MARK SCHNABEL
CHERRYROAD KANSAS

ANDOVER — Andover ran for 400 yards and a bunch of touchdowns as the they were able to hold off a feisty Newton team on Friday night in some AVCTL-II action.

Vega led the way with over 200 yards in the 42-27 win over Newton

The win moves Andover to 4-2 on the year, winners of four consecutive games.

“It wasn’t super pretty, but they played with grit,” Andover coach Jamie Cruce said. “They buckled down and put some drives together. Defensively, they were tough to stop. They got their quarterback on the edges. They had some drives and they made some catches. We made a couple stops, which was huge. I’m excited for the win here. We’ve got some things to work on. In high school football, if you get the win, you take it.”

For Andover assistant coach, who is now the head coach of Newton says his guys battled until the end.

“We did battle,” Newton coach Taylor Counts said. “We were disappointed with how we finished the game defensively. I know we were tired. If we want to win a game, you have to bend and not break. We broke at the end defensively. We did not take advantage with the way the offense was playing. (Kolbie Espada) was playing pretty good there. He was making plays left and right. When we needed to get stops and get the defense off the field, we did not. We’ll be alright. We’re hungry. We’re close.”

Pete Vega led the Andover offense with 32 carries for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Vega also hit seven of seven extra-point kicks. Will Quinn had 15 carries for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Quinn also hit three of five passes for 56 yards.

For the second time in three weeks, Newton’s Kolbie Espada went over 200 all-purpose yards. Espada hit 12 of 28 passes for 192 yards with two touchdowns. Espada also rushed for 67 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. Christian Henderson had five catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Landyn Rains had four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.

Kingston Henry had 11 carries for 58 yards. Jonathan Hill had two catches for 46 yards.

Andover had 115 yards in penalties to 55 for Newton. The Railers had three turnovers to Andover’s one.

“There were a lot of penalties on both sides,” Cruce said. “We had some big runs brought back and they had some passes brought back as well. I’m not happy about that. We had a long touchdown called back because of a needless penalty. We had to clean that up.”

After trading defensive stops, Andover scored first on a two-yard Quinn run. Newton countered with a drive of its own, scoring on a nine-yard Espada run.

Andover ended the half with a 99-yard drive, scoring on a two-yard Quinn run with 13 seconds remaining in the half.

Andover needed just five plays to score in the second half. A 61-yard Quinn run set up a two-yard Vega run. Newton replied quickly, aided by 30 yards in Trojan penalties. Espada scored on a two-yard run.

Newton got a defensive stop and a punt that landed on the Andover side of the field. Newton scored on a 14-yard pass from Espada to Henderson. The extra-point kick was low and blocked, keeping Andover ahead by a point.

Andover came back with an 80-yard drive that ended with an eight-yard Leland Schumacher run early in the fourth quarter.

Newton gave up the ball on downs at the 50. A Quinn TD run on the next play was called back for holding. Two plays after the penalty, Vega scored on a 47-yard run.

Newton wasn’t done yet. The Railers drove the ball 72 yards, scoring on a 24-yard pass from Espada to Rains with 4:34 to play. Andover recovered the on-side kick and scored in four plays capped by a three-yard Quinn run with 2:54 in regulation.

A long pass from Espada to Henderson near the goal line was called out of bounds. Newton was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play. An interception on fourth down ended the rally. Andover was hit with a penalty at the end of the play.

“In the heat of the moment, you get a little mad,” Counts said. “It felt like we had two or three go against us. Try to keep your cool in that situation. We need to be better role models for our guys, but you feel like you have to defend them at the same time.”

Andover is 4-2, 4-0 in AV-CTL II play. The Trojans faces Salina Central at 7 p.m. Thursday at Salina District Stadium. Central is 6-0, 4-0 in league play, after a 23-13 win over Andover Central.

“We’ll need to play our best game,” Cruce said. “We need to have our best week of practice. It will be a short week because we play on a Thursday.

“I think our kids will be ready for the challenge.”

Andover 42, Newton 27

Newton             0            7            13         7            —          27

Andover            7            7            7            21         —          42

Scoring

1q. A Quinn 2-yd. run (Vega kick) 3:38

2q. N Espada 9-yd. run (Gehring kick) 11:30

2q. A Quinn 2-yd. run (Vega kick) :13

3q. A Vega 2-yd. run (Vega kick) 10:11

3q. N Espada 2-yd. run (Gehring kick) 8:57

3q. N Henderson 14-yd. pass from Espada (kick failed) 4:18

4q. A Schumacher 8-yd. run (Vega kick) 9:22

4q. A Vega 54-yd. run (Vega kick) 6:40

4q. N Rains 24-yd. pass from Espada (Oswald kick) 4:34

4q. A Quinn 3-yd. run (Vega kick) 2:54

Team stats

New.    And.

First downs     17         20

Rushing-yards        31-128  53-400

Passing yards 192       56

Comp-att-int  12-29-2  3-5-0

Punts-avg.       4-42.5 3-41.7

Fumbles-lost  2-1        1-1

Penalties-yards           5-55     11-115

Individual stats

RUSHING — Newton: Espada 14-67, Wise 2-11, Kirtley 1-5, Jacobs 1-(-1), team 2-(-15), Henry 11-61. Andover: Vega 32-213, Hill 3-36, Quinn 15-126, Schumacher 1-8, Bailey 1-10, Williams 1-7.

PASSING — Newton: Espada 12-28-2, 192 yards; Kirtley 0-1-0, 0 yards. Andover: Quinn 3-5-0, 56 yards.

RECEIVING — Newton: Henderson 5-79, Giles 1-6, Hill 2-46, Rains 4-61. Andover: Reynolds 3-56.

Missed field goals — none.