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Central outlasts Andover for playoff win

Friday, October, 31 By David Willis
Staff writer

LAWRENCE — Dan MacDonald did need any extra incentive. A playoff game against his school’s longtime archrival was more than enough motivation for the Central Catholic captain to be fired up.

But for the Raider lineman and lifelong Andover resident, having the Blue and Gold across from him made it even more memorable.

“This is just awesome,” said MacDonald. “I know every one of those guys over there, and I know how much they wanted it. A lot of them are my close friends. I look forward to playing them every year, and it is always extra special to beat them, especially in the playoffs.”

After a rocky start saw Central Catholic allow two first quarter scores, the Raiders found their rhythm in the second quarter, taking a lead they would not surrender on the way to outlasting rival Andover 28-21 in the Division 1 North quarterfinals last night.

“It is a great accomplishment,” said Raider nose guard Jorge Elias. “Beating Andover again, in the playoffs, on our home turf. There is nothing better than that.”

With the victory, Central Catholic advances to the Division 1 North semifinals to play the winner of Saturday’s matchup between No. 2 St. John’s Prep — the only team to beat the Raiders in the last two seasons — and No. 7 Chelmsford.

“It’s a great relief to get out of this one with a win,” said defensive lineman Pat Dziedzic, who was huge with 14 tackles. “But we know that this is just one step in our quest. We made some mental mistakes, but we figured them out and now it’s on to the next game.”

Andover was the enforcer out of the gates, holding Central to a 3-and-out on the opening drive then taking the lead on its second offensive play when E.J. Perry IV hit Christopher Nicholas for a 67-yard score.

The Raiders responded with an 11-play drive that running back Mike Balsamo finished off with a 4-yard plunge.

Back came the Golden Warriors as star back Kevin Chen burst in from 16 yards out to make the score 14-6.

But Central quickly responded when Mike Milano hit Balsamo on a 54-yard bomb on third down to set up Markus Edmunds’ 6-yard score.

Andover was struck with a massive blow on the ensuing kickoff, as Chen suffered what was believed to be a serious knee injury. He did not return and spent the remainder of the game on crutches with a large brace on his knee. The Golden Warriors were already missing a playmaker in slot receiver Brandon Marti, who sat out with a hamstring injury.

It went from bad to worse for the Warriors, when they fumbled on the first play of the next drive, which was recovered by Edmunds. The Raiders turned that into points three plays later when Milano found tight end Carlos Cabrera for a score.

The Raiders then flexed their defensive muscle, halting Andover on a fourth-and-goal from the 12-yard-line.

“That fourth down stop was huge,” said Elias. “We looked at each other and said, ‘They are not going to take this away from us.’ To stop them close to the goal brought us so much energy, and after that brought us so much energy.”

The Raiders added to their lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, then after Andover scored with 3:40 left they recovered the on-sides kick to run out the clock.

“In the end we just had to trust their on offense and defense we could make the plays when we needed to,” said MacDonald. “After a few big plays we found the groove that we wanted, and now we can’t wait for next week.”