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Ramos, Andover eventually break away from resilient Lawrence

Saturday, September, 28 By Kyle Gaudette

LAWRENCE - The pieces are all starting to come together for the Andover football team.

Saturday's impressive 52-28 win over a gritty Lawrence club had a little bit of everything on both sides of the ball, and when you have Josh Ramos playing the way he has this season, the rest of the Merrimack Valley should be on notice.

The senior back had 130 rushing yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns, and added a fourth score on an 18-yard pass from Victor Harrington.

In four games, Ramos has rushed for 619 yards on 82 carries (7.6 per rush) and has an impressive 11 total touchdowns.

"It just feels incredible," he said. "I don't know, I'm at a loss for words. I can't even describe it."

At 5-foot-8, 160-pounds, you wouldn't expect Ramos to be able to beat you the amount of ways he can. His best run on Saturday was a 49-yarder where he showcased it all, throwing off two defenders in the backfield before juking a third and turning on the jets to outrun two more before being forced out of bounds.

What looked to be a sure loss turned into a huge gain.

"He's just doing a tremendous job for us," said Andover coach E.J. Perry.

Ramos' two first-half touchdowns, along with solid play on the defensive line by AJ Heidtke and linebacker Michael Slayton, helped Andover (2-2) open up a 24-14 lead at the break. The Warriors split time between the sophomore Harrington and freshman Scott Brown Jr. at quarterback, and the latter threw his first career touchdown to Kelvin Davila with 36 seconds left in the half to make it 24-6.

But a resilient Lawrence (0-3) squad wasn't going away.

Lancer quarterback Jacob Tamayo previously showed off his strong arm when he hit Manny Lara on a 37-yard post route for a touchdown at the start of the second quarter. But with 9 seconds left in the half, the senior rolled out to his left and slinged it 60 yards to the right pylon where Isaias Richards was there to haul in the TD.

But the Warriors came out of the break and scored 21 points in a blink to put the game away.

Ramos opened up the third with a 4-yard run, Brown scrambled for a 12-yard score on the Warriors' next possession and then on the first play of Lawrence's next drive Slayton came up with a 30-yard pick-six. Lawrence running back Gianni Vargas scored to make it a 45-22 game, but Ramos caught his fourth TD of the game shortly after and it was all running clock in the fourth.

"It's the senior class that's just unbelievable," said Perry. "We've got 19 seniors who haven't missed a practice all year, haven't missed a day of film, haven't missed anything and they're great leaders. And you win in high school with leadership."

Despite the setback, Tamayo still had a great day for the Lancers. He evaded a handful of sacks, and finished the game 13 for 24 passing for 251 yards and two touchdowns. His top target, Manny Lara, hauled in 7 catches for 142 yards.

Lawrence travels down to the Cape to visit Dennis-Yarmouth on Saturday (1 p.m.), while Andover gears up to host Central Catholic on Saturday (2:30 p.m.).

"We feel real good," said Ramos. "I think we're going to go in there (against Central) and get it done."