[10][11][better source needed] In addition, Andover, Exeter, and Lawrenceville were the first secondary schools to sponsor lacrosse teams, starting in 1882.

[15] Six-time national championship-winning coach Howard Jones (1905)[16] attended Exeter for a year after transferring from Ohio's Middletown High School.

[17] The other Exonians in the Hall of Fame are four-time All-American Marshall Newell (1890),[18] 1927 national championship-winning coach Tad Jones (1905; Howard's brother),[17] three-time All-American James Hogan (1901),[19] Ed Hart (1907),[20] Eddie Casey (1915),[21] Lee McClung (1888),[22] Jim McCormick (1904),[23] and Donold Lourie (1918).

[24] Andover has also produced several notable football figures, including at least nine College Football Hall of Famers, such as four-time All-American Frank Hinkey,[25] three-time All-American Eddie Mahan,[26][27] 1903 national championship-winning coach Art Hillebrand,[28] John Kilpatrick[29] (also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame), Murray Shelton,[30] Ted Coy,[31] Bob Fisher,[32] Dick Duden,[33] and Belford West.

[39] In addition, an early flashpoint in amateurism rules took place in 1889, when Andover paid a player $200 (roughly $6,800 in 2024 dollars) to play football, and Exeter convinced him to change teams by offering him $300; the resulting controversy prompted the cancellation of the 1889 game.