Andrea, Niro help Barrington ground Warren
Barrington's Alec Andrea and Ray Niro brought their A-games Friday, helping the Broncos defeat visiting Warren 34-20 to open the high school football season.
It was no secret going into the game that Warren would try to get the ball to 6-foot-5, Notre Dame recruit Micah Jones. Jones had double-digit targets, but when Alec Andrea was lined up across from him, Jones couldn't come up with a single reception.
Not only did Andrea, who stands at 5-foot-11, keep Jones from catching the ball, he picked up an interception in his own end zone on play where Jones was called for offensive pass interference.
"I asked a lot of friends that played with (Jones) at seven-on-seven, they told me to get physical with him," Andrea said.
Andrea did just that. Whenever the ball went Jones way, Andrea was there making contact on not only Jones, but on the ball as well.
Barrington coach Joe Sanchez lauded Andrea but added overall it was a team effort to limit Jones. The defensive line kept the pressure on quarterback Ian Schilling with Michael Stodola, Mark DiLorio, Dayven Shinoster and Kelvin Meckert recording sacks.
"It wasn't just one guy," Sanchez said. "It is all the defense working together. The defensive line getting pressure, not allowing the quarterback to get the ball released when he would like to release it. It is everybody just doing it together."
When Andrea left the game with his team holding a 27-point lead in the fourth quarter, Jones showed just how talented he was. In the game's final seven minutes, he had three catches for 32 yards and 3 touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, the Broncos had little trouble getting down the field. Going into the game, Barrington's offensive line was a question mark with just one returning starter from last season. The new group of Brendan Carpizo, Geoff Frenk, Alec Meister, Jorge Gavina and Sam Butera, along with returnee Brad Warman were able to make plenty of holes.
Niro rushed for 249 yards, including touchdowns of 36, 92, 23 and 60 yards. He added 123 yards through the air. As a team, Barrington rushed for 301 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown run by Ethan Glowacki for the game's first score.
"Coach (Steve) Galovich did a really good job with our offensive line," Niro said. "They stepped up huge, allowing me to get into open space."
It wasn't all bad for Warren, however. Martin Walker Jr. scored an early touchdown to tie the game at 7, and the Blue Devils proved they had other receiving threats besides Jones. Jaden Quartey added 80 yards on nine catches, while Ryan Short had 7 receptions for 125 yards.
"They played really well," Warren coach Bryan McNulty said of Quartey and Short. "But I'll tell you who played really well that you won't really see in the stat column is Ricky McLaughlin. He was the one blocking on the edge when we were throwing bubble and stuff like that. If there was a player of the game early, it may have been him."
After a close first quarter, Barrington pulled away with 27 points in the next two quarters. Sanchez pointed to the work over the summer for pushing his team over the edge.
"To get a win like this, a quality win tonight, I was really happy." Sanchez said. "I was happy with our players and our coaches and their preparation all summer to put us in a position to be successful."