After a devastating injury to Co-Captain Joe Kruy ’12 in the second quarter, Andover Football could not hold off Cushing Academy in a 20-6 defeat last Saturday.
Kruy’s touchdown was Andover’s first and only of the game. He sustained a terrible injury a few plays later. Kruy fractured his spine and bruised his kidney on what looked like a routine running play. He will be fully rehabilitated in time for indoor track next winter. Now both of Andover’s starting running backs are out for the season.
Andover held its own toward the beginning of the game with Cushing, earning a scoreless first quarter on both ends.
Cushing made the first touchdown of the second quarter, but Andover soon answered, when Duke Butterfield ’13 recovering a fumble off a Thomas Shannon ’12 punt. Butterfield then dashed downfield to the Cushing one-yard line. Kruy clawed his way into the endzone during the next play, pulling the score to 7-6 in Cushing’s favor.
Coach Leon Modeste said, “We’ve lost two running backs; we have to make some adjustments.”
Andover continued on a downward slope in the third quarter. Cushing scored two rushing touchdowns, taking the game to 20-6 and out of Andover’s reach.
Andover credits much of Saturday’s loss to Cushing’s untouchable running game.
“Because the offense was ineffective, the defense was always on the field, and we started to wear down,” said Modeste.
Both quarterbacks, Tim Salvadore ’15 and Tyler West ’12, threw five out of 17 for a total of 52 yards combined.
Alex Kramer ’13 said, “Cushing kept bringing people from all over and Ty [West] kept getting flushed out of the pocket.”
Andover only had 133 total yards in the game.
“We made mistakes, penalties, dropped snaps and missed blocks. Once Joseph [Kruy] went out all they had to do was defend [West],” said Modeste.
Despite the number of mistakes, Andover did certain things well on Saturday.
“Our kickoff game was better; we didn’t give up any big runs on special teams and besides that blown coverage I thought our secondary played well,” said Modeste.
With Kruy injured, Andover’s running game will suffer immensely, and its lineup will face major changes. According to Modeste, Salvadore will start at quarterback and West will start at halfback.
Corbin Lee ’13 said, “Tim throws the ball well, and he knows what he’s doing out there. I think things will be fine.”
Andover will next face Choate at home this Sunday.
