Brown's brilliant again, Andover crushes Acton-Boxboro

David Willis, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Sep. 17—ANDOVER — As the final seconds of the first half ticked away, Andover quarterback Scott Brown calmly moved to his left to avoid a defender, stepped up with traffic around him and perfectly dropped a pass over the shoulders and into the hands of Chris Dessin for a touchdown.

It was that kind of perfect night for Brown and the entire Golden Warrior team.

Brown led Andover to touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions, before giving way to the backups who closed out a convincing 41-15 victory over Acton-Boxboro at Eugene V. Lovely Field on Friday night.

"This was a great win," said Brown, who completed 13 of 18 passes for 225 yards and ran for 59 yards on eight carries. "Every side of the ball — offense, defense and special teams — played really well. Our plan was to get everyone into the game, and we got it done. Defense was great, and the offense put up 41 points. That's what we want to do every week."

The Golden Warrior offense struck early and often, putting the game away early.

After opening the game with a defensive stop, Andover running back Patrick Layman (team-high 85 rushing yards) broke free for a 38-yard touchdown.

Andover's second drive ended on a dropped pass but, moments later, Brown fired a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hnat. Freshman running back Dante Berger then got in on the action, sprinting for a 25-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter.

Brown then delivered his best work of the day. First, he used his speed and agility to stay alive before finding Michael Capachietti in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. He then hit Dessin for the 38-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half.

"It was accurate when everyone said that Scotty Brown was going to start stepping up," said Andover coach E.J. Perry. "He really wanted to have a big senior year, and the last two games have been basically flawless. That last play before halftime was very on him. It was magic and trickery. Everyone has really stepped up, including the line."

Andover iced the victory with the opening drive of the second half, with Brown finding Capachietti for a 37-yard pass, setting up a Layman 1-yard TD run.

"We have a lot of playmakers on this team," said Brown. "Lincoln (Eagle-Tribune All-Star Lincoln Beal) was out with an injury, but guys like Layman and Beger played great, and we executed really well."

Defensive lineman Stephen Medieros led the Andover defense with a pair of sacks, while Brian McSweeney had eight tackles and Will Sheehan had a few big plays.

"Everyone executed," said defensive back Connor LeBrun "Our pass protection was very strong, and the linebackers and guys up front were locked in. We can always improve, but we had a very strong game tonight. It really feels excellent to have a strong defensive performance."