Leaving no doubt
Minicus, Darien show they’re No. 1 in rout of St. Joseph
NO. 1 DARIEN 42 NO. 2 ST. JOSEPH 14
TRUMBULL — There’s no longer any doubt over who is No. 1.
Top-ranked Darien proved Saturday it’s right where it should be in the GameTimeCT football poll, hammering No. 2 St. Joseph 42-14 at Dalling Field.
“We sent a message today,” defensive end David Evanchick said.
The Cadets — who came into the day No. 1 in the New London Day’s coaches poll — heard it loud and clear. Darien gouged them for five touchdowns of over 20 yards, three by senior wideout Matt Minicus.
“They had three guys wide open for touchdowns,” St. Joseph coach Joe Della Vecchia said. “That just can’t happen in a game like this.”
Minicus’ first touchdown went for 32 yards to open the scoring. He followed that with a 50-yarder later in the half to put Darien (7-0) up 14-7.
His final score of the day was a 29-yard dime from Miles Drake, giving the Blue Wave a 35-14 lead with 8:01 remaining and slamming the door shut on any hopes St. Joseph (6-1) had of making a comeback. The loss snapped the Cadets’ 29-game win streak.
“We didn’t expect to break that many plays obviously,” Drake said, “but the concepts that our coaches
put together really played to (St. Joseph’s) vulnerabilities. It’s all on the coaches and the offensive line.”
The defense did its part, too. Darien picked off St. Joseph’s Mark Morrissey three times and pressured him relentlessly.
“It was a great program win,” Darien coach Mike Forget said. “Everybody came together. We challenged the defense this week. Everybody was saying that they had a (dent) in the armor, and they weren’t the same defense they’ve always been. They made a statement today.”
With 58 seconds left in the first half, Drake connected with junior John Wilson from 25 yards out to make it 21-7. The score stayed that way until 10:48 remaining in the fourth when the Cadets’ Brandon Hutchison hauled in a 7-yard touchdown over two Darien defenders on fourth-and-goal.
Darien, though, answered quickly. Just 18 seconds later, Jeremiah Stafford snuck behind the St. Joseph defense for a 70-yard reception that pushed the lead back to 14.
“They’re good,” Della
Vecchia said. “They’re No. 1 for a reason. We pulled back to 21-14 and we felt good about that right there, and then this kid’s running on the field by himself. It’s like, ‘What the heck happened?’ You can’t have that stuff in a big game. You turn around and it happens again, all of a sudden the game’s over.
“We made too many mistakes. We threw three interceptions — you can’t do that. You can’t turn the ball over.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Matt Minicus, Darien, WR: The senior lived up to his billing as a big-play threat, hauling in three touchdowns totaling 111 yards.
QUOTABLE
“If I had to play it out in my head, it wouldn’t have happened this way. But, you know, I’m glad it happened that way. St. Joe’s is a very good, well-coached team. Obviously with the 29 wins in a row, if it wasn’t for us it would be maybe 44 or 46 wins in a row. They do a great job.” — Darien coach Mike Forget