ANDOVER — The moment the ball fell into Sean Ehlbeck's hands, it was clear fate was on Andover's side.
"The play we supposed to go to the other side of the field," said Ehlbeck. "I saw (quarterback John Hennessy) scrambling. He threw it up over me, so I flowed with it and figured I'd give it a shot. It was tipped, fell into my hands, and it went from there."
The ball was batted into Ehlbeck's hands, and the senior took off for an 80-yard touchdown 2:33 into the second quarter. The Golden Warriors would only briefly surrender that lead, and never trail on their way to downing archrival Central Catholic 27-16 yesterday in front of an estimated 2,000 fans.
"This was a big day," said Andover's Steven LaFortune. "I remember when I was running laps here as a freshman. You want to go out with a win in your last game on Thanksgiving. It was fun to beat our rivals.
This marked the third straight victory for Andover (4-7) over the Raiders (5-6), and fourth in five years. That after Central had won six of seven and 11 of 13.
"It was a very good day," said Golden Warriors receiver Chris McConnell. "It had been a rough season, but we said, 'This is Central, we have to win.' We came out with confidence, and with every score our confidence grew."
The Raiders had no answer for McConnell, the record-setting track sprinter. The junior caught five passes for a career-high 120 yards. One catch went for a 52-yard touchdown to give Andover a lead it would not surrender, and a second grab was a 45-yard score that answered Central's last TD of the day.
Hennessy also delivered the game of his career. The junior hit on 14 of 22 passes for 255 yards, tying his career-high. He threw the two TD passes to McConnell, the one to Ehlbeck and a fourth to halfback Tucker Devine early in the third.
That gave him 20 TD passes for the year, tying the mark set by Mike Pierce a season ago that is believed to be the single-season school record. His 1,648 passing yards tied Lawrence's Ramon Heredia for the area-high. He also picked off a pass, but it was called back for defensive holding.
The Raiders had a chance to cut into the lead in the fourth, driving the ball to the Golden Warriors' 21-yard line. But, on third down, Central QB Shain Jowett threw a pass that Yogi Layne knocked out of the receiver's hands. Then, Kevin Baroni and brothers Andrew and Jake Lebowitz combined to sack Jowett for a turnover on downs. Andover took over and Devine and Hennessy each ran for a first down to clinch the victory.
"This makes up for everything," said Layne. "It was a big spot and I'm glad I had a chance to make a play. It made my whole career. It was great."
Jowett stood out in his final game, picking off Hennessy twice and making four tackles. He also rushed for both of Central's scores and was 7 of 14 passing for 103 yards.
Despite leaving early with an injury, Zak Adamopoulos returned to make a team-high eight tackles for the Raiders, while Jimmy Haddad and Zack Lattrell each made five stops.
But it wasn't enough as the Raiders finished with back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1984-87.
"They made more big plays than we did," said Central coach Chuck Adamopoulos. "(McConnell) killed us and we hurt ourselves with turnovers."
LaFortune led the Golden Warriors with 10 tackles, Nick Enxing had nine stops and Layne, Andrew Lebowitz and Jake Lebowitz each made four tackles.
"It was awesome," said Enxing. "Central is our rivals, so this is great. We were confident because we were never out of a game, and we did what we needed to do."
Andover 26, Central Catholic 17
Central Catholic (5-6, 3-5 MVC):0âÇ10âÇ0âÇ7 — 17
Andover (4-7, 3-5 MVC):0âÇ14âÇ6âÇ6 — 26
Second Quarter
A — Sean Ehlbeck 80 pass from John Hennessy (Matt Murray kick), 8:27
CC — Shain Jowett 3 run (Cam Walsh), 3:39
A — Chris McConnell 52 pass from Hennessy (Murray kick), 2:09
CC — Walsh 27 field goal, 0:00
Third Quarter
A — Tucker Devine 8 pass from Hennessy (kick failed), 9:21
Fourth Quarter
CC — Jowett 1 run (Walsh kick), 10:57
A — McConnell 45 pass from Hennessy (kick blocked), 8:00
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING: A (25-92) — John Hennessy 15-59, Tucker Devine 9-31, Steven LaFortune 1-2; CC (28-89) — Shain Jowett 15-37, Tommy LaCroix 7-30, Andy Scott 3-11, Zack Lattrell 3-11
PASSING: A — Hennessy 14-22-2, 255; CC — Jowett 7-14-0, 103
RECEIVING: A — Chris McConnell 5-120, Sean Ehlbeck 3-96, Devine 3-21, Ryan Peek 3-18; CC — Brendan Walsh 5-64, Andrew Ouellette 1-35, Chris Berganti 1-4
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