime with a 28-8 lead. Andover will look for similar good fortune this week against a formidible Pelican squad.