EXETER, N.H. — After giving up 233 total yards of offense and trailing by ten points at halftime, it seemed as if Exeter just had too much firepower for Timberlane.
But things changed dramatically in the second half. The Owls surged and had a three-point lead until the Blue Hawks put together a late game winning touchdown to come away with a thrilling 24-20 victory in a New Hampshire Division I East season-opener played at Eustis Field.
“We played very well against an outstanding football team,” said senior quarterback Matt Fitzgerald. “Nobody thought we would have a game like this as we were ranked in the bottom of all of the polls. It gave us motivation to come out here and give it our best shot on every single play.”
The Blue Hawks’ got things rolling in the game’s first play from scrimmage with a 51-yard run by Max Corsett which set-up quarterback Tyler Ream’s 16-yard TD pass to Will Tobin.
Timberlane stormed right back putting together a 13-play, 74-yard drive capped off by Mikey Santosuosso (7 catches, 74 yards) catching a 4-yard pass from Fitzgerald (18 for 23, 231 yards).
In the second quarter, Exeter’s Conor Bishop connected on a 29-yard field goal, which followed with a two-yard TD run by Cole Kelley, giving Exeter the 17-7 halftime lead.
“We got into the locker room at half and all fired up that we were still in this game,” said Fitzgerald. “Everybody knew that we would come out here and fight until the very end.”
That they did.
The Owls opened the third quarter putting together an 11-play, 54-yard scoring drive finished off by a 4-yard TD run by Giovanni Recesso. The PAT was blocked and Timberlane trailed by four.
After forcing the Blue Hawks to a three-and-out, Timberlane got the ball back on its own 42 and marched right down the field with Adrian Carrassquillo taking it in from 22 yards out, and the PAT kick by Ryan Sigillo gave the Owls the 20-17 lead.
Timberlane kept the momentum going into the fourth but squandered a chance to put the game away by turning the ball over on the Exeter 9, with 4:20 to go.
That led to the game winning TD by Corzatt on a five-yard rush.
“I was hoping we could move the ball a little bit more and ultimately that hurt us when we didn’t execute (late in the fourth quarter),” said Kevin Fitzgerald. “We had a chance to go up two scores but we didn’t capitalize on that.”
Overall Fitzgerald was pleased with the effort, and the fact that his team which won three games last season, took it too the Blue Hawks, which won ten and advanced to the state semifinals.
“They were pretty good and we were pretty good,” said Kevin Fitzgerald. “We came out in the first half and made some mistakes. We left a few plays out there, but I’m so proud of my guys. Our guys played their butts off. We did a lot of good things out there tonight that we can build off of (for next week).”
Exeter 24, Timberlane 20
First Quarter
E: Will Tobin 16 pass from Tyler Ream (Conor Bishop kick)
T: Mikey Santosuosso 14 pass from Matt Fitzgerald (Ryan Sigillo kick)
Second Quarter
E: Bishop 29 Field Goal
E: Cole Kelley 2 run (Bishop kick)
Third Quarter
T: Giovanni Recesso 4 run (kick blocked)
T: Adrian Carrasquillo 22 run (Sigillo kick)
Fourth Quarter
E: Max Corsett 5 run (Bishop kick)