Anthony Ambrosi ’07 led the PA rush once again by exploding for 206 yards and three TDs, while Co-Captain QB Will Sherrill threw for a trio of touchdowns, going 10 for 12 with 271 yards passing on the day, as Andover football demolished its latest victim, Choate Rosemary Hall, by a 48-6 score on Saturday. On the sunny Indian summer afternoon, the boys in blue hopped off the long bus ride to Connecticut eager to play and traded scoreless drives to start the game before Ambrosi broke out for a 66 yard TD run. Choate returned the next series by scraping together a long drive, culminating in a five yard score to drag the score to 7-6 PA. However, this would be the last time Choate would answer the dominating all-around game of the Blue. “After the first series of tradeoffs, we recognized what they were trying to do, and made our adjustments offensively and defensively,” explained Coach Modeste. “That’s what coaches love to see, the kids responding to the chess-game aspects of football, understanding and making the adjustments.” Andover would continue to run wild behind the efforts of Ambrosi and Luke DeLuca ’07, tacking on two goal-line touchdown rushes, one by each back, to bring the score to 20-6 at halftime. In the third quarter, Choate started to stack as many as ten players on the line of scrimmage in an attempt to contain the dangerous PA running game and outside pitches. As a result, the secondary was wide open, and Co-Captain Sherrill went to work. Quickly and effectively, Co-Captain Sherrill spread the ball around to four different receivers for long completions, striking accurately for three touchdowns in the third quarter alone. DeLuca, Mike Ciummei ’08 and Austin Monahan ’07 caught touchdown passes of 25, 15, and 60 yards, respectively, to run the score to a comfortable 41-6 margin for the Blue. “Everyone did a great job, and the receivers ran very precise routes. They got open and made some fantastic catches,” said Coach Modeste. “Ciummei ran some Troy Brown-like precise patterns, and Tyler Palin [‘07] made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen,” praised the coach, in reference to the senior wide-out’s outstretched snare while parallel to the ground. The awe-inspiring athletic displays did not stop there, as Ambrosi put a cap on the third quarter, scoring with a 68 yard touchdown run. The “double-dribble touchdown,” as it was dubbed, saw Ambrosi fumble the ball ten yards in front of him, break two tackles on the way to recovering the ball himself, and run another 50 yards to the end zone, bringing the score to 48-6. The defense stepped up with another impressive game, holding Choate’s running backs to a paltry average of 2.7 yards per carry with a long run of six yards. Andover also held the Wild Boar quarterback to five completions on 19 attempts and recovered three fumbles. After allowing Choate to drive straight down the field for a touchdown on its first drive, Andover allowed absolutely nothing on defense. Choate did not come close to threatening to score again. Recognizing that Choate ran every running play behind a certain lineman, Andover stacked up on that side and stuffed Choate’s running game. Also, after getting burned by a swing pass earlier in the game, Kevin Wood ’07 adjusted and almost intercepted the swing pass the next time Choate ran the play. Up the middle, the Andover defensive line dominated a much larger Choate offensive line and shut down Choate’s interior running game. Cornerback Chad Hollis commented, “Everyone played within our positions, we made no mistakes, and we held them to no big plays as well.” Luke DeLuca led PA in tackles with 13 and recovered a fumble to go along with his two offensive touchdowns. Offensively, Andover totaled 558 total yards of offense, while Ambrosi averaged just below 13 yards per carry in the game en route to his 11th touchdown in three contests. Co-Captain Sherrill continued to mix accuracy with a big play touch, averaging over 27 yards per completion in a huge effort. As Sherrill’s focal target, Monahan finished the day with five catches and an impressive 151 yards and explained, “Will and I have been on the same page since day one, but we’ve been working on better route-running in practice, and the overall execution has been improving.” Andover returns home to Phelps Stadium tomorrow at 4 p.m. to take on a high scoring, 3-0 Cushing team that is sure to test the Big Blue. This is a big weekend for Andover as it embarks on the second part of a brutal three-game stretch against Choate, Cushing and Northfield Mount Hermon.
