Forget gets first win as Darien wallops Warde
DARIEN — Mike Forget has been such an integral part of the Darien football program’s dynasty during the past decade, it seems strange to be mentioning the coach and “first win” in the same breath.
At the same time, that initial win was a long time coming.
Nearly 18 months after he was named the Darien’s new head coach, Forget, the team’s former defensive coordinator, earned his first victory at the helm as the Blue Wave crashed down on Warde 41-8 Saturday in Darien.
The Wave had last played a CIAC tackle football game 637 days ago in the 2019 Class LL final against Newtown.
“I wish this would’ve happened last year but certainly we couldn’t in the COVID season,” Forget said. “But this feels great today. I’m ecstatic that the guys are really working hard and we’re putting ourselves into position to go long here.”
The Wave had a few stumbles in the first quarter, but picked it up in the second, scoring four touchdowns and 27 points to blow the game open. Darien led 41-0 and put the game in running time during the third quarter before Warde scored the final eight points.
Miles Drake, Darien’s quarterback and co-captain, passed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, with running back Tighe Cummiskey rushing for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Drake gave credit to the o-line of Karson Drake, Beau Hancock, James Thom, Austin Ennor, Duncan Easterbrook for the success of the offense
“Tighe and the o-line did a phenomenal job,” Miles Drake said. “They were giving me all day back there. I had a little bit of a rocky start in the first quarter, but they kept believing in me and blocking hard, so it all worked out in the end. I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Mustangs were kept off the board until Paul Suffern tackled Wave RB Jahmal Marajah in the end zone for a third-quarter safety. Quarterback Charles Gulbin connected with receiver Lucas Coleman for a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.
Warde coach Duncan Dellavolpe said the team’s development will depend on how much work they put in during practice.
“It’s good to be back and playing, but it’s for real, too, we’ve got to be ready,” Dellavolpe said. “We have a lot of young kids on the team so mix that with not playing much for the last two years and the result is we’ve got to practice better. That way we can play a little bit faster at this level.”
The Wave received a big performance from its defense, racking up six sacks — two from Andrew Fiorenza and one each from David Evanchick, Jack Barber, Kyle Santos and Gordon Washburn. Joe Cesare came up with a diving interception during the second half.
“That’s the thing — I came from the defensive side of the ball and we’re always going to have a good defensive team and put people in the right places,” Forget said.
Jeremiah Stafford scored the only TD of the first quarter on a five-yard run, and Cummiskey ran for a seven-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
Miles Drake then connected with three different receivers — Matt Minicus for 33 yards, Jake Wilson for 30 yards, and Liam McBride for 15 yards — to turn the game into a rout.
For Warde, there were bright spots in the first quarter, but the Wave eventually took over.
“We did a lot of things right early,” Dellavolpe said. “It’s just stay on the block a little bit longer and get a first down, and not snap the ball over the guys ahead. Those are things you can’t do against any good team, let alone Darien.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Miles Drake, Darien: The Blue Wave quarterback passed for 158 yards and three touchdowns, while guiding Darien to five touchdowns, all while playing just one half.
QUOTABLE
“It was awesome having a student section and having everyone come out to support us. I couldn’t be more happy. We focused on dealing with all the energy. We knew we’d be really excited, so we just had to slow ourselves down, and focus on our game plan.” - Darien quarterback Miles Drake.