Football Makes a Comeback, Season Looking Brighter

Big Red football mounted a monumental comeback against Deerfield, snapping their losing streak and showing signs of a potent team in their 25-20 victory over Deerfield Academy. Exeter now posts the same record as Andover, but Andover’s one victory was a tight win over a team that Deerfield demolished, so we can expect a healthy victory during E/A to start the streak again.

The game didn’t start in Exeter’s favor. The first quarter ended in a 0-0 deadlock, and the first two scores were a quick Big Green pass followed by an intercepted Big Red pass that led to a Deerfield field goal, marking the game 0-10 in Deerfield’s favor. It was looking like things were shaping up to be another loss. But then, post-graduate Keaton Dunsford threw a neat spiral to upper JT Thompson, who was streaking down the sideline; and Big Red football established their aerial attack with their first—but certainly not last—passing touchdown of the season. Another march up the field ended at the 5-yard line as the half expired, but the message was clear: Exeter was still in this game.

As the second half began, Exeter notched its second passing touchdown with another clean toss from Dunsford to post-graduate Cecil Williams, giving Exeter its first lead of the night, 13-10. Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last very long. Three plays later, Deerfield connected on a 50-yard pass that torched the secondary and put Deerfield back up, 13-17. Williams and Dunsford connected once again, giving Exeter a slight 19-17 edge, but as time ran down in the fourth quarter, Deerfield made it 19-20 with a tight field goal.

Thus began the race against time. Exeter’s pass failed at the worst possible moment, but a saving grace was found. Post-graduate Christian Dumont, responsible for a majority of Big Red’s offensive power before this week, cut and spun up the field on a key third and long. A few plays later, he found the end zone, making it 25-20. Exeter’s defense, solid but not impenetrable, firmed up and blitzed harder than a Kraut over London. Sacks and stops galore, the team was set back by not one, but two consecutive offensive pass interference calls on third down, both of them very questionable.

Yet the defense held firm. On every play, the defense was lit up with a frenzy and Deerfield was shut down as time expired. Exeter clinched their first victory of the season.

“The game was one of the best football games that I've ever played in,” captain Brendan Rosseau said. “We had so many contributions from so many guys: JT, Cecil, Keaton, the whole O line, all the special teams players, the list goes on and on. I was especially proud of how my defensive players did, especially when we found ourselves with our backs against the wall. It's really something special when the whole team comes together to and has an equal hand in a great win. I think we'd all agree that our performance was far from perfect, but it's reassuring to know that we can beat good teams even when we're not at our best. We've got something to build off of, and I'm hoping this will carry over to next week’s game. I'd like to thank the fans for coming out and cheering us on; having a big crowd at the game made this sixth straight win over Deerfield something special. I have no doubt that I will remember and cherish that game for the rest of my life.”

“We executed this week. It's as simple as that,” Thompson said. “We went back to the basics. We went out there and had fun playing beside each other. We spread out the offense and got the pass game going which really opened the running attack. For the rest of the season, we will continue to improve on offense and defense. We will work on balancing our attack and locking down on defense. The goal is to win it and it is very reachable.”

"We went back to the basics. We went out there and had fun playing beside each other. We spread out the offense and got the pass game going which really opened the running attack."

So what does this win mean for the rest of the season? Well, Choate is the monster of the league, boasting an undefeated record over the two Phillips schools, Deerfield, Cushing and Worchester. As of now, Cushing sits at the bottom of the pecking order, winless, with Andover and Deerfield slightly above them with measly 1 or 2 point victories. A game against the formidable Avon Old Farms still looms ahead in the schedule, but besides that, the season just keeps getting easier. We should most likely beat Cushing this weekend, and if Deerfield ekes out a victory over Andover, we’ll be right on track to finish the season 3-5 with a victory over Andover at E/A. We may not be top dog, but we’re not the bottom feeders either. If the offense keeps picking up steam, we could even finish at 4-4.

The only way to know for sure what the season holds is to be at Cushing this Saturday at 5:30 p.m., but all we can say now is, good luck to Big Red, and fingers crossed for a successful season.