Connecticut Post (Sunday)

Darien delivers statement win over Newtown

- JEFF JACOBS

DARIEN — They remember exactly where they were standing on Dec. 14, 2019. And now, 21 months later, the Darien Blue Wave know where they stand.

That would be the No. 1 team in the state.

“We were so motivated,” quarterbac­k Miles Drake said after No. 1 Darien had defeated No. 3 Newtown, 27-14 on Friday night. “We had a meeting (Thursday) and we talked about everything. We knew we had to get this one back.”

“We circled this one on the calendar,” wide receiver Matthew Minicus said. “What happened two years ago, it definitely fueled the fire.”

“Even though I didn’t step on the field that game, just seeing all the seniors and juniors lay it all out there and to see their reaction,” running back Tighe Cummiskey said. “You think to yourself, ‘That can never happen again.’”

And it didn’t.

Drake, then a reserve sophomore, was standing in the press box taking video in 2019 when Newtown quarterbac­k Jack Street dropped back on the final play of the Class LL state championsh­ip. Trying to shoot through the fog, it was like filming a horror movie.

“I couldn’t see anything, it was ridiculous,” Drake said. “I heard someone say, ‘He’s open! He’s open! He’s open!’ I couldn’t see anything, and I didn’t hear anything from the coach standing next to me.

“I’m like ‘Oh, shoot. What just happened?’”

What happened was Riley Ward pulled in a 36-yard touchdown pass that dramatical­ly gave the Nighthawks the state title and set off a delirious celebratio­n. The heroics came on the seventh anniversar­y of the Sandy Hook tragedy and it captured the imaginatio­n of folks around the nation.

For the Darien kids, their dreams came crashing down on one play and they would have to watch it replayed for days everywhere from social media to national television.

“I saw our seniors crying on the field,” Drake said. “I’m like we’ve got to get it back for them. We also were 0-4 against Newtown all-time.”

And so they did get it back for the 2019 team, for the 2018 team that also lost to Newtown in the playoffs. For all Darien fans.

The student section was in stellar form. They threw so much powder in the air that the stands looked like there had been a snowfall. They chanted all night. They cheered all night. Late in the game, with the lead secure, they all lit their iPhones, so it looked like a Grateful Dead concert. When the final whistle sounded, they came onto the field to celebrate with the players.

“It’s an 0-4 redemption,” coach Mike Forget said. “They wanted it really bad, too.”

As Mike Tyson famously said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Darien got punched in the mouth first play from scrimmage. Dylan Magazu went over the top to a wide-open Andrew Swierbut for a 67-yard touchdown pass.

“They caught us in empty,” Forget said. “We were in a mismatch. We had a linebacker on one of their best receivers and guess what? Eight times out of 10, the receiver is winning that match.”

Third play of the game from scrimmage, Drake threw the first of two first-half intercepti­ons. Now, the Blue Wave had been punched in the mouth twice.

“Those picks are on me,” Drake said. “Everyone had my back. We are a resilient bunch. We’ve been playing together for a long time. We have great chemistry. We love each other.

“We stayed calm on the sidelines and we got it right.”

One of the marks of the best teams is poise. This one could have gotten away from Darien. It didn’t. As the game wore on, the Blue Wave defensive line, led by David Evanchick, seemed to get bigger and meaner with each snap. They began to dominate.

“And that’s against Dylan Magazu,” Drake said. “He’s a great player who can really extend plays.”

Yes, Magazu had 176 yards passing, but 170 came on three plays. He had 77 yards on 18 carries, too, but only 19 yards in the second half. The rest of Nighthawks combined for 14 yards on the ground.

“The defensive line was smothering,” Forget said.

A 24-yard Drake pass on a broken play to Cummiskey set up a one-yard plunge by Cummiskey. A big punt return by Minicus set the stage for a 31-yard TD run by Drake put Darien up 14-7. Newtown had one more answer before halftime to tie the game, but you could feel the field starting to tilt.

Late in the third quarter, Cummiskey, who finished with 101 yards rushing, lost a fumble near midfield. The Darien sideline was screaming he already was down. Cummiskey said the ball hit his knee when he was on the ground, but he quickly added, “excuses are excuses, everyone has one.” So he came to the sidelines, took off his helmet, punched it and let out a primal scream. In lacrosse, he is Darien’s faceoff man. In football, he is a bulldog runner. He is ferocious.

“Tighe leaves everything on the field,” Drake said. “Any dirty work you ask him to do, he does. He runs tough, shoulder pads low. He trucked some people tonight, getting so many key first downs and blocking for me awesome on those rollouts on outside linebacker­s.

“Tighe is my man. He is as physical as they come, as loyal as they come.”

Sure enough, with 9:16 left in the game, on fourth and one, Cummiskey found a hole and blasted his way into the end zone for a 14-yard TD and what would prove to be the winning score. And there he was, sitting on the bench with this giant chain and medallion the Blue Wave give for big offensive plays. And this play was a huge one.

“You’ve got to use mistakes as motivation,” he said. “There was a four-yard gap for me to run through and all I had to do was make a move on one guy and I was in the end zone.”

As Cummiskey said he was on the sidelines for the 2019 game and didn’t touch the field. Minicus did. He played two drives to fill in for his older brother who had cramped.

“He was a senior,” Minicus said. “It was not fun to watch what happened at the end.” And that’s why the calendar was circled. Minicus finished with 129 yards receiving on six catches. Sixty two of those yards arrived with 4:48 left. The long TD was the exclamatio­n point.

“They put me at a position I’d never played before honestly,” Minicus said. “They put me on a fake screen. Miles rolled left instead of right. Don’t know how he saw me. He launched it. I had the easy part.”

“I missed (Minicus) earlier, so I had to buy him a little more time so he got past the safety,” said Drake, who finished with 203 yards passing and 61 more on the ground. “I just figured I might as well chuck it up to him. I’ve been throwing passes to him for like six years, much of my life. I knew he’d get that ball.”

When it was over, after they absorbed the early punches, after students had come onto the field, the guys who had stood there and watched that painful defeat in 2019, stood 3-0 and were very confident of their No. 1 ranking.

“We never had a doubt,” Drake said. “We think we have the best o-line in the state. We think we have the best defense in the state. Best skills.”

“We definitely felt we were the top team,” Minicus said. “We were watching film all week on these guys and definitely saw some holes on their offense and defense. The start was not ideal, but we stuck with it. We showed something tonight.”

 ?? Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Darien’s Miles Drake leaps into the arms of teammate Karson Drake after scoring a touchdown against Newtown on Friday night.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Darien’s Miles Drake leaps into the arms of teammate Karson Drake after scoring a touchdown against Newtown on Friday night.
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 ?? Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Darien’s Miles Drake runs up the middle on his way to score a touchdown against Newtown on Friday night.
Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Darien’s Miles Drake runs up the middle on his way to score a touchdown against Newtown on Friday night.

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