Exeter football runs over Nashua North
Bill Ball might need to keep the video of Friday night’s game between his Exeter High School football team and Nashua North in an easily accessible place.
NASHUA – Bill Ball might need to keep the video of Friday night’s game between his Exeter High School football team and Nashua North in an easily accessible place.
Whenever anyone asks what Blue Hawks football looks like, all Ball has to do is show the highlights from that game.
Exeter did just about everything it wanted against the Titans, possession the ball for most of the game while limiting North’s opportunities on offense, on the way to a 42-6 win in Division I action at Stellos Stadium.
The Blue Hawks (5-1) had the ball for nearly 34 minutes, as they scored on six of seven possessions, picked up 25 first downs, ran 40 more plays than North and outgained the Titans 414-215.
Leading the way for Exeter were running backs Cam Flanagan, who rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and Brayden Lowery, who had 160 yards on the ground. Kyle Ball also ran for touchdowns and connected with Evan Graham for another, while also intercepting two passes on defense.
“This was Exeter football (on Friday),” said Ball, who saw his team bounce back from a 21-14 loss to Portsmouth last week. “We played well. I was really happy with the defense. We tackled in space better, we swarmed to the ball better and played with a purpose. The ground game was going well. When you get all four backs going, it really increases our chances.”
North (4-2) was unable to get stops on defense, as the Titans forced Exeter to punt just once, late in the third quarter and the score 35-6. And North couldn’t do much against the Blue Hawks’ defense, outside of an 80-yard touchdown run by Tylor Chase in the second quarter.
“That’s what they do, they just chomp you, they eat up clock, and if you don’t get first downs, they get the ball back and do it the same thing,” North coach Dante Laurendi said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting them off the field. A couple of times we had them at third and 5 or 6, and gave up some big plays. We didn’t help ourselves against a good football team.”
After North opened the game with a three-and-out, Exeter went 89 yards on 13 plays, taking up 5:59 of the first quarter and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kyle Ball. The Titans got a first down on their next possession, but had to punt again, and this time, Exeter went 79 yards on nine plays to score on Ball’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Graham.
The Titans responded on the next play from scrimmage, with Chase breaking through the Exeter defense for an 80-yard touchdown run that made it 14-6 with 8:48 left in the first half.
But the Blue Hawks answered with another 13-play drive, this time going 58 yards in 5:09, going back up two scores on a 4-yard touchdown run by Flanagan. After Exeter’s Zach Knight intercepted a tipped pass by North’s Jeff Baldassari, Flanagan found the end zone again, this time from a yard out to make it 28-6 with 31 seconds left in the half.
“They moved us into the wrong places,” Laurendi said. “We had guys in the right places and they moved us. That’s a good, physical football team and we didn’t play as physical as we’re capable of (Friday).”
Exeter took the kickoff to open the third quarter and went 59 yards on eight plays, scoring on a 10-yard run by Ball, and the Blue Hawks finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 16-play, 89-yard drive that ate up 9:43 and ended on a 2-yard touchdown run by Knight.
“We had good push up front, the line did a good job and our backs are blocking well,” Bill Ball said. “They played well and it was a good effort by the guys.”
