Defense drove Exeter football's win over Nashua North

The offensive statistics for the Exeter High School football team were staggering in Friday night's win over Nashua North.

The Blue Hawks, who dominated in a 42-6 win over the Titans, had the ball for almost 34 minutes of a game that lasted 48. They ran 40 more plays on offense than North, which ran just 30 total.

Of Exeter's six touchdown drives, all but one was at least eight plays long. Two were 13 plays, and on its final drive, Exeter went 89 yards on 16 plays - an average of 5.6 yards per play - and used up 9:43 of the second half.

"They moved us into the wrong places," North coach Dante 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). They outphysicaled us and the results showed."

North's defense made just one stop on the night, following an interception that put Exeter on it's own 3-yard line. The Blue Hawks gained 362 of their 414 yards on the ground, averaging - you guess it - 5.6 yards per carry.

But after the game, it was the defense that impressed Exeter coach Bill Ball the most.

"I was really happy with the defense," Ball said. "We tackled in space better, we swarmed to the ball better and played with a purpose."

Exeter (5-1) had plenty of motivating factors, the most obvious being a 21-14 loss at home the week before to Portsmouth, which was without its starting quarterback.

"The worst thing we heard was that they lost last week," Laurendi said. "That's not typically a team you see that puts two losses together."

But the Blue Hawks, and the Exeter community, did suffer another loss last week when news broke Wednesday of the death of classmate Jack Beaton.

"It was a tough week," Ball said. "Exeter lost a member of the student body this week, so the guys were playing with a heavy heart. They played well and it was a good effort by the guys."

After seeing that North (4-2) had put up 55 points in a win over Winnacunnet last week, Ball knew the Titans were capable of making plays against Exeter's defense. The Blue Hawks saw it firsthand when a breakdown led to North's lone touchdown, an 80-yard by Tylor Chase midway through the second quarter.

"They caught us in a misalignment, they have some really good athletes and they do a good job," Ball said of North. "They concerned me. The inside slots, the outside receivers, the running back, the quarterback, the guys up front ... we beat a good team, make no mistake about it.

"Sometimes from the sidelines, you can just tell. We were flowing to the ball, getting to the ball, getting multiple hats to the ball. It was our best defensive effort this year."

Exeter continues its run against Gate City schools on Friday, when it hosts Nashua South. The Blue Hawks will then take on old rival Bishop Guertin on Oct. 21 in their final home game of the regular season.

Meanwhile, North heads to Portsmouth on Friday for a game that will have a great impact on the Titans' postseason outlook. Right now, North is on the outside and loses the head-to-head tiebreakers with Exeter and Dover.

"As far as we're concerned, we've got to put this behind us, learn from the mistakes and get better and get refocused," Laudrendi said. "We've got to go find a way to win a football game next week."