Football Stays Undefeated, Murks Hapless Deerfield

DEERFIELD, MA - Big Red travelled to Deerfield and demolished Big Green in a 42-14 romp. Deerfield proved to be no match for Big Red’s relentless rushing attack and destructive defense. Exeter chalked up yet another W, and the team is now 5-0 for the season heading into this weekend’s big clash with Cushing.Although the scoreboard was lopsided in the end, Deerfield’s offense looked like they had the defense figured out early on. Acutely aware of Exeter’s remarkable defense line, Big Green focused on getting the ball quickly out of their quarterback’s hand, and initially, their strategy proved successful.“We came out of the gate in a defense Deerfield scouted well,” lower Jeff MacArthur said. “We got the pass rush going but they got rid of the ball so fast it was hard as a D-lineman to make plays.”Big Red also hurt themselves on multiple occasions, committing many unnecessary penalties. On Deerfield’s second touchdown drive, Exeter gave up 35 penalty yards from an unsportsmanlike conduct and two offside penalties.“We had a lot of unnecessary penalties last week. We were lucky that they came in a blowout,” lower Ben MacLean said.In particular, one flag may come back to haunt the team, as they will be missing two-way lineman Ryan Conte this Saturday. He was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct and will serve his one game suspension against Cushing.“Someone needs to step up. Someone needs to bring it everyday [in practice this week] to show who can fill the big role that Ryan can’t play.” MacArthur said.Facing a one touchdown deficit, Exeter quickly rallied to score 35 unanswered points. Fired up, the offensive line stifled Deerfield’s pass rush and run stop, which gave postgraduates, quarterback Vince Sansone and running back Auggy Roberts, time to make plays for the team.After the first quarter, the Big Red defense took absolute control, putting the result beyond doubt early. Deerfield did not see the end zone again. In fact, Exeter’s defense actually outscored the Big Green offense after the first quarter when senior Matt Greaves returned an interception for a touchdown.Big Red’s special teams also played a huge role in Saturday’s game. “Our special teams were able to block a punt and execute some fakes to extend drives,” MacLean said.With Exeter’s offense, defense and specials teams all dominating, Big Red had no trouble turning the game into a blowout.With this result, Exeter is 5-0 on the season. The memory of last year’s bitter end after an undefeated regular season remains in the back of many players’ heads. The boys are not getting ahead of themselves and are taking it one game at a time.“We need to stay focused and treat every game as life or death,” upper Jake Willett said. “We have the toughest three games of the season up next. If we want to beat Cushing, we’re gonna need to hit the ground running come kickoff.”Cushing comes to Phelps Stadium coming off of back-to-back losses against Andover and Loomis, and they will look to snap their losing streak against the streaking Big Red team. The Purple Penguins lost by just a touchdown against Big Blue, so Saturday’s game will provide a glimpse of how the boys will stack up against their archrivals this year. Don’t ask the team about the coming weeks, though.“We can’t look forward to Avon or Andover,” MacArthur insisted. “We need to tackle this week like a one game season. We’re focused on Cushing and Cushing only. This is a big one.”