The West Haven football team had two weeks to prepare for the undefeated and No. 3-ranked Hand Tigers but, the Blue Devils were dominated by the Tigers, 47-6, at Strong Field in Madison on Friday night. On the opening drive, the Tigers drove down the field only to cough up the ball that was recovered by the Westies at their own 10-yard line. Unfortunately for West Haven, a couple of running plays resulted in a couple of losses and they were forced to punt. The low snap was mishandled and the ensuing punt sailed out of bounds before reaching the goal line resulting in a safety and a 2-0 lead for Hand 4:26 into the game. The Tigers would make it 10-0 1:32 later and 17-0 on a 48-yard TD run with 1:32 left in the quarter to take control of this one early.
The Tigers extended their lead to 25-0 after a 24-yard touchdown run 1:34 into the second quarter, made it 33-0 on a 21-yard TD pass with 4:49 left in the half and another 10-yard touchdown pass made it 40-0 with 2:13 left in the half.
With the clock running in the second half, Hand added to its lead with a touchdown with 3:05 left in the third quarter. After being unable to gain any yards against the tough Hand defense all game, the Blue Devils got a break when a snap sailed over the Hand quarterback’s head and was recovered by the Westies at the Hand 28-yard line. The Blue Devils were able to drive down to the 5-yard line and then capped the drive with a touchdown pass from Jordan Berrios to Shane Clarke to get the Westies on the board with 5:42 left in the game for the 47-6 final.
The Blue Devils will look to rebound when they host their annual Homecoming game against the Cheshire Rams at Ken Strong Stadium at 7.
The girls soccer team had two, tough games last week. The Westies traveled to Guilford on Tuesday to face the Indians. The girls had a good effort but three mistakes resulted in three Guilford goals and a 3-0 loss. Mackenzie Gardner stopped six shots in goal for West Haven.
On Friday evening, the girls hosted the Lauralton Hall Crusaders. The Westies had another great effort but saw a similar result when the Crusaders took advantage of an opportunity to get a late goal in a 1-0 win over the Blue Devils. Mackenzie Gardner made six saves between the pipes.
The Westies wrap up their season with three games this week and then their Senior Night on Monday, Oct. 22. On Tuesday, the Blue Devils traveled to face Hand, Wednesday they hosted the Lyman Hall Trojans, on Friday the girls will travel to East Haven to take on the Yellow Jackets at 3:45 and then host the Foran Lions on Monday at 6:30.
The boys soccer team traveled to Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield to take on the No. 1-ranked Jesuits. The boys battled with Fairfield Prep but came out on the short end of a 5-2 score.
This week, the Blue Devils hosted the Sheehan Titans on Monday, visited Career/Hillhouse on Wednesday and will host the Xavier Falcons on Saturday at 6:30.
The girls volleyball team visited Amity on Wednesday evening, battled the Spartans and held a 20-18 lead in the first game before losing, 25-20. The Spartans would prove to have too much for the Blue Devils and took the next, two games 25-16 and 25-17 to sweep the match. Giliana Santaniello led the Westies with 10 assists, three kills, three digs and two aces while Nancy Tapia had six digs and three kills. Also contributing for West Haven was Jennifer Ortiz with four digs and three assists, Noelle Noble with Five digs and Irene Ronan and Bria Stanley with four kills each.
The Westies headed to New Haven on Friday evening to face the Wilbur Cross Governors and never got on track in a 3-0 loss (25-11, 25-18, 25-16). Jennifer Ortiz had seven assists and four digs, Irene Ronan had six aces and five kills while Nancy Tapia had seven digs and four kills.
Needing two, more wins in their last six games to qualify for postseason play, the Blue Devils will look to bounce back this week. The girls hosted Lauralton Hall on Monday and Platt Tech on Wednesday before finishing the week hosting the Shelton Gaels on Thursday at 5:15.