Running back Eddie Houghton ’09 ran for 125 yards and scored three touchdowns, powering Andover to victory this past Saturday in a 28-0 shutout over Loomis, the start to a promising season based around an experienced defense and balanced offensive attack. The game started out on the right foot for Andover, as Houghton ran for a 35 yard touchdown in the first few minutes of the game. Kevin Paul ’10 followed with an extra point, and Andover went up 7-0. In the second quarter, Andover added another seven points to its lead on a passing touchdown from Dan Hussey ’09 to Luke Duprey ’10. Both teams settled down for the remainder of the half, and Andover entered the locker rooms at halftime with a comfortable lead. To open up the third quarter, Andover wanted to sustain a long drive, and the offense followed through. Houghton and Sam Auffant ’09 carried the team down the field with a balanced mix of power and speed rushing. The drive was capped off with another Houghton touchdown, this one a short dive over the goal line, putting Andover up by a commanding score of 21-0. Andover’s rock-solid defense held the Loomis offense in check, in large part because of Anthony Morlani ’09. Late in the third quarter, Loomis was threatening to score, but Morlani got position over the Loomis receiver and made a key interception. Andover took this momentum swing and capitalized on Morlani’s interception, using the good field position to drive down the field for yet another rushing touchdown by Houghton. The touchdown, a dash from 20 yards out, gave Andover the 28-0 lead it would hold until the final whistle. The Andover team ran for 240 total yards on Saturday, led by Houghton, who totaled his 125 yards on just 16 carries. The team also had key rushing contributions from Auffant and Charlie DiGulian ’10. Much of this success on the ground can be attributed to the offensive line, which did a terrific job opening up holes for the backfield. “We outweighed and outsized the Loomis team with ease,” said tackle Bobby Vardaro ’10 of the offensive line. The holes opened by the line also enabled quarterback Hussey to rush for 59 yards on his 9 carries. Because of the capable running game, Hussey only made 8 pass attempts. The impressive offensive showing was matched drive for drive by the Andover defense. Cornerback Joey Atiba ’09, who had 5 tackles, said, “Our defense held [Loomis] to 0 points by mainly implementing what we practiced all last week, but also by making in-game adjustments to their offensive threats.” The defensive line was constantly pressuring and hurrying the Loomis quaterback, amassing 4 sacks as a team, 2 of which came from Captain Andrew Pohly. This week, Andover prepares to meet with the Tufts University JV team this Sunday. “Tufts is always a hard fought game since they are a college team, but I think that we should be able to come through so long as we can block for our great backfield,” said returning center Mike Bernieri ’09. Pohly also knows Tufts will be a good test, saying that “While we did a lot of things well against Loomis, we have a lot to work on as we face another serious competitor in Tufts JV team.”
