Andover Football fell to Suffield 7-21 against a strong Suffield team on Saturday. The team’s record now stands at 1-3.
According to wide receiver and cornerback Matthew Sapienza ’21, the team’s defense put up a solid performance. Still, the team struggled to gain offensive momentum in the first half of the game.
Sapienza said, “We didn’t really move the ball in the first half. We didn’t really have much of an offense in the first half, but our defense did well.”
Furthermore, the team committed a series of careless errors which ultimately cost it the game, according to Julio Dahl ’22.
Dahl said, “This was a good team; we just made a couple mistakes, and they were able to capitalize on them. We just have to get rid of our mistakes. We just have to come out swinging next time.”
According to Graham Archer ’21, Andover struggled most significantly running the ball. Over the course of the game, the team gained only 42 yards on the ground.
Archer said, “We could improve on our offense, specifically the running game. We had trouble moving the ball when it came to the running game, so we had to resort a lot to passing.”
Despite a slow offensive start, Andover’s defensive line was able to match the Suffield’s pace for the majority of the game, according to Sapienza.
Sapienza continued, “We struggled to move the ball a little bit. Then we started to get things going, but on defense we played pretty well. I mean, they just made a few good plays that really changed the game.”
Suffield’s 5-1 record heading into the game gave the team an indication of the challenges they would face, according to Dahl.
“Suffield is obviously a great team. You look at their record now, they’re 5-1. We were obviously the underdogs going into the game.”
Andover, however, maintains high hopes heading into its game against Deerfield, which it considers a “must-win,” according to Troy Pollock ’21.
Pollock said, “We just can’t lose — that’s the thing. This [Sunday] is a big game because we’re 1-3. We just have to come together as a team.”
Looking ahead, the team plans to focus on polishing its established skills for the second half of the season, according to Archer.
Archer said, “[We are] just working on our plays — not adding any plays, just perfecting the plays we have — just so we feel the plays we have are more effective.”
Andover will host Deerfield at 1:30 p.m. this Sunday.
