Brendan Rankowitz ’11 dove to the back of the end zone to reel in a beautiful throw from Tommy Shannon ’12 with six seconds left in the half on Saturday in a tough game against Loomis. This was one of few highlights for Andover football as it suffered a disappointing 29-18 loss in its first game of the season. Andover came ready to play in the first half, starting the game explosively. In the second quarter, Tom Szymanski ’11 snatched a 35-yard pass on the left side of the field down to the three-yard line. “Tom made two fantastic catches in a row. On the long ball, he must have adjusted two or three times to reel it in,” said Coach Modeste. Szymanski finished off the drive with the first Andover touchdown of the season, reeling in Shannon’s pass in the end zone. Loomis answered by tossing up a deep bomb and scoring on the two-point conversion to take an 8-6 lead. At the very end of the first half, Rankowitz scored a touchdown in the back of the end zone, to finish the half with great momentum on Andover’s side. “Tommy threw a great pass and his protection by the OL was excellent. I was fortunate enough to come up with the catch,” said Rankowitz. “Our receivers had a good day on Saturday,” said Modeste. “They really showed their athleticism.” Andover received the kickoff in the second half, but a fumble on the return immediately set up an opportunity for Loomis to retake the lead. Fortunately, Andover was able to force a turnover on downs and regain possession. However, Loomis was able to control the ball for the majority of the second half, and scored three unanswered touchdowns. “In the second half, we didn’t move the ball well and our defense was on the field too much,” said Max Lippe ’11. “The defense was getting worn out and the offense wasn’t scoring.” TJ Hickey ’11 said, “We had too many turnovers in the second half including three interceptions, which ultimately put too much pressure on the defense to overcome.” The sole defensive highlight of the second half was a miraculous blocked extra point by Corbin Lee ’13. With a great read on the kick and a great leap in the air, Lee was able to rob the opposition of a point and spark the offense for a drive that resulted in Andover’s final score. Andover brought the ball down inside of the five-yard line and Hickey ran a nice inside dive to power through the line, breaking a tackle and sneak in for six points. Said Hickey, “I have to give credit to the offensive line, specifically Jamie Casselberry [’11] at left tackle as they really gave me a good push and I managed to get into the end zone.” Even early in the season, Andover is suffering badly from injuries. The absence of many key players, including Captain Malcolm Rodriguez ’11 and Brian Delaney ’12, is causing players to work much harder and longer during games. “To avoid hurting any of the remaining players, we have decided to not scrimmage Tufts this Saturday,” said Coach Modeste. “We love playing this game every year, but it unfortunately isn’t worth the risk this year. We need to be healthy for our next league game.” Hopefully, Andover will be healthy for its next game at Choate on October 9th.
