Exeter football shuts out Dover to clinch a D1 playoff spot

EXETER - A year ago, the Exeter High School football team was uncharacteristically reduced to playing out the string.

That premature October ending marked the first time since 2010 the Blue Hawks didn’t make the playoffs, which created all the motivation they needed to make sure there would be games to look forward to this November.

Exeter officially punched its return ticket to the Division I playoffs on Friday night with a 38-0 victory over Dover at William Ball Stadium. Exeter (6-1) rebounded from last year’s 4-5 campaign to clinch first place in the East Conference and a home game in the East/West cluster of the Division I quarterfinals.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Exeter coach Bill Ball said. “I’m really proud for these seniors. They put their heart and soul into it. Now we just got to get on to the next game and get ready for Portsmouth.”

Exeter is currently the second seed in the East/West Cluster behind undefeated Nashua North. The Blue Hawks travel to Portsmouth-Oyster River (3-4) next Friday, followed with a trip the following week to Nashua South (5-2). Exeter would host South in the quarterfinals if the playoffs started this week.

Senior fullback Derek Edmiston led Exeter’s 325-yard rushing attack on Friday by gaining 156 yards on nine carries, with 144 of those yards and three touchdowns coming in the first half.

“Since the last game last year, all of us seniors have worked so hard to get back into the playoffs ” Edmiston said. “The season ended early when we were sophomores to Goffstown (in the 2017 quarterfinals), so it feels so great to get back here.”

Dover (2-5) came into the game without promising sophomore quarterback Darian Lopez-Sullivan, who suffered a bone bruise to his knee late in last week’s 17-7 victory over Portsmouth-Oyster River. 

Lucas Russell (7 for 19, 69 yards) and normal fullback Dom Sprague (11 carries, 50 yards) shared quarterbacking duties to minimal success for the Green Wave, as Dover turned the ball over three times and managed only 37 yards in the first half.

After Edmiston ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run on Exeter’s third play of the game, the Green Wave gave an inspired defensive effort until the Blue Hawks struck again in the second quarter.

Dover blitzed and shut down Exeter to force a pair of punts on its ensuing possessions in the first quarter, but Edmiston gained 33 yards on a trap play early in the second to set up Exeter at Dover’s 11-yard line. Edmiston would finish off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Blue Hawks a 14-0 lead with 9:34 left in the second.

“We wanted to vary it up front to mess with their blocking assignments, so we played multiple fronts throughout a single drive,” Dover coach Eric Cumba said. “A couple plays we guessed wrong and they hit big plays, but for the most part our defense did well. We turned the ball over three times, and at this point in the season that’s unacceptable.”

A Beau Normandeau fumble gave Exeter the ball on Dover’s 41 and Nolan Elmore finished off the drive with a 29-yard field goal to give Exeter a 17-0 lead with 4:42 left in the second.

Exeter stuffed Dover on a fourth-and-1 to set up shop at Dover’s 35. Edmiston followed with a 30-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-5 to give Exeter a 24-0 lead with 1:45 left in the second.

“It helps me when I’ve got two amazing backs next to me (Jaedon Cliche and Spencer Clark),” Edmiston said “They focused on Jaedon off tackle and I was able to break off some long runs,” 

“(Dover) did a great job, they gave us some A-gap pressure and we didn’t handle it well. We’ve got to fix that and they gave us problems,” Ball said. “They were taking away the off-tackle a bit, so we ran (Edmiston) with the trap and toss and he did a good job.”

Cliche opened the second half by taking the kickoff 85 yards for a score, while Uly Ellis ended the night’s scoring with a 73-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

“They’re explosive and they do what they do very well,” Cumba said. “As a young football team that with not as much experience as Exeter, we’re battling, but eventually it gets away from us.”

Now with a postseason berth secured, Exeter is primed to take the next step..

“It’s a feeling that all that hard work, hard sprints and hard lifts are all starting to pay off,” Exeter senior lineman Thatcher Allen. “This is why we woke up early all summer, this is why we lifted everyday after school. This is what it’s all for.”