A seven-yard touchdown with seconds left in the fourth quarter capped off Andover Football’s outstanding 98-yard final drive but proved to be Andover’s only points of the day in a 28-6 loss to Worcester Academy.
Worcester opened the scoring in the first quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass.
The second quarter was a defensive stalemate, with neither team scoring a point.
Worcester stepped up its intensity in the second half of the game, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter, one resulting from a deep 40-yard pass.
William Young ’14 said, “The downward spiral began on the kickoff to start the second half. With decent field position and a momentum swing, Worcester drove down the field for a touchdown.”
Worcester scored again in the fourth quarter, going up 28-0 with only minutes left.
Leon Modeste, Coach of Andover Football, said, “They took their big backs, they took their big line, and pounded it down our throats. They just out- sized us, out-physicalled us, and out-muscled us.”
In a final effort, Andover drove 98 yards down the field for a Michael Kim ’14 touchdown with four seconds remaining.
Despite Andover’s spark in the fourth quarter, the PA passing game was not up to par throughout the duration of the game.
The team also suffered a huge loss when receiver LaBaron Sylvester ’12 got hurt.
“[LaBaron’s injury] hurt our offense because he’s a game breaker,” said Modeste.
On a positive note, Andover moved the ball fairly well on the ground on Saturday.
“They were a big strong team, but we were able to move the ball well,” said Modeste.
Ian Palin ’12 said, “We ran the ball semi -well but I think we should have run more outside chases because their linebackers were strong.”
With the exception of a few missed tackles, Andover’s defense had an solid game.
“We have to tackle better, and our secondary cannot get beat,” said Modeste.
Andover looks to improve before its biggest game of the year against Exeter this Saturday.
