With some clever game planning and precise, offensive execution, the Warriors improved to 3-1 on the season with a 24-14 win over Haverhill last night.

C.J. Scarpa threw for 282 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 18 balls in 28 attempts.

The ground game has been the focus of E.J. Perry’s offense since the arrival of explosive running back Andrew Coke, but this week the spotlight was on Scarpa.

“We knew we could pass so that’s what we did,” said Scarpa. “The line absolutely did tremendous,” he added.

Scarpa also ran for a fourth quarter touchdown to set his TD tally at three for the night.

Andy Coke did his best Wes Welker impression in the slot receiver role. The senior made eight catches for 115 yards.

“We decided that we wanted to pass more and that’s what we did,” said Coke. He noted the difference between playing running back and receiver, “You’re not getting hit by a lot of people every play,” Coke said.

“We thought with Andy’s versatility we’d be able to play him in the slot and he did a tremendous job,” said head coach E.J. Perry.

Will Heikkenen created a matchup nightmare for the Hillies. He caught seven balls for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

“They couldn’t handle our wide outs,” Perry said.

Heikkinen caught two second quarter touchdowns to set the halftime score at 14-0 Andover.

Mark Zavrl continued a phenomenal season with a 26 yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 17-0.

Then after the Andover sideline collectively raised their arms indicating the number four with their fingers, Scarpa broke through on a 2 yard quarterback sneak to make it 24-0.

Down the stretch, the Hillies mounted a comeback scoring 14 unanswered points.

Chance Brady, who rushed hard for 134 yards on the night, got the Hillies on the score sheet with a five yard touchdown run. He also picked up the two point conversion.

In the final minutes, Nick DeFusco caught a 13 yard pass from quarterback Tommy Morgan to make the scoreboard a little more reasonable as the fans began to trickle out of Lovely Field at Andover High School.

Andover puts its 3-1 record on the line with a game on Thursday night at Lawrence. The Lancers are 2-2 after being blown out by Chelmsford last night.

Tune in to Patch on Monday morning for video highlights of Andover’s third win this season.