DERRY — Defending Division I champion Exeter isn't likely to lose its hold this week on high school football's No. 1 statewide ranking.

If anything, the Blue Hawks tightened their grip on it.

Minus 20 players from its storybook title team, a new-look Exeter squad returned to Memorial Field and again topped Pinkerton Academy of Derry, winning Saturday's No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown, 24-20.

“It felt very similar to last year. Just a (heck) of a team effort,” said Exeter senior workhorse Tyler Grant, who ran 21 times for 196 yards, including 53- and 60-yard scores. “Every guy. Every single guy. It wasn't, at all, just me.”

Max Medley made one of the game's biggest plays. The 6-foot 6-inch defensive back undercut James Toohey's route on a fourth-quarter halfback option pass from Chris St. Onge.

“I ran as hard as I could. Luckily he threw it short, and I got to it,” said Medley, whose interception gave Exeter (2-0 overall, 1-0 Div. I) a short field.

Medley's pick with 8 minutes, 34 seconds to play protected a 21-20 lead. Pinkerton's second turnover led to Matt Oppici's crucial 32-yard field goal with 5:33 on the clock.

“The pundits are correct, in that we are two of the top teams,” said Brian O'Reilly, head coach of No. 2 Pinkerton. “If you say that (Nos.) 1 and 2 are playing in a football game, you would expect the game to go four quarters. ... I would say you guys picked correctly.”

Pinkerton (1-1, 0-1) had time to mount a comeback. But linebacker Jamie Vogt stopped a third-down reverse. It force a three-and-out.

Vogt, Grant, Galen Antolino and quarterback Ethan Joyce — running behind Neil Vorster and a stout offensive line — did not give the ball back.

Marc Thaler's Exeter-Pinkerton video wrapup:


“We played together in the second half, the way we have to play,” said Exeter head coach Bill Ball, whose 2011 team stunned the Astros, 23-13, for the title. “That was encouraging.”

The Astros overcome a tough start; Vogt intercepted a mishandled pass thrown by Sean Conroy. It led to Joyce and Jameson Whiteley connecting for an 18-yard TD.

Pinkerton answered with a 66-yard drive. Chris St. Onge's 4-yard burst capped it. Grant sandwiched his second- and third-quarter TDs around Matt St. Onge's score with 6-plus to play in the first half.

The bid to knot the game at 21 — after Manny Latimore's third-quarter, 66-yard strike — fell short for Pinkerton. A missed extra point proved costly.

“It just means we're doing it right,” Vogt said of the win. “We've just got to keep it rolling.”

- - - - - - - -

Marc Thaler may be reached at mthaler@unionleader.com.