Football Falters Fatally in Frustrating Folly
In the first road game of the season, the Big Red football team traveled to Choate last Saturday, hoping to perform better after a close game last week. While the team lost to Choate 3-35, setting their record at 0-2, the team showed a lot of potential throughout the match, especially during the second half.
The game was a struggle early on with Choate returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Yet, according to upper Kelechi Nwankwoala, the rest of the match was “fairly even.” Big Red shut down Choate on defense and had a few good drives throughout the first half. However, they failed to capitalize on these key plays and found themselves down 35-3 at halftime.
Still, the team stayed composed and came back on the field with a newfound excitement. Throughout the second half, they held down Choate defensively, preventing them from scoring any more points. While Exeter was unable to score again themselves, Nwankwoala thought the second half was a success and showed the team’s full potential.
“Our defensive players capitalized on their blitz plays and made some big sacks in the fourth quarter, shifting the momentum back towards Exeter.”
“As a team we have the skills and tools needed to get the win, it just comes down to whether or not we utilize them,” Nwankwoala said. “The second half against Choate showed us what we can do. We just need to be more consistent about it.”
He went on to explain some of the team’s strengths this game, such as its strong defense, led by the team’s quick defensive line. He also noted that the linemen looked particularly strong during the match, especially considering many of them play both ways on the team.
Upper Andreas Moe agreed with Nwankwoala, stressing the importance of defense in football. Compared to last year’s game against Choate, where the team lost 49-0, the players showed major improvements this year in their ability to stop opponents’ drives.
“In football, offense is really just as important as defense,” Moe said. “While we struggled a bit in both areas during the beginning of the match, our defense dominated throughout the rest of the game. Our defensive players capitalized on their blitz plays and made some big sacks in the fourth quarter, shifting the momentum back towards Exeter.”
Still, the team certainly has some areas they need to improve after the game. As the team travels to Loomis Chaffee this Saturday, Moe hopes they can work on passing and taking advantage of scoring opportunities.
After only losing to Loomis by a point last year, the team will push hard this year to dominate the game and pull of their first win of the season. Many of the players such as upper Philippe Louise are looking forward to playing Chaffee and are confident that it could be a turning point in their season.
“If we work on the things we did wrong last match, I feel that we can definitely pull off our team’s first win of the season,” Louise said. “That would be really motivating for our team, and I think if we do win, it will set us on the right path to a better record in the future. Regardless, it should definitely be an exciting match.”