Andover Football (0-3) traveled over three hours to face off against the Kent School (Kent) Football team on Saturday — a game on Andover’s schedule that typically serves as a confidence and morale booster. While dominating in the first half, Kent was able to come back from Andover’s double-digit lead, ending the game with a two-point conversion that put Kent one point ahead by the final whistle.
Kent delivered an action-packed end to a high-scoring shootout that shocked the confident Andover Football team. Byron Johnson ’25 recapped the last few minutes of the game and highlighted Kent’s star player who managed to tear apart the defense of Andover leading to the close loss.
“They ran into the end zone both times with their best player that we had planned for the whole week to defend. He just made good football plays. Then, they needed a two-point conversion. They tried a trick play. We thought we tackled the guy who had the ball, but their best player again, the guy we had known was good, stripped the ball from his own teammate and ran into the end zone, and we didn’t know. We were busy celebrating as we thought we had secured the game and he took the ball from his own teammate and scored,” said Johnson.
Even though Andover dealt with a heartbreaking finish to the game, the team put up a dominant performance in the first half, playing very well on both sides of the ball. Offensive lineman, Scott Carmichael ’27 discussed the first half and his optimism that the team can hold down leads in the future and manage to put a win on the team’s record.
Carmichael said, “On the road, the team had a pretty calm, cool, and collected demeanor. We were really ready to beat the brakes off Kent. We were up 21-6 at halftime and we ran the rock really well. Even though the second half didn’t quite go our way, we’re hoping to bounce back and get our first win at home on Friday.”
Similar to Carmichael, Carter Aime ’25 is ready to experience victory for the first time this season. Aime believes it starts with practice and having a growth mindset during the week to make sure the team puts its best foot forward on gameday. The team is looking ahead to Friday — hoping it will be an opportunity for Andover to finally put a win on the board. The team will be excused from classes on Friday as the game will start at 11 a.m.
“The practices have been pretty hard this week, which is good because we need that intensity. Today [Monday], we had an especially hard practice since we have a game on Friday. We have been practicing our run and deep pass defense because that is what we struggled with last game. That is what we are focused on right now,” Aime said.
Andover Football returns to Phelps Stadium to play in a home game against Cheshire Academy on Friday.
