The West Haven football team has built the postseason as their revenge tour. Thus far, two of the three stops on the journey are complete.
Behind a relentless defense and an offense which was on point from the start, fifth-seeded West Haven rolled to a 42-7 Class LL semifinal victory over top-seeded Fairfield Prep at Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, West Haven returns to its second straight state title contest. The Westies will play third-seeded Greenwich, a 14-0 winner over Staples in the other semifinal contest, at a site and time to be determined next weekend.
“There’s that old saying it’s hard to beat a good team twice,” West Haven coach Rich Boshea said after his team improved to 10-2. “We have a very good team. Prep has a very good team. We really, really prepared and worked hard and did things today that we didn’t do Wednesday night (Thanksgiving Eve).”
As part of the tour, West Haven topped Glastonbury, who had eliminated the Westies two years prior on the first step. The second postseason step came Sunday as West Haven snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Jesuits, including this past Thanksgiving Eve. Step three for the Westies will be just as tough, as Greenwich topped West Haven in the season opener at West Haven.
The Westies scored on their first three possessions of the game and outgained the Jesuits 172-19 after one quarter, while holding a 14-0 lead. West Haven finished the contest with 510 yards of total offense, while holding the potent Fairfield Prep offense to just 194 yards of offense.
West Haven quarterback Nick Conlan passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for two more scores, while Coryon Harris ran for 108 yards and a pair of scores.
“(It) was definitely the tempo,” Conlan said. “We knew that we got on the ball, we were quick with it, in and out with personnel, they might not be able to keep up. That’s what we did, and it worked out quite well.”
West Haven set the tone of the game on the first possession of the contest, marching 80 yards in 13 plays, capped with a 3-yard touchdown run by Harris.
“We knew were going to play them again, so we had a few plays in the bag that we didn’t use,” Harris said. “We executed today, and they couldn’t stop it. Our offensive line, all season, they have been doing that. Today, we showcased that very well.”
After West Haven’s defense, which held the Jesuits to 19 yards in the first quarter, forced a punt, the Westies used nine plays to march 76 yards, capped with a 21-yard scoring strike from Conlan to Tahmayn Thompson for a 14-0 lead.
“It all comes down to preparation,” West Haven linebacker Joe Copela said. “Preparation is key. We got the best coaches in the state. They got us ready for this game. We knew what we were going to do. That was the goal. We got it done. They got seven more points than we wanted, but we got the job done.”
When the Jesuits could not get going again, West Haven forced a third straight punt and the Westies marched 80 yards in another 12 plays to take a 21-0 lead with 8 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the first half. Conlan was the answer on the drive as he ran in from 38 yards out for the three-score lead.
West Haven looked as if it was going to blow the game open early, but Fairfield Prep’s Anthony Dorsi intercepted Conlan at the Fairfield Prep 15. Seven plays later, Vincent Lombardo ran in from six yards out to get the Jesuits to within 21-7 with 1:36 left in the half.
Any momentum the Jesuits had by pinning the Westies on their own 9-yard line on the ensuing kickoff quickly slipped away as Conlan scampered 71 yards on the next play. Three plays later, Conlan hit Tamarion Lafortune for a 25-yard touchdown and a 28-7 halftime lead.
Knowing the Jesuits needed to score quickly to start the second half, Copela recovered a Fairfield Prep fumble at the Jesuits’ 15 on the second play of the third quarter. Conlan needed four plays to get in the endzone as he scored from four yards out for a 35-7 lead 2:24 into the second half.
“They are amazing,” Conlan said of the West Haven defense. “We knew if they gave us a couple of stops, we were going to be able to capitalize and go down and score.”
When Harris scored from 26 yards out with 4:02 left in the third quarter, West Haven had a 42-7 lead and running clock began.
West Haven advanced to the semifinals with a gutty victory in the quarterfinal round of the Class LL state tournament.
West Haven senior Caleb Oakes did not play two years ago when Glastonbury came to West Haven and sent the Westies home early in the state tournament. That did not stop the senior from helping his team get a little revenge.
With Glastonbury driving late in the game, Oakes stepped in front of a Connor Finnerty pass for an interception, as fifth-seeded West Haven topped fourth-seeded Glastonbury 6-0 in a Class LL quarterfinal contest at a snowy Glastonbury High School Tuesday evening.
“I saw the quarterback roll out and he just threw it to me basically,” Oakes said. “I got underneath one like my coaches tell me to all the time, and I got the game-winning pick.
“I was not on the team my sophomore year. I had knee surgery, so I didn’t get to play. I wanted to win for all my teammates that lost sophomore year.”.
With West Haven ahead by six points, an apparent go-ahead punt return for a touchdown by Glastonbury was called back by a penalty. The Guardians took over at the West Haven 34 and got as far as the West Haven 19.
Two Glastonbury penalties pushed the Guardians back, before Oakes thwarted the scoring opportunity for the Guardians.
“The turnover was enormous by Caleb Oakes,” Boshea said after his team improved to 9-2. “I’m really happy for him. He hurt his knee in the Prep game, and we thought he was a doubtful starter tonight, but he ended up playing and made a huge interception.”
West Haven used the remaining 6:09 left on the clock, Conlan hitting Lafortune for nine yards to the Glastonbury 41 on fourth down. Three runs by Harris, who finished with 85 yards rushing, produced a first down, allowing the Westies to run out the clock.
“We did hold them when we had to,” Boshea said. “We moved the ball just enough to be able to grind and wind the clock.”
West Haven’s defense was the story of the game, holding Glastonbury to under 130 total yards of offense in the contest. Led by Kadear Dembele, Brian Oliver, and Copela, the defense allowed only 51 yards rushing to Glastonbury’s Dante Casdia.
The weather was no better in the first half as the snow continued, making the field slick and traction tough. Led by Dembele, the West Haven defense held Glastonbury to just 44 first half yards, including just 15 in the second quarter.
The Westies had the best opportunities to score in the opening half, but they had two scores wiped away by holding penalties and another potential long touchdown pass play dropped.
The Westies had the only sustained drive in the opening half, marching 77 yards in 16 plays, including a big fourth down conversion by Conlan.
The West Haven quarterback then hit Lafortune for 25 yards to the Glastonbury 21, before capping the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Lafortune with 27 seconds left in the half.
The Guardians gave themselves an opportunity to take the lead later in the game when they blocked the extra point, keeping the deficit at six going to the half.
West Haven ended the regular season with a game which was built to end the losing streak to the Jesuits. West Haven had not beaten Fairfield Prep in six years and Thanksgiving Eve in Fairfield was going to be different.
In what was an action-packed contest, Fairfield Prep prevailed 31-20 in Fairfield on Thanksgiving Eve. The loss by the Westies sent West Haven to Glastonbury in the opening round of the Class LL state tournament.
Trailing 7-0, West Haven evened the contest in the first quarter when Conlan hit Thompson with a 6-yard score.
The turning point of the game came late in the first half. An interception on what looked to be a tying score for the Westies, stopped one drive.
The ensuing Fairfield Prep drive was snuffed out, but a fake punt by the Jesuits led to a touchdown pass from punter Ben Conelius to Finbar Malloy and a 21-7 lead.
Harris got West Haven within 21-14 with a 13-yard score early in the third quarter, but the Jesuits scored the next 10 points of the quarter for a 31-14 advantage.
Three West Haven turnovers in the second half stalled any progress by the Westies, before Lafortune recovered a fumble in the end zone late in the fourth quarter for the final points of the game.
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