Tide Too Strong, Andover Eliminated from State Tourney

A great season for the came to a close Tuesday night as Andover fell to Everett 21-0 at Manning Field in Lynn in the Division 1 football semifinals. Junior standout Andy Coke was held to 61 yards on 19 carries by a stifling Crimson Tide defense.

Andover managed to shorten the game to three quarters, keeping the ball out of the hands of the dangerous Everett offense for nearly the entire first quarter. The opening drive went for 66 yards and all but :26 of the first frame before stalling on the Everett 6-yard line.

Andover Head Coach E.J. Perry elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 rather than take the easy three points, and the play was stuffed for a loss and a turnover on downs by junior Vondell Langston.

"I said to the AD I should have kicked the field goal the first time and he said 'against Everett you need touchdowns,' which might be true," said Perry, "Fourth-and-2 with my kicker…I'll always think about that, just if we got up 3-0 how they react to that."

Everett capitalized on Andover's inability to finish in the red zone, exploiting the Golden Warriors' secondary with their relentless passing attack. Junior quarterback Jonathan DiBiaso completed six of eight passes for 66 yards on the drive, including a 15-yard hookup with senior Matt Costello for the game's first touchdown.

The completion was DiBiaso's 39^th touchdown pass of the season, tying the state single-season record.

The two teams exchanged punts on the ensuing drives and the half concluded on an interception reeled in by junior Tyler Boudrow that was returned more than 30 yards and nearly sprung for an Andover score.

At halftime the Everett lead remained 7-0.

The Andover defense continued to play well in the early going of the third quarter, forcing a three-and-out on the opening drive of the half. However, the Golden Warriors' offense struggled to find a rhythm. Just two plays into their first drive of the second half a handoff from quarterback Tom Dempsey to Coke was mishandled and Everett recovered the loose ball near midfield.

DiBiaso found a streaking Costello, clearly his favorite target on the night, deep on the left sideline but the sure-handed receiver let what would have been a 44-yard touchdown strike slip away as he fell to the ground on the goal line.

Not to be denied, the duo connected for 21 yards on the following play and the drive was capped by a 3-yard rush by senior captain Manuel Asprilla to put the Crimson tide up 14-0.

Andover made its second blunder in the turnover battle with another fumble minutes later, this time on the Everett 35-yard line.

DiBiaso's team was efficient and again took advantage of the Andover miscue, stringing together a few huge plays and a touchdown completion from DiBiaso to Costello, the pair's second of the game. The touchdown also represented DiBiaso's 40th touchdown for the year, claiming the state single-season passing touchdown record.

With the score 21-0, Andover was forced to throw the ball repeatedly on their final drive, and were unsuccessful in breaking the shutout.

Costello finished the game with 162 yards on 11 receptions, and the defense was anchored by Shaquille Taylor and Asprilla, who led the team in tackles and recovered a fumble.

After the game, Andover's Coke sounded optimistic about his team moving forward. "We're on the cusp," he said. "We're still a team moving upward. This team is not going down any further than it was this year…going up and [it is] something special."

With another year left with the blue and gold, Coke said he hopes to face Everett again next year in the state tournament to avenge the loss.

Jonathan DiBiaso pointed to the help of his offensive line and the work of his receivers when asked about the passing record, but is now focused on one thing only, saying "hopefully we can get my dad [Head Coach John DiBiaso] and this coaching staff their eighth Super Bowl ring on Saturday."

Everett will take on St. John's Prep at Gillette Stadium for the State Championship on Saturday. When the two teams met earlier this year, Everett was victorious 27-7.