Andover Wins Season Opener

Andover welcomed Hotchkiss to campus to kick off the 2026 football season. After both teams’ first drives sputtered, Hotchkiss took an early 7-0 lead on their second offensive possession. After an unsuccessful 4th down attempt by Andover’s offense, Hotchkiss found the end zone again on the following drive, taking a 0-14 lead. Andover’s offense hit its stride on the next possession culminating in a 26-yard touchdown run by Ubie Zaid ’27 (PAT Quentin Nicolasien ’27) to bring the score to 7-14. Andover’s next offensive possession saw Landon Husereau ’28 find Will Mascena ’27 in the corner of the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown strike (PAT Quentin Nicolasien ’27), bringing the score to 14-14. A promising drive by the Hotchkiss offense threatened to give the visiting team a lead going into halftime, but Andover’s Caden Schrock ’27 forced a fumble that Tyler Baty ’27 recovered on the 9 yard line.

Andover’s offense continued to move the ball in the second half, powered by strong running from Jun An ’27 and Ubie Zaid ’27, with Zaid finding the end zone a second time on a 9-yard run (PAT Quentin Nicolasien ’27), bringing the score to 21-14. Hotchkiss rallied on its ensuing possession, scoring on a long touchdown throw to bring the score back to a tie at 21-21. Andover then took a 28-21 lead on a 20-yard throw from Husereau ’27 to Gio Rosenfeld ’27 (PAT Quentin Nicolasien ’27). Hotchkiss’ offense again found the red zone but was stymied by Armani Periera ’27 and Kaden McNeice ’28 on a huge 4th down stop for Big Blue. Andover took over deep in its own territory and was forced to punt from its own end zone. The punt was deflected and the ball bounced perilously in the end zone before Will Corbin ’27 deftly batted the ball out for a safety. With just a little more than one minute left in regulation, Andover held the 28-23 lead but faced a free kick situation from the 20-yard line. Hotchkiss took advantage of good field position and advanced to red zone once again. With the game on the line, Andover’s defense came up with another huge stop. With only 5 seconds left on the clock, Tyler Baty ’27 and Armani Peirera ’27 stopped a Hotchkiss receiver just short of the goal line causing him to fumble. Thane McCormick ’27 sealed the victory with the fumble recovery.