The West Haven football team improved to 7-1 with a convincing 46-6 victory over cross-town rival Notre Dame on Senior Night g at Ken Strong Stadium.
Quarterback Nick Conlan hit on 8-of-9 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns, while Demarco Eady and Camren Kemp each scored twice, and Rui DaSilva scored on a 99-yard interception return.
The Westies took control of the game with 27 points in the first quarter. Kemp gave the Westies a 6-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run, before Conlan hit Eady with a 29-yard scoring strike to increase the margin to 12-0.
A 10-yard run by Kemp followed by Conlan’s run on the conversion increased the lead to 20-0, before Armani Reid gave West Haven a 27-0 lead with a 72-yard punt return for a score.
The Westies increased the lead to 46-0 with 19 more points coming in the second quarter. Conlan hit Aedan Coe with a 6-yard scoring pass and followed with a 40-yard scoring strike to Eady, before DaSilva’s 99-yard interception return just before halftime gave West Haven a 46-0 advantage.
West Haven continued on its path to a postseason bid and home game to start the playoffs when the Westies traveled to defeat Cheshire 25-14 Friday evening.
The win for West Haven was its fourth on the road this season against Top 10 teams, and helped the Westies improve to 8-1 on the year.
West Haven got on the board first and took a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Kemp. After Cheshire closed the opening quarter by using a 5-yard fumble return for a score to even the contest, the Westies took the lead for good with the next two touchdowns.
Coe capped a West Haven drive with a 5-yard score for a 13-7 halftime lead, and Eady took a short pass from Conlan and raced 68 yards for a 19-7 advantage in the third quarter.
Leading 19-14 in the fourth quarter, the Westies put the game away with special teams and defense. Reid was the difference maker as he picked up a punt deep in West Haven territory and raced 92 yards for the score and a 25-14 lead.
The West Haven defense forced six fumbles in the game, recovering five of those.
The run in the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament ended for the eighth-seeded West Haven volleyball team. Traveling to play top-seeded Amity, the Westies fell, 25-19, 25-13, 25-17 at Amity.
“Amity is a tough team,” West Haven coach Kate Coldren said. “They have some big hitters and we worked hard to slow them down, but we couldn’t stop them all. We struggled a bit on serve receive at times, so we weren’t always able to get our offense going. When we did, we were solid.”
Alison Frazer led the West Haven defense with nine digs, Bianka Portugal Morales added eight digs, two kills and two aces, and Maddie Scillia had six digs. Sarah Davey added nine assists, Olivia McDonnell had nine kills, four aces and three digs, and Avery Criscio had three digs.
“Bianka (Portugal Morales) and Alison (Frazer) played well in the back row, and Olivia was strong in the middle. Now, we get ready for states.”
The season ended for the West Haven volleyball team. Facing a tough challenge on the road, No. 21 West Haven fell to No. 12 Westhill, 13-25 12-25 12-25 in the opening round of the Class LL state tournament. The 3-0 loss completed West Haven’s season at 11-12.
“Westhill is a tough team that plays in a tough conference,” Coldren said. “We put up a decent fight, but we were a little sloppy at times and really struggled to run our offense.”
Portugal Morales led the defense with 10 digs, Hudanur Sahin ran the offense with nine assists, McDonnell had seven kills, four digs, and three blocks, and Frazer added five digs in the loss.
“I’m really proud of everything this team accomplished this season, and I hope the seniors are just as proud of themselves and all the hard work they put into this program,” Coldren said.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.