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Layne's interception locks up Andover win over Dracut

Friday, September, 21 By David Willis
Staff writer

ANDOVER | The collective sigh of relief was almost audible as the ball fell into Yogi Layne's hands.

"I saw the ball the whole way," said the junior. "I'm always going for the ball and I knew I wanted to make the play. If I didn't make the catch, I was going to knock it down."

Back in pass coverage, Layne aggressively went up for the ball and picked off a Hail Mary pass at the 13-yard line near the sideline in the final seconds. That clinched Andover's 32-28 victory over defending Merrimack Valley Conference tri-champion Dracut last night.

"We were playing deep corners and I was playing (the deep left corner) to take away the deep ball," said Layne of his first career interception. "Kevin Hitchko had good man-to-man coverage and I made a good read."

The interception ended a nearly nightmare fourth quarter that saw Andover allow an 18-point lead to dwindle to six, due in large part to a whopping three turnovers in the game's final 12 minutes.

"That was a thriller at the end," said defensive tackle Jon Maedel. "We knew Dracut was going to pass, so instead of a five-man front we ran a four-man front so we'd have an extra guy out covering."

It looked early on as if the Middies would be outmatched. On the first play of the game, quarterback Mike Pierce faked a handoff and ran 65 yards for a score. Three possessions later Pierce kicked his third field goal of the season, a 26-yarder, and added a 31-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Beasley two minutes later.

But then Golden Warrior miscues allowed the Middies to get back into the game.