“A true champion is a true champion. They go fight and win or lose, give it their all.” – Glover Teixeira
In the very fabled history of the Expository Bowl, only once has the newspaper claimed the famed Expository Bowl Trophy. This date came nearly 2 years ago when former EIC Blake Woodard ’22 and Managing Editor Ajay Bhavan ’22 led the team to a historic victory with a final score of 79-77.
This victory fueled the varsity football team to bounce back, defeating The Roundup in last year’s matchup by a margin of 2 due to a last minute error from the newspaper.
However, this year, The Roundup flipped the script with a 51-50 win. A stunning display of athletic heroism and incredible grit wherein The Roundup outperformed and out-willed and out-wit their opponent.
The Roundup not only executed their strategy of coordinating a short passing game to dig into the opponent but also played a spectacular zone defense, one that stunned the varsity football team’s offense. When asked about this masterpiece of a gameplan, Roundup fill-in Cooper Kirby ’26 mentioned how “focused and prepared we were for this matchup.”
Game Recap
The first half of the matchup featured two explosive offenses scoring on each possession. Cooper Kirby ’26 led The Roundup with multiple explosive plays on offense while Allen Lesher ’24 served as a spark plug for the football team. Entering half-time The Roundup led 26-22.
However, momentum would soon shift following an interception by the football team on the opening play of the second half. While things suddenly looked bleak for the newspaper, The Roundup, by the grace of the CEA, forced a turnover on the next play.
Following multiple touchdowns from Griffin Taber ’24 and some ingenious play design from Peyton Bristow ’24 The Roundup had a 1 point lead with a minute left in the game. Varsity football team quarterback Cooper Cutler ’24 led a 30 second scoring drive to take a 6 point lead over the roundup with 40 seconds left.
On what would be a game winning drive, Cooper Kirby ’26 picked up a quick 20 yards. Then, using their incredible intelligence and mathematical prowess, The Roundup wasted the following 30 seconds before scoring a game tying touchdown. With the game tied up the extra-point conversion would be critical in deciding the victor. In an immaculate fashion Peyton Bristow came down with the game winning extra point in the back of the endzone.
With a defensive stand for the final 18 seconds, The Roundup secured a 51-50 victory over the football team, only the second time in Expository Bowl history.
Postgame
Following the win I had the chance to talk to some key members of The Roundup and football teams.
“I’m very grateful we got the win. It was a back and forth game and we never put our head down. It felt great to be back on the winning side with the guys” – News Editor Griffin Taber ’24
“I thought we did a good job of making adjustments and utilizing all players to overwhelm the football team, the chaotic play style helped lead us to victory” – Sports Editor Peyton Bristow ’25
“It was a incredibly competitive and energetic game and you have to shout out The Roundup for how well they performed.” – Cooper Cutler ’24
As a member of this team and a two-time Expository Bowl champ I have to thank everyone that took part in the game and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to put on this game once a year. All I can ask for is that The Roundup can defend the title next year!
For more Expository bowl news stay tuned to The Roundup.
