Ryder Stone ’14 burst into the endzone with a three-yard run, capping a long first drive and scoring the first of Andover’s touchdowns in a 45-12 rout of Deerfield Academy. For the second week in a row, Andover Football scored over 35 points and shut out the opposing offense in the first half. Led by quarterback Ian Maag ’14, who completed 11 of 13 passes for 174 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, the offense kept the game out of reach from Deerfield. Andover improved its winning streak to six games for a record of 6-0. Stone ran for 106 yards on 19 carries and scored one touchdown, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and improved his season totals to 713 yards and seven touchdowns on 107 carries. Michael Moore ’14, who had a 37-yard touchdown run, the longest of the day, carried the ball five times for 59 yards and scored two touchdowns. Head Coach Leon Modeste attributed Andover’s quick start to its refined style of play. “We’ve definitely been really efficient. We’ve been getting a good first drive. Tom [Mullen ’14] usually kicks off through the end zone or it goes pretty deep. We get good coverage, and then the defense holds them to a three-and-out. Then they punt, and we get good field position, and we have a much shorter field to use to score. When you have to go only 55 yards to score, that’s really good for us,” said Modeste. Brandon Michel ’14 secured both of Maag’s touchdown passes and scored on an interception return in the first quarter. Michel finished the game with 85 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six receptions. Maag, Stone and Michel lead all NEPSAC League players in passing yards, rushing yards and receiving yards, respectively. Andover continued its defensive prowess, holding Deerfield to just two second-half touchdowns. Andover has not given up more than two touchdowns in any game this year. “We have very, very good defensive backs and very alert kids. We’re ball-hawkers. Our kids go after the ball and make plays. Defensive backs can cover guys, but our defensive backs can cover guys and get the ball,” said Modeste. Moore led the defense with 14 tackles, followed by Tyler Marshall ’14 and Will Young ’14 with 11 tackles each. Marshall also had one sack. Andover also forced six Deerfield turnovers, three of which were interceptions from Michel, Young and Matt Rusk-Kosa ’14. The other three Deerfield turnovers were fumbles recovered by Michael DeLaus ’14 and John Simourian ’16. “Our outside linebackers, Michael Delaus and John Simourian, are always looking for the ball. John is a special teamer, an outside linebacker and he’s a rush guy,” said Modeste. Along with the two fumble recoveries, Simourian had seven tackles against Deerfield. “I started out as a defensive back, but there were a lot of guys in front of me, so the coaches recommended that I move to linebacker. I got into the game against Choate, made a couple tackles and they put me in more. The coaches keep me optimistic about getting more playing time, so I come into each game ready to play,” said Simourian. Andover looks to continue its winning streak against Worcester on Saturday under the lights at 6 p.m. in Phelps Stadium.
