Central blanks Andover to stay unbeaten

Bill Burt, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Apr. 10—LAWRENCE — The score, 17-0, said "easy" like the other four Central Catholic blowouts. But the score lied.

Central Catholic had to earn this one over its "arch" rival, Andover High. As in really earn it.

It took a few late Andover drops, a near sack and quarterback Ayden Pereira's signature — a 21-yard run and a 13-yard bullet pass for a touchdown to finally seal Central's fifth win in the Fall 2 season.

One issue for Central was a pair of sophomores, quarterback Scott Brown and running back Lincoln Beal. They are and they were electric. Beal finished with 116 yards, all hard-earned, on 24 carries, and Brown, only 5-foot-8, made plays with his feet (55 yards) and his arm (95 yards).

The problem was when Andover was close to scoring, it couldn't. When Central was close to scoring, only three times, it did.

"They were better than I thought they were going to be," said Pereira, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 201 yards and two TDs with two interceptions. "They confused us a lot on defense."

Pereira opened the scoring, completing five consecutive passes before hitting a wide open sophomore Matthias Latham for a 21-yard score.

Andover sandwiched three red zone drives around a Nick Mazzie 31-yard field, getting to the Central 6, 17 and 14. Two penalties hurt and as did two missed field goals.

"When you play a team that good, you can't give them any help," said Andover coach E.J. Perry. "They're good. They do everything well. We can't have drops and commit penalties in the red zone against a team like that. But I am proud of our team. We're young and we're learning a lot here."

Central's defense came up big. Central's behemoth 6-foot-1, 270-pound defensive tackle Uyi Osayimwen not only had 12 tackles, but six were for losses on the lightning quick Brown.

Tommy Casey also had 11 tackles and some big hits on Beal and Brown.Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos said, "We needed a game like this. They are tough. Beal is for real. So is Brown. They fought us the entire way. We had to make a few plays and we did.

"After that (season-opening) loss to Methuen, Andover has played really well. This game was close. They made us earn it. I'm happy because we played a good game against a good opponent."

UP NEXT?

Central vs. Lawrence, Friday, 5 p.m.

Andover hosts North Andover, Friday, 6 p.m.

Central Catholic 17, Andover 0

Andover (3-2): 0 0 0 0 — 0

Central Catholic (5-0): 0 7 3 7 — 17

Second Quarter

Matthias Latham 21 pass from Ayden Pereira (Nick Mazzie kick), 9:10

Third Quarter

Mazzie 31 field goal, 3:34

Fourth Quarter

Justice McGrail 13 pass from Pereira (Mazzie kick), 4:35

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: ANDOVER — Lincoln Beal 24-116; Scott Brown 18-55; Andrew Layman 1-4; CENTRAL — Pereira 7-60; Latham 5-30; Jackson Burns 1-0; Ruben Castillo 1-(4).

PASSING: ANDOVER — Brown 11-22-2, 95 yards; CENTRAL — Pereira 17-24-2, 201 yards

RECEIVING: ANDOVER — Beal 5-35; Tomas Loureiro 1-11; Chris Cappachietti 1-5; Aidan Ritter 1-8; Andrew Wetterwald 1-16; Bret Mondejar 1-12; CENTRAL — Preston Zinter 3-51, Mark Ciccarelli 4-33; McGrail 3-21; Latham 3-42, Andrew Lesofsky 1-5.