For the first time in two decades, the West Haven football team is headed back to the state finals.
Behind two touchdown passes and a pair of touchdown runs by Nick Conlan, the Westies topped Greenwich, 26-13 ,in the Class LL semifinals at Greenwich Sunday afternoon.
Looking for their first state title since defeating Greenwich in 2002, the Westies will play Staples Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. at Central Connecticut State University. West Haven defeated Staples in the season opener in September.
Trailing 6-0, West Haven evened the game when Conlan hit Armani Reid in stride for a 77-yard touchdown pass and a 6-6 tie.
The Westies took the lead for good in the third quarter as Conlan scored on a 44-yard scamper, then increased the margin to 18-6 when Conlan hit Demarco Eady for a 21-yard score.
Clinging to an 18-13 lead, Conlan scored from four yards out in the final two minutes to seal the win.
West Haven opened the past 14 days with a regular season loss to Fairfield Prep, before opening the state playoffs with a win over New Britain.
For six weeks to start the season, the Fairfield Prep football team could not have imagined they would be in position to play for a postseason spot on the final day of the regular season. Three wins later, and the Jesuits had one mountain to climb, along with a bit of help to play in the postseason.
The Jesuits did their part, holding West Haven in check, and squeezing out a 21-14 victory in a Southern Connecticut Conference contest at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven Wednesday evening.
The Jesuits broke out to a 21-7 lead at the half, then relied on the defense in the second half to hold on to the victory.
After West Haven used eight plays to go 53 yards for a Conlan to Reid 16-yard touchdown, getting the Westies within 21-14, the Prep defense made several stands.
The Westies had a chance to tie the contest, facing fourth down at the Prep eight, but the Jesuit defense stopped Conlan one yard short of a first down with just over six minutes remaining.
After holding the Jesuits, West Haven had one final opportunity to even the contest, but Prep took advantage of some West Haven miscues, then sealed the contest when T.J. Cirilli’s interception gave Prep the ball with under five minutes to go.
Prep took all but 35 seconds off the clock, but West Haven was unable to generate any offense, falling for the sixth straight time against the Jesuits.
“It has to do with how well Prep played,” West Haven coach Rich Boshea said. “We didn’t make plays that we have to make, and we didn’t do things we have to do to win the game. That comes from Prep playing really well. We knew it was a tough match up. They were fighting for their lives, and we just didn’t get it done when we had to.”
The Jesuits set the tone in the opening half, controlling play from start to finish on both sides of the ball. Fighting for a postseason bid, Prep amassed 210 yards of offense in the opening 24 minutes, and other than an interception returned for a touchdown by the Westies, were barely threatened.
Needing just four plays to move 56 yards on its opening possession, Fairfield Prep made things look easy when the drive ended on a 39-yard touchdown strike from Tyler Smith to Vincent Lombardo just 1:08 into the contest.
West Haven could not recover a poor snap on its next possession, setting Prep up at the West Haven 49. When the Jesuits looked as if they were extending the lead to a pair of touchdowns, Coryon Harris picked off a pass by Smith and returned the interception 99 yards to get within 7-6 as the extra point failed.
The Westies failed to click on any cylinder in the opening half, including a poor snap on a punt attempt, giving the Jesuits possession at the West Haven 8. Three plays later, Prep led 14-6 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jon Morris with 1:04 remaining in the opening quarter.
West Haven had its share of opportunities to get on the board to close the opening half, but two drives ended inside the 30, and the final play of the half fell incomplete with the Westies at the 5-yard line of the Jesuits.
While the Westies could not capitalize, Prep did, taking a 21-6 advantage with 1:03 remaining in the half on a 20-yard scoring strike from Smith to Finbar Malloy to cap a 14-play 73-yard drive.
Heading into the postseason, third-seeded West Haven had plenty to think about. There were struggles of late to win in the postseason at home, and most currently, a loss to Fairfield Prep less than a week ago to conclude the regular season.
Not of that mattered Tuesday evening.
Behind the passing combination of Conlan and Reid, the running of Camren Kemp, and a decisive interception by Harris, West Haven topped sixth-seeded New Britain 28-14 in a Class LL quarterfinal contest at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
“It is not our kind of night obviously,” Boshea said after his team improved to 9-2. “We dropped a lot of balls, but our defense played pretty well, and our guys made plays when they really had to. New Britain played very well. We got the W and that’s our main thing.”
“It was pretty good,” Conlan said of the team’s passing game. “We saw some things we never saw before. We didn’t see many blitzes. Usually, teams blitz a lot. They started to do it towards the end. It was something new. We knew we had to sit in the holes, find the open space, sit there, and I would throw it to them.”
Despite windy and frigid conditions, Conlan was on the mark against the Hurricanes, completing 13-of-23 passes for 159 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Conlan’s line could have been better if not for several dropped passes early on when West Haven was looking to get on the scoreboard.
“He throws a good ball into the wind because his throws are sharp and tight,” Boshea said of Conlan. “They (Reid and Conlan) just know each other well. They have that feel. They play a lot of seven on seven together, and they know each other’s moves. Armani is a money player and Nick is a money player.”
Conlan and Reid were in sync throughout the game, as the duo connected ten times for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
Leading 6-0, Conlan hit Reid for a 19-yard score and a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. It was the duo’s connection with 5:08 left in the game which was the final dagger, giving West Haven a 28-7 lead.
“Talking before the plays,” Reid said of the connection with him and Conlan. “Talking after the plays. During practice. After practice. Always having a connection with your quarterback. Let him know I got your back.”
While the passing of the Westies helped move the ball, it was the running game which set the tone in the second half as Kemp scampered 56 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 lead on the first offensive play from scrimmage for the Westies.
The Hurricanes wasted no time responding, needing just six plays to go 68 yards. After a 41-yard run by Jayden Allen put the ball at the West Haven six, Cayden Hill ran in the final six yards on the next play to get the Hurricanes within 14 points.
The Hurricanes then had two straight offensive possessions to get back in the game, but Reid made a key fourth down stop on the first, and Harris intercepted a Donovan Campbell pass on the next.
The interception by Harris set the Westies up at the New Britain 13, before Conlan hit Reid from nine yards out and a 28-7 lead.
“I thought Coryon’s interception turned the game around,” Boshea said. “They had the ball and could have made it a one score game. We picked it off, go down here, and go up two scores.”
Campbell hit Israel Dandrade with a 35-yard scoring pass with less than two minutes to go in the game, but the Hurricanes never got closer.
The first half was dominated by the Westies as they held New Britain to just 90 yards of offense. While the windy and frigid temperatures could have altered the offense, Conlan thrived, completing 8-of-14 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.
With West Haven leading 6-0 and both offenses struggling to get going, Conlan helped give the Westies a 14-0 lead when he drove the Westies 58 yards in five plays.
“It is amazing, especially for me and a couple of other guys as this is our first playoff win in forever, honestly,” Conlan said. “It is our first (postseason) win at home in a while. It is just amazing.”
Conlan completed three passes on the drive to Reid for 60 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown reception with 1:59 remaining in the half. Reid then took a pitch from Conlan on the conversion for the 14-0 lead.
West Haven did not get much going on the ground in the opening half, but the Westies took a 6-0 lead on their second possession of the contest when Ya’Hinus Mercer plunged in from one yard out to cap a 6-play, 57-yard drive with 2:12 remaining in the opening quarter.
New Britain moved the ball at times behind the running of Allen, who finished the game with 149 yards on the ground, but never completed a first half drive with a score. The Hurricanes never got further than the West Haven 42 in the opening half as Allen rushed for 40 yards.
The Hurricanes also could not capitalize as West Haven recovered two of its own first half fumbles.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.