Exeter football picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, going on the road and pulling away for a 38-14 victory over Cheshire Academy.

Big Red opened the scoring on the final play of the first quarter, capping a methodical 65-yard drive with a big fourth-down conversion. Facing 4th-and-1, quarterback Jackson Failla found Amari Lewis, who hauled in the pass and scampered 17 yards into the end zone to give Exeter the early lead.

Cheshire answered with a field goal, but Exeter quickly went back to work. On Big Red's next possession, Failla connected with Noah Bascon for a 35-yard gain down the right sideline to set up a touchdown run from Fogo Filani, extending the advantage to 14-3.

The hosts added another field goal before halftime to trim Exeter's lead to 14-6.

Big Red opened the second half with a 37-yard field goal from Gianluca Cecere, but Cheshire responded with its first touchdown of the afternoon to pull within three, 17-14, with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.

From there, Exeter took control. The Failla-to-Lewis connection provided another spark with a 35-yard catch and run to ignite the ensuing drive. Lewis finished it himself, breaking free for a 12-yard touchdown run to push the lead back to double digits at 24-14.

Exeter's defense took over from there, forcing a pair of second-half fumbles and keeping Cheshire off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. Filani and Jamal Hechme-Oray combined for 60 rushing yards on another scoring drive as Big Red stretched the lead to 31-14. Filani then capped the scoring with 3:30 remaining, finding the end zone for his third touchdown of the afternoon and putting the finishing touches on the 38-14 victory.

Cecere was perfect in the kicking game, converting all five of his extra-point attempts in addition to his 37-yard field goal.

Exeter improves to 1-1 on the season and returns home next Saturday to host Williston Northampton at 5:30 p.m. in Phelps Stadium.