Our Condolences to the Phillipians

By CARLY CANSECO ‘27 and HENRY WISE ‘27

Dear Philippians,

We are sending this note to apologize in advance for the absolute crush that will occur on Saturday, November 9th, at Phelps Stadium in Andover, Massachusetts. If you ask us early enough, we will come bearing presents - Puffs Ultra Soft tissues. All Exonians and Phillipians have heard of E/a (hopefully). It’s one of the most important traditions at both institutions. With the pep rally as a preface and most sports teams competing, this jam-packed day is ramped up with competitiveness and highlights the school rivalry. The Exeter-Andover football game is probably the most awaited event of the day. That’s not really true for us, though.

Winning got old a while ago. When you do something so many times, it feels like a chore rather than a challenge. We know many Philippians will be present since this game will be a home game for you, and we hope hearing their loud chants will be enough to encourage your team to get a win this year. Although, maybe they’ll leave early because they know your football team will inevitably lose and don’t want to hear the “scoreboard” chants. For your sake, we hope that’s the case. The fewer eyewitnesses, the better. We understand how hopeful you are to redeem yourselves after the jarring 47-20 loss last year, 42-7 the year before, and 37-6 in 2021.

Therefore, we wholeheartedly promise to do our best to be easy on you, but with the caliber of our football team’s student-athletes, that will pose a significant challenge.  The lack of any big competition also makes that a bit more complicated. Anyway, as the saying goes, the fourth time’s a charm, right?

Sincerely,

Exonians