The West Haven football team headed to Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield on Thanksgiving Day hoping to secure a home game in the CIAC playoffs on Tuesday night. Things looked good early when the Blue Devils took the opening possession and drove down the field, capping the drive with a Kyle Godfrey 1-yard touchdown run just 3:52 into the game for a 7-0 lead. Fairfield Prep would even the game with 1:51 left in the first quarter on a 16-yard touchdown pass and that’s where it would stay until the second half with the defenses keeping the teams out of the end zone.
The Westies would take a 14-7 lead with 4:54 left in the third quarter when Jake Conlan connected with Mike Charlton on a 25-yard touchdown pass. It didn’t take the Jesuits long to respond when they answered 1:59 later on a 43-yard touchdown pass to knot the game, 14-14.
The Fairfield Prep defense did a good job limiting the West Haven offense that was without Kyle Godfrey for the majority of the second half. The Jesuits were able to take the lead on an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:07 left in the game to take a 21-14 lead. Prep was then the beneficiary of a fumble on West Haven’s next possession to give the ball back to the Jesuits at the Westies’ 45-yardline.
The West Haven defense did its best to get the ball back but, the Jesuits picked up a huge first down on fourth and one and then got the Blue Devils to jump offside on another fourth and two to seal the victory for the Jesuits.
With the loss, West Haven were the seven-seed and traveled to Shelton to face the two-seeded Gaels on Tuesday. The Westies’ only other loss this season came at the hands of the Gaels, 38-28, on Oct. 27 in West Haven. If victorious, the Blue Devils would face the winner of the Darien vs East Hartford game on Sunday at 12:30 at the higher seed.
As the Fall Sports season comes to a close, the Winter Sports season will start to crank up. The boys’ and girls’ hockey teams will open the season with Midnight Madness on Friday at midnight in the Bennett Rink.