Varsity Football Crushes Deerfield Academy
By JACK CASSIDY and ISHAAN SINGH
On Saturday, Oct. 21, Exeter’s varsity football team took a trip to Deerfield Academy, snatching a 21-14 victory. Knowing it would be a dogfight, the team required an immense amount of preparation the preceding week. Nevertheless, despite the rainy conditions, key plays from Zion Simmons, Eddie Buehler, and Kai Honda helped lead the way to their win, improving the team’s overall record to 4-1.
“We’ve had a very successful season, but the game against Deerfield has to be one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced,” lower RJ Edmonds said. “There was this tension in the air, and it was very high energy, to say the least.”
Also on the line is upper Ewan Newton, an offensive guard, who agreed, calling it a “grueling back-and-forth game.”
Edmonds, a running back and linebacker new to the varsity squad, commented on the stress and uncertainty the team had felt going into the game. Rainy conditions were expected early on, so head coach Panos Voulgaris planned ahead. “We spent our whole week of practice preparing for the poor weather and the overall uncertain nature of the game,” Edmonds said.
According to Edmonds, Voulgaris gave an inspiring speech on Friday that got the team’s energy up, leading to strong plays throughout the matchup. “The score was close throughout the entirety of the game. There were lots of big plays from key players right down to the last minute,” Edmonds said. “We all went to Deerfield knowing what we had to do, and we executed. Winning never felt better.”
Many of the game’s highlights were by senior Zion Simmons. “He made a variety of clutch plays, like a pick 6, [and] he got a 50-yard touchdown … He really kept us in the game with his clutchness. Overall, [in terms of] defense and offense, we put up a fight,” senior, captain, and left tackle Nihaal Rana said.
“The season is going very well right now. [We’re up] 4-1 and ranked second in the league,” Newton said. “So we’re looking to make sure that we’re … getting better every week and working towards a bowl game win to cap off our season.”
According to Rana, the team always practices and plays as if their record is still 0-0. “We’re always striving for that next win,.We don’t think we’re up or anything,” he said.
“Everybody’s feeling very good, very ecstatic that we won the game, but we had to put that behind us because we have [a game against] Brunswick [next],” Rana continued. “They have a lot of talent, so it’s another game that we have to lock in on. [We got to] focus this week and during practice.”