Andritsos sparks Highlanders road win

COLLEGE STATION – Junior quarterback Chris Andritsos returned to the football field less than a month after having knee surgery to lead The Woodlands High School football team to a 24-7 victory, spoiling Homecoming for A&M Consolidated.

Andritsos came off the bench late in the second quarter, making his first appearance at quarterback since undergoing knee surgery in mid-September, and scored on a fourth-and-goal run from the 1-yard line to give the Highlanders a 10-7 lead at the break.

The Highlanders (4-2, 2-0) defense held a Tigers (3-2, 1-1) offense which had been averaging more than 40 points a game, to one score and just 23 yards rushing. They twice stopped the Tigers on fourth-down plays and Zach Coates recovered a first-half fumble while Jake Coll intercepted a fourth-quarter pass to help keep the Tigers in check.

Andritsos went eight yards on fourth-and-1 run at the Tigers 9-yard line to set up a second 1-yard touchdown run and with 7:32 left in the game the Highlanders led 17-7.

He looked as though he hadn’t missed a beat, completing a 34-yard pass to Bayley Novak in addition to coming up with key running plays himself.

And just for good measure, Andritsos fired a 26-yard touchdown pass to Chris Bell for the final tally.

“It’s funny, they worry about your legs and running and all you do is run the ball,” said Andritsos. “We just kind of ran over them tonight. I had a good week of practice and (the knee) felt good. I was just ready to go out there and hit somebody for a change.”

Andritsos was originally scheduled to play sparingly, but he sparked the team late in the second quarter and finished up under center.

“They told me I was going to play a little bit and then the time came and I guess they held nothing back.”

Andritsos said his quick return was made possible by the lack of swelling in the knee; “I guess youth paid off.”

“We physically wore them down in the second half running the football,” Highlanders head coach Mark Schmid said. “The kids took a lot of pride in it up front. The defensive linemen did a great job. Patrick (Carr) and Chris did a great job running the football and we threw the ball when we needed to. Chris Bell had a big reception to blow the game open.”

The Highlanders take on Lufkin at 2 p.m. Saturday in Woodforest Bank Stadium.