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NORTH ANDOVER — Quad-captain Joe Roffer had one message for his North Andover teammates as they prepared to take the field in front of an enthusiastic Thanksgiving crowd.

“Before we started I looked at the guys and I said, ‘At the end of this game, I want to be holding that trophy up,’” said Roffer. “I want it in my hands.”

ANDOVER - Joshua Ramos, welcome to the show.

Known as "Bebe" (pronounced bee-bee), which means "baby boy" in Spanish, the Dominican-born Ramos was a monster in Andover's 34-28 non-playoff game victory over Acton-Boxboro Friday night.

LEXINGTON - For a moment between the first and second quarter, Andover had put hometown Lexington in unfamiliar territory.

When QB Nick Dellatto hit star receiver Cedric Gillette for a 16-yard touchdown near the end of the first quarter, it gave Andover a 13-7 lead and marked the first time all season that Lexington had trailed in a game.

ANDOVER — The Central Catholic came to Andover High's Lovely Field with an undefeated record and high hopes as the temperatures get lower this fall.

Nothing changed after the Red Raiders, now 7-0, left here obliterating Andover, 49-13, en route to at least a tie of the 2017 Merrimack Valley Conference title.

ANDOVER — After giving up 114 points while losing twice the previous two weeks, Andover was looking to get back on track last night at homecoming.
Despite squandering much of a 23-point lead built over first three quarters, the Golden Warriors regained some confidence with Friday's 43-26 victory over Haverhill.
"This was great," said Cedric Gillette, who was a big factor in Andover building a 37-14 lead. "The last two weeks have been heartbreakers. We were really disappointed after them. But this one felt great getting an early lead and get a win. These kind of games will give us some confidence."
Gillette ignited Andover (3-3) with a 26-yard scoring pass from Nick Dellatto to begin the night's scoring before returning a kickoff 82 yards that answered a Hillie score.
"I just wanted to make sure we came out and get a good start to get an early lead," Gillette said. "I had one (return) down to the 5 last year against Everett but some kid caught me. So, yeah, that was nice. I made one move and saw a hole and just hit. But yeah, that's my first one."
Andover used Dellatto scoring tosses of 3 yards to Joshua Ramos and 29 yards to Gillette in addition to a 22-yard Shamus Florio field goal to offset David Carreiro's second long touchdown run for a 31-14 advantage at intermission.
"The first half was great," Golden Warrior coach EJ Perry said. "The offense got in sync and scored on the first drive. That's been a big thing. Then the defense stepped up. When we got up (by 17) that was a big thing."
Carreiro did his best to keep the winless Hillies close with three long touchdown runs. The first was from 74 yards out midway through first followed by a 57-yarder in the second that cut Andover's lead to 21-14. Carreiro finished his 236-yard night with an 84-yard blast early in the third.
"Down near the end, we were playing everybody," Perry said. "But we just can't rest like that. Next week, we have to be ready to go full throttle."
Haverhill entered the game averaging 1.85 yards per carry but with Carreiro leading the way, the Hillies finished with 307 yards — 32 yards more than they totaled the first five weeks combined.
"We've struggled mightily the first five games," Haverhill coach Tim O'Connor said. "We decided after the last game to go back to our roots and run the wing (offense). We showed a lot of offensive progress and some young guys stepped up and grew up tonight. But we still have some warts on defense that we need to fix quickly."
Andover, which plays rival Central Catholic next week, picked up touchdown runs of 1 yard by Tommy Duncan to start the second half and 30 yards by Ramos on the game's final play.
Dellatto finished another solid outing with 263 yards to nine different receivers on 23-of-29 passing. He has thrown for 915 yards the past three games. Gillette, who is averaging 7.8 receptions a game, hauled in eight catches for 133 yards.

METHUEN — For years, Jordan Perdomo had dreamt of facing off against Andover football, and he was heartbroken a season ago when he missed the matchup with an injury.

One year later, he delivered the game of his career against Methuen’s rival.

ANDOVER — Cedric Gillette should have been the hero in a dramatic victory for Andover last night.

Gillette outfought a defender for a 23-yard TD reception with 1:16 to play Friday night, capping what seemed like a stunning fourth-quarter rally which saw the Warriors rally from a 45-20 hole to take a 48-45 lead. There was only one problem. Andover left unbeaten Lowell a few seconds too many on the clock and, despite being pinned back on their 1-yard line, the Red Raiders drove downfield 99 yards to score with no time left on the clock for a dramatic 51-48 victory. “That’s as good a two-minute drill as you’ll ever see,” said Lowell coach John Florence. “We always have great games against Andover and this was another one.” On that final drive, Lowell quarterback Curtis Gentles was 5 for 6, which included a 44-yard bomb, and four completions wound up with the receiver running out of bounds. After a pass to the Andover 1-yard line with three seconds left, Justin Villanueva went the final yard as the game ended.

LAWRENCE — This post-E.J. Perry IV world is going to take some time to adjust to at Andover High. At least on offense.

But defensively, Andover High has already moved on and is off to the races, literally, as the Golden Warriors pounded Lawrence High, 34-2, at Veterans Memorial Stadium last night.

ANDOVER — The game could not have begun any worst for the Andover High defense.

Boston College High School running back Danny Abraham — one year after rushing for nearly 400 yards against Andover — broke his first carry of 2017 for a 68 yard touchdown, and the Golden Warriors could not recover, falling to the Eagles 34-7 in the season-opener for both teams.