The West Haven football team went into Tuesday night’s CIAC quarterfinal matchup at Finn Stadium with the hopes of avenging its 38-28 regular season loss to the Shelton Gaels and advancing in the postseason. The game did not start off like the Blue Devils wanted as the Gaels took their opening possession and drove down the field capping the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass just 1:46 into the game for a 7-0 lead. That would be the last time Shelton would see the end zone as the Westies scored 46 unanswered points to rout the Gaels 46-7.
After being out of sync and shut down for the first quarter, the Blue Devils got the offense going in the second quarter. Chris Chance got West Haven on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run but after a blocked extra point, the Westies trailed 7-6 1:41 into the second quarter. The Gaels looked like they were about to extend their lead, when their quarterback launched a pass into the end zone but, Kyle Godfrey jumped the route five yards deep and returned the interception 85 yards to the Shelton 20 yard line. The Westies stalled there and faced a fourth and four at the Shelton 14, when Jake Conlan found Chris Chance in the end zone for the touchdown and then hit Kyle Godfrey on a two-point conversion to give the Blue Devils a 14-7 lead with 2:11 left in the half.
The Westies were the beneficiaries of a Shelton fumble on the ensuing kickoff and took advantage of their opportunity. Chris Chance’s halfback option pass hit Jordan Wetmore for a 29 yard gain, down to the Gaels’ 2 yard line and Kyle Godfrey pushed the pile into the end zone to extend the West Haven lead to 20-7 after another blocked extra point with 1:33 left in the half. Shelton wasted little time and mounted an impressive drive down to the West Haven 7 yard line with seven seconds left. The Blue Devil defense would come up with its biggest play of the game when the Shelton quarterback, unable to find a receiver, tucked away the ball and sprinted for the pylon but was denied by Mike Charlton and Kyle Godfrey as time expired at the three yard line.
The Westies picked right up where they left off in the second half when Kyle Godfrey took a handoff and bolted 57 yards for a touchdown giving the Blue Devils a 26-7 lead just 2:35 into the third quarter. After the defense held the Gaels on their next possession, Shelton pinned West Haven deep with a 65-yard punt, putting the Westies at their own 2. That wasn’t a problem for Kyle Godfrey, who blasted out of the pack and raced 98 yards for the touchdown increasing the lead to 32-7 with 4:18 left in the 3rd quarter.
Chris Chance scored his third touchdown of the game with 47.5 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 39-7. After Joe Steinman intercepted a Shelton pass at midfield and returned it to the 1-yard line as the quarter ended, Zach Conlan ran it in for a touchdown on the next play giving the Westies a 46-7 lead just five seconds into the fourth quarter.
Kyle Godfrey finished with 164 yards rushing and three touchdowns while Chris Chance also scored three touchdowns.
With the victory, the Blue Devils advanced to the CIAC Class LL semifinals and a date with defending champion Darien on Sunday. After the Westies were held on their first possession, the Blue Wave were able to mount a drive, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run 3:53 into the game for an early 7-0 lead. The Westie defense would come up with its first of several, big stops on a fourth and goal at the 16 yard line later in the quarter. The Blue Devils would start there and drive down the field and when Kyle Godfrey leapt the pile from a yard out, West Haven had knotted the game up at 7-7 with 1:33 left in the first quarter.
The Blue Wave was driving again and looked like they were about to put more points on the board but, Mike Charlton came up with a huge interception with a little over six minutes to play in the half to keep the game tied. Darien was able to get back in the end zone on its next possession when the Blue Wave got a 22-yard touchdown run with 2:14 left and send the teams to the locker rooms with a 14-7 Darien lead.
Darien hooked up on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 5:24 left in the third quarter but were unable to add the extra point on a bad snap making it 20-7. Just 19 seconds later, the Westies narrowed the gap on an explosive 69-yard touchdown run by Kyle Godfrey but, a blocked extra point made the score 20-13.
The Blue Wave were in good position to extend the lead again but the Westie defense came up big again. This time it was a leaping Kyle Godfrey pulling down the interception in the back of the end zone with 6:58 left in the game to keep the score at 20-13.
Godfrey returned the ball 65 yards but a penalty for a block in the back on the return left the Blue Devils to start from their own 2. Darien held the Westies, forcing a punt and setting up the Blue Wave on the West Haven 25 after a punt return. Several plays later, the Darien quarterback fumbled on the West Haven 5 yard line but, the bouncing ball was recovered in the end zone, giving the Blue Wave a 27-13 lead.
The Blue Devils tried to mount one, last effort but Jake Conlan’s deep pass to Kyle Godfrey was wrestled away after a leaping catch at the Darien 21 yard line for the interception. With the loss, West Haven’s playoff run came to an end. The Blue Devils finished 9-3 on the season, just one step short of a state championship game.