Coming into week three of the regular season, the boys of the Andover Football team were on top of the world. Big Blue was fresh off a huge last-second home-victory, it had restored the student body’s faith in the Andover football program, and they were the proud owners of an undefeated 2-0 record. Unfortunately, the Andover squad encountered a major speed bump along the road to perfection: Choate Rosemary Hall. Last Saturday afternoon, the Wild Boars absolutely trampled the Big Blue by a staggering 28 points. Andover Quarterback Joey Lokitis ’06 threw two interceptions, and the Andover offense as a whole was simply unable to put points up on the board. Choate is by far the physically biggest and most powerful team the Boys in Blue have encountered all season. With significant size on both ends of the ball, Choate simply walked all over the PA Gridders and took control of the field from the first play. The Big Blue did manage to put up a fight defensively, but with the offense getting shut down at every turn, the defensive unit spent very little time off the field, and as a result grew tired and was unable to shut down Choate’s explosive running game. Speaking of Choate’s ground attack, the Wild Boars’ featured a back who weighed in at around 250 and was an absolute house. In a previous article we talked about different styles of running the football and how some running-backs make kids miss. This behemoth of a high-schooler simply ran through Andover’s defense, bringing home the third win in a row for the Wild Boars. Co-captain Steve Sherrill ‘05, who was none too thrilled about the game, said simply: “We have to come back next week with a better effort.” Next week the Boys in Blue have the hard hitting Cushing Penguins. Cushing is 2-2 this far in season, 2-0 in NEPSAC league play, and has a knack for finding the end zone. The Big Blue will once again be facing a tough opponent. The Boys in Blue are undefeated at home thus far this season, and, after a 34-6 trouncing last weekend, hopefully they can bounce back on their home turf and beat Cushing. The Big Blue take on the Penguins tomorrow afternoon in Phelps Stadium to try to avenge last Saturday’s defeat in front of their fans.
