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Exeter routs Andover in Phillips battle

Saturday, November, 13 By Jeff Hamrick

ANDOVER — Fans of the country’s oldest prep-school rivalry have seen quite a bit in the 130-year history of the matchup, but the Phillips schools of Exeter and Andover put on something historic yesterday afternoon.

Breaking open a halftime tie, Exeter erupted for 35 points after intermission and a convincing 56-33 victory over Andover before a full house at Phelps Stadium. The 89 points scored were the most the two have combined for since the rivalry began in 1878. The total eclipsed the 85 points scored in a 78-7 Exeter victory in 1914. Exeter also scored the fourth most points for one school in the series and the most since Andover’s 59-0 victory in 1952.

Andover still holds the advantage in the series with a 68-52-10 mark.

“Ultimately, Exeter was just too big and strong for us, and just wore us down,” Andover coach Leon Modeste said. “I mean, they just had too much, but I was happy with the way my kids performed. There’s no quit on that Blue team.”

After spotting Exeter (6-1) and early 14-point lead, Andover (2-5) rallied with a 21-point second quarter with touchdown passes from Robert Lippe to Thomas Szymanski (4 yards), Brendan Rankowitz (21) and Szymanski (14). The final throw to Szymanski capped a nicely executed seven-play, 72-yard drive that began with 2:28 left in the opening half.

“That was great,” Modeste said of the drive. “The kids showed a lot of poise. We work on that 2-minute drill every day and (Lippe) did a great job of leading the team down there. That was just great.”

After intermission, however, Exeter had too much Andreas Robinson, who finished with 282 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carriers, and Joseph Jaskolski, who added a pair of rushing touchdowns, completed four of his five passing attempts and was a perfect 7-for-7 on extra-point kicks.

The Big Blue countered with more Lippe. The senior quarterback from California completed 18 of his 36 attempts for 300 yards and five scoring tosses, In one stretch, Lippe was 9 of 11 for 135 yards, but he misconnected on 10 of his final 16 tries.

“We talked about (avoiding a third straight loss to Exeter),” Modeste said. “But we also knew we’ve up against it all year long. We’ve been outgunned and outhustled all year long. But we’ll get after next year and try to get bigger and stronger.”

Methuen’s Jason Buco, hauled in six of Lippe’s completions for 114 yards and the game’s final touchdown — a 25-yarder with 2:35 left.

“We played hard and that’s all you can really ask,” said Buco, who was spending a post-graduate year at the school. “They’re a good team, but we gave them a game.”