ANDOVER — Ernie Adams collected six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.
Five years after retiring from his behind-the-scenes post, where he was the team’s football research director for 21 years and one of Bill Belichick’s closest confidant, Adams now has his first-ever victory as a head coach.
The interim head coach at Phillips Andover, Adams is guiding his alma mater for one season before handing off the reigns to whomever the school deems is the right long term fit. In the interim, Adams is fitting right as the HC of PA.
Adams coached Andover to a season-opening victory Saturday, defeating the Hotchkiss School, 28-23, at Phelps Stadium.
“We kept playing, one play at a time,” Adams said. “This is a very resilient bunch.”
Adams graduated from Andover in 1971, a period of time on campus when he formed his friendship with Belichick. But Belichick wasn’t the only coaching great that impacted Adams. As a student at Andover, he played football for Steve Sorota, who set a standard of excellence during his 42 years as Andover’s coach.
“That’s why I’m doing this,” Adams said. “Andover is part of my DNA. There is no other school where I’d do this.”
Long known throughout the NFL for keeping a low profile, Adams was front and center for Andover as he brought his winning touch to a program that finished 2-7 last year. In search of its first winning season since 2017, Andover took an important first step toward that goal by defeating Hotchkiss.
In a meeting of NEPSAC Class A foes, Hotchkiss jumped ahead, 14-0, as Andover was unable to stop tight end Isaac Oberting. But midway through the second quarter, Andover running back Ubie Zaid changed the complexion of the game when he broke free for a 26-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit in half.
“Our O-line is the heart of our team,” Zaid said. “There’s nothing we can do without them, and I have to really shout our tight end, Gus Concemi, because so many of my cuts came from him. Plus we get to play for Coach Adams. The plays that he draws up work. There’s no better coach than him.”
Head coach Ernie Adams on the sideline as Phillips Andover takes on Hotchkiss in football. Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
Three minutes later, Andover evened the score when quarterback Landon Husereau connected with Will Mascena on a 28-yard touchdown pass. Hotchkiss was then poised to score right before the end of the first half after a questionable face mask penalty on Andover put them in the red zone. But Andover forced a fumble on the next play, with Caden Schrock stripping the ball loose and Tyler Baty recovering, keeping Hotchkiss out of the end zone.
“You can’t let your last play negatively affect your next one,” Adams said. “You have to be resilient, and that’s what the kids were.”
Andover grabbed its first lead when Zaid broke free for a six-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter for a 21-14 advantage. That lead nearly lasted the duration of the quarter, until Hotchkiss quarterback Peter Flora found Freddy Conyers for an 80-yard touchdown reception as time expired in the third to tie the game at 21.
Andover scored the lone touchdown in the fourth as Husereau found Mascena over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown, putting Andover ahead, 28-21, with 10:30 to play. The chemistry between Husereau and Mascena, who are both from Rhode Island, provided Andover with an offensive advantage.
“We met in the spring, and we’ve been running routes ever since,” Husereau said. “Our line was excellent, so was our running game and our defense, and Mascena was amazing.”
Hotchkiss chipped away after the deficit when it blocked Andover’s punt from within the end zone. But instead of allowing prime field position, Andover’s Will Corbin wisely knocked the ball out of the end zone for a safety to cut Andover’s lead to 28-23.
However, the safety forced Hotchkiss to put together a drive from its own 43. Hotchkiss again got within the red zone, but Armani Pereira made another sensational play, teaming with Nathaniel McCormick to tackle Oberting four yards short of the goal line to secure the victory.
“The game was getting close, stakes were up, and a great defensive player is going to play to make a play — not play to not mess up,” Pereira said. “That’s what I had to do, and that’s what we did as a defense.”
Phillips Andover's Ubie Zaid fends off Hotchkiss’ Ried Hollman as Phillips Andover takes on Hotchkiss in football. Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald
Pereira noted Adams made sure his squad was prepared for their opening game.
“It’s inspiring knowing I have a coach with so much knowledge and who has won so much,” Pereira said. “The whole team, we’re really taking in everything he is teaching us, and we want to make him proud by executing.”
Prior to the start of the game, Dempsey, who is in his sixth season with Hotchkiss, had never coached against someone with a Super Bowl championship, let alone six.
“That was definitely a first for me,” Quinn said. “Both schools are very historic, so it was cool to play each other, and to have a coach with so much success like Ernie on the other side, it just shows how great this game is.”
At the same time Andover was playing, Belichick was on the North Carolina sidelines in a game against Clemson. There was something fitting about Adams and Belichick both coaching on the same Saturday afternoon. Naturally, the two kicked off game day by communicating with each other.
“We had a good exchange of texts this morning,” Adams said. “But this is about the kids. We have a great group, and they play hard every play.”