Exeter football bounces back with dominating win over Winnacunnet

EXETER - No matter whom the opponent was for the Exeter High School football team, the Blue Hawks were anxious to shake off the sting of last week's walk-off loss to Nashua North.

Refocusing to the next game was made easier this week with rival Winnacunnet coming to town, and it was emphatically evident that the Blue Hawks were ready to humble to Warriors.

After Winnacunnet won the past two meetings, Exeter laid the hammer down in the 81st edition of the storied rivalry by scoring touchdowns on five of six possessions in the first half, en route to a 42-14 Division I victory on Saturday at William Ball Stadium. 

Exeter leads the all-time series 59-30, with two ties. The teams had split the previous 10 matchups, which included a 2017 win by Winnacunnet in its D1 championship season.

“We knew this was a rivalry game, we lost the past two years, and that hurt a lot,” Exeter senior Derek Edmiston said. “This year, it wasn’t going to happen. When I leave this high school, I want to leave as a winner against Winnacunnet. It just means so much to us, and that’s why we work our butts off in the offseason.”

Exeter (4-1) opened the game with a nine play, 73-yard drive that was finished off by 10-yard touchdown run by Spencer Clark that gave Exeter a 6-0 lead. Clark’s run was set up on the previous play by 28-yard completion from quarterback Ryan Grijalva to Jaedon Cliche. Cliche piled up 145 scrimmage yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his only half of play. 

“We lost the last two years to this team, and this year we felt it was different,” Cliche said. “We’ve been preparing all week and (Saturday) we came out ready to play.”

Edmiston (five carries, 57 yards) ripped off a 33-yard touchdown run on Exeter’s next possession, and Clark added a two-point conversion run to give the Blue Hawks a 14-0 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

After Winnacunnet (1-4) fumbled, the Warriors forced a three-and-out and followed that with their best possession of the first half. Winnacunnet’s 12-play drive down to Exeter’s 19-yard line midway through the second quarter ended with a Ryan Putney interception of Winnacunnet quarterback Elliot Beals.

“(Exeter) played more consistent football. There were times where we actually did some things and moved the ball,” Winnacunnet coach Ryan Francoeur said. “Against a team like that, you’ve got to put consecutive good plays together, and we’re just not there yet. We’re trying, but it's just not working for us. Some of the things we couldn’t do offensively, took some of the fire out of our defense.”

Cliche (nine carries, 95 yards) followed five plays later by rumbling up the middle for a 53-yard touchdown run to give Exeter a 21-0 lead with 4:49 left in the second quarter. 

Winnacunnet unsuccessfully tried a fake punt on its next possession, which led to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Grijalva to Nate MacDonald to give Exeter a 28-0 lead. Grijalva (3 for 5, 71 yards) has thrown eight touchdowns this season, with five of them going to MacDonald.

Cliche capped off his first half with style by returning an interception 49 yards down to Winnacunnet’s 21. He finished the ensuing drive with a 4-yard touchdown run off a double-option pitch from Clark to give Exeter a 35-0 lead with four seconds left in the first half.

“He’s a great football player,” Exeter coach Bill Ball said of Cliche. “He’s shifty, he’s in great shape and he does a great job for us. He’s an all-around football player, and he’s really important to us.”

Dominic Gould highlighted Winnacunnet’s day by catching five passes for 83 yards, adding 45 rushing yards and a touchdown. After suffering an injury injury three weeks ago, Winnacunnet’s original starting quarterback Patrick Britton made his return in a backup role and scored on a 1-yard keeper. Beals completed 6 of 14 passes for 99 yards an two interceptions.

Both teams will be back in action on Friday night when Winnacunnet hosts Nashua South (3-2), while Exeter travels to Spaulding (2-3).

“Our guys were pretty focused from the end of last week until (Saturday),” Ball said. “We weren’t real happy with how it ended last week, so we came into practice with a pretty focused effort. I’m happy with how the kids executed on both sides.”