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 With Phillips leading by a single score late in the fourth quarter, Andover's Jack Belluche pinned Kent School deep in their own territory with a perfect punt, then clinched the victory with his second interception of the day in the final seconds as the Big Blue held on for a 14-11 victory.

ANDOVER —  Kent held off Phillips Andover for a 31-27 win in a back-and-forth battle Saturday afternoon at Phelps Field.

The most effective weapon for the Big Blue was its special teams. Brendan Misterman and Matt Whalen each returned a kickoff for a score. Dewitt Burnham rushed for a TD on the final play of the game and threw for 103 yards. Dane Wagner, a 220-pound linebacker from Niceville, Fla, turned in a terrific defensive effort. 

KENT, Conn. — Facing a four-plus hour bus ride home from deep into Connecticut, something would make the journey quite a bit more palatable for Phillips Academy.

A victory.

The Big Blue made that trip well worth it, as Matt Lialio scored with 8:42 left in the game and the Phillips defense made it stand for a 20-13 victory over Kent.

Good defense and limiting turnovers allowed fourth seed Phillips to take a tight Class A quarterfinal contest from No. 5 Kent, 68-64. Tom Palleschi was immense for the Big Blue with 24 points and 16 rebounds while Max Lippe added 10 points and 8 boards. Gibby Graves contributed six assists to the offense for Phillips, who will play the winner of No. 1 Salisbury and No. 8 Loomis Chaffee in the semifinals Friday.

After dropping Phillips Exeter then New Hampton in the New England Prep Class A tournament, Phillips Andover fell to Kent, 49-29, in yesterday’s finals at Loomis Chaffee.

The Kent defense smothered Phillips in the first half, limiting the Big Blue to just 7 points while scoring 26 of its own. The Lions were especially effective containing Laura Amorosa (2 points), who scored 21 points in both the quarterfinal and semifinal games.