Focused Darien routs Trinity/Wright Tech
Peter Graham throws three TD passes with No. 3 Cards up next
DARIEN — With No. 3 Greenwich looming on the horizon, it would’ve been relatively easy for the No. 4 Darien football team to overlook an opponent like Trinity Catholic/Wright Tech, which is still searching for its first victory. While Trinity stayed relatively close for much of the first half, eventually the Blue Wave hit their stride and delivered a 5120 win on homecoming Saturday at Darien High School.
Darien coach Rob Trifone was happy to see his players hold it together without getting too distracted by what lies ahead.
“It doesn’t matter who your opponent is, you still have to play to a certain level,” Trifone said. “Our boys were looking forward, but we told them to enjoy this day and seize the moment. It’s homecoming for them, so they need to enjoy it.”
Wave quarterback Peter Graham fired off touchdown passes to Sean Gifford, Michael Minicus and
Jackson Peters, and Minicus returned the secondhalf kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to highlight the day for Darien.
“Our offense, short screen game especially, was great,” Darien cocaptain Sam Wilson said. “Guys like Michael Minicus and Jackson Peters — those guys can take anything to the house, and they showed that today.”
While the Wave (50) remained unbeaten, Trinity (05) left winless at the season’s halfway mark, although the Crusaders had some positives. The game was just 90 with five minutes to play in the first half, and Tahjee Morgan caught 66 and 55yard TD passes from Branden Louis in the fourth quarter.
“I told the guys we’ve just got to stick in it and play tough,” Trinity coach Tom Broschardt said. “For a quarter and a half, we were right there with them. When you play a good team like that, you can’t have mistakes with penalties and you can’t fumble the ball and turn it over. We had opportunities, but they outlasted us. That’s a very good football team.”
“They came out ready to play and they played really well,” Wilson said. “They’ve obviously got some very good players — (Morgan and Michael Barrett) gave us some issues. So I definitely give them a lot of credit. They could’ve come in here and just bowed down, but they didn’t.”
The Blue Wave needed just 49 seconds to take the lead for good, and they did it while on defense. Trinity started its first drive from the 10yard line, and Louis was sacked twice by David Evanchick, the first for an 8yard loss and the second for a safety and a 20 lead.
Darien made it 90 later in the quarter on a 6yard touchdown run by Will Kirby.
That score held until the final five minutes of the half, when Graham lofted a 50yard TD pass to Gifford and then hit Minicus for 36 yards to widen the halftime gap to 230.
“We were executing well on offense,” Graham said. “The receivers were getting open, Will Kirby was running the ball very, very well again, and the Oline was giving me time again. We were driving the ball, but we weren’t finishing at first, so once we started doing that, we were good.”
A wild start to the second half saw the two teams combine for four touchdowns in less than three minutes.
Minicus returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and Barrett answered by returning the ensuing kick 94 yards for Trinity’s first TD.
Graham then hit Peters for a 26yard touchdown and, after the Crusaders fumbled the kickoff, backup QB Matt Fiorita threw a 12yard TD pass to Peters.
The two LouistoMorgan touchdown passes accounted for all of the fourthquarter scoring, as the Crusaders put up 20 points, the highest total against the Wave this season.
“No matter what the scoreboard says, I want them to have fun, and I want them to compete,” Broschardt said. “We’ll get back and get ready for Ludlowe next week. That’s another very good team, they’re coached very well, so we’ve just got to get back to practice.”
Darien can now give its full attention to Greenwich (50), with the showdown of top 10 teams set for 4 p.m., Saturday.
“We’re looking forward to Greenwich,” Graham said. “That’s a huge game and a lot of people have been talking about it already. They’re defending state champions and we’re just really looking forward to the game. It should be a great one.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Peter Graham, Darien. The senior quarterback was on point throughout the homecoming game, completing 18of20 passes for 265 yards and hooking up with three different receivers for touchdowns.
QUOTABLE
“The biggest advice is to forget the hype and worry about what you need to do as a football player. Hype is for the fans. Hype is for the kid who paints his face, puts on the red hair or whatever. As football players, you have to be poised, know what your doing, and you have to be able to execute.” — Darien coach Rob Trifone on next week’s game with Greenwich.