It is coming down to crunch time in the 2024 high school football season. For West Haven, the games only get bigger.
With a Thanksgiving Eve showdown with Fairfield Prep looming and a berth in the Class LL postseason at large, the Westies knew they could not look ahead. Putting forth one of its best efforts of the season, West Haven won its eighth straight contest with a 30-3 Senior Night victory over Cheshire at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
With the victory, West Haven improved to 8-1 and remained in the fourth slot in the Class LL standings, where a home game in the opening round of the postseason is at stake.
West Haven senior quarterback Nick Conlan continued his stellar season as he threw for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and also ran for a score. Defensively, West Haven continued to shine, allowing just 81 yards of offense to Cheshire in the contest.
Offensively, West Haven used a 1-yard touchdown run by Conlan with 59 seconds left in the first quarter to take a lead it would never relinquish.
Conlan then took to the air to give West Haven a 13-0 lead when he connected with Tahmayn Thompson for a 49-yard scoring strike with 7:46 left in the half.
Cheshire got within 13-3 on a field goal with 4:45 left in the second quarter, but Justin Chacon nailed a 33-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to the half with West Haven holding a 16-3 lead.
As the Rams struggled to get anything going offensively, West Haven increased its lead to 23-3 when Conlan hit Tamarion Lafortune with an 8-yard scoring pass with 6:20 to go In the third quarter.
Coryon Harris capped the scoring 16 seconds into the fourth quarter with a 24-yard touchdown run. Harris ran for 155 yards in the win.