Football Wins First Game in 2 Years

After a nail-biting four quarters, Big Red varsity football conquered its opponent, Loomis Chaffee with an incredible score of 20-13 during an away game last Saturday. Leading the margin by 7 points against Loomis, Exeter’s record is now 1-2 so far this season, with many team members hopeful for more upcoming victories.

“It was close all game, but the team did a great job of pulling out a tight win.”

Postgraduate Alex Gladu was enthusiastic coming off of the dub. “It was huge for us to get that first win out of the way and the monkey off our backs,” he said. Gladu also commented on the team’s effort to stick it out until the end to “capitalize” in the last half.

On the other hand, Lower Josh Riddick felt uncertain of the score until the last moment. “It was close all game, but the team did a great job of pulling out a tight win,” he said. “Loomis was a tough, well-coached team, but we were prepared.”

Postgraduate Charlie Dallape complimented Loomis as a worthy opponent. “They were very talented up front and played a great game in the trenches,” he said. “We were just able to make a few more winning plays than they did.”

Gladu echoed these sentiments, describing Loomis as a “good team.” However, he emphasized that Exeter was able to take advantage of some crucial blunders their opponents committed. “They made some key mistakes that definitely cost them,” he explained. “We played a more clean game than they did and that’s why we came away with the win.”

For Gladu, the highlights of the game were Exeter’s special teams and defensive line. “While [Loomis] could move the ball, we made plays when it mattered, playing ‘bend, don’t break’ defense,” he said. “On the special teams, we had guys flying around, forcing mistakes that put us in great positions to score and defend.” Gladu also commended post-graduate Josh Anderson for his contributions to defense. “He had a monster game, making tons of huge plays when they threatened to score,” Gladu said, adding appreciation for senior Wyatt Foster’s defensive prowess. As for offense, Gladu highlighted Dallape’s two touchdown catches and post graduate Samson Dubé’s touchdown rush.

Lower Cade Thompson could not pick a highlight. “There were so many big plays in the game,” he said. “It’s hard to limit it down to one—a lot of guys stepped up and helped towards the win.”

Riddick also applauded post graduate Jake Calnan’s two touchdown passes to Dallape. “Another highlight was Cade’s punt recovery on Loomis’ one yard line,” he said.

Looking ahead to future games, Riddick hopes to improve offense, especially with regards to “moving the ball better” during early downs. Gladu echoed this same sentiment, saying, “We need to be more consistent running the ball. If we are going to be successful, we will have to shore up upfront, which we started to in the second half.” Dallape, meanwhile, hopes to pick up more momentum. “We need to improve on staring fast,” he said. “We can out slow and we weren’t able to really get into a rhythm until the second half.”

Dallape looks forward to facing against Suffield on Family Weekend. “It should be a good atmosphere,” he said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to continue our momentum into the second half of the season.”