Darien’s Drake almost ready for basketball, Colby
When the final whistle sounded Dec. 11, there was no doubt who was the best high school football team in Connecticut. Darien pounded Fairfield Prep 42-7 for the Class LL title and now there were players, coaches, family and students everywhere celebrating at midfield of McDougall Stadium in Trumbull.
“That definitely was an unparalleled feeling,” Miles Drake said. “The thing with football is that since it’s such a long season and you’re working so hard for that one goal, when you get that one goal, it’s mission complete, job finished. The sense of satisfaction and relief we got it done — obviously joy, too, it was fantastic — the relief that all the hours we put in didn’t go to
waste. That all just kind of hit us. It was an awesome feeling.”
One feeling that wasn’t so awesome was near the big toe of the Darien senior quarterback’s right foot. He would discover in the days after the championship he had chipped the sesamoid bone in his right foot early in the state semifinals against New Canaan. Six games into the Darien basketball season his foot remains in a protective boot.
These are the exhilarations and the challenges a two-sport star faces in high school and a challenge Drake will undertake at college next autumn. Last week, he committed to play football and basketball at Colby and he awaits final acceptance to the NESCAC school.
“Colby was one of the first ones to recruit me,” Drake said. “I had talked to coach Dwyer (Shea Dwyer is quarterbacks coach/recruiting director) all through the summer and they stayed in the best contact. I had the best relationship with their coaching staff.”
Drake was able to get up to Waterville, Maine, for a visit during the football season.
“I was lucky enough to see the culture and atmosphere there,” he said. “The facilities were unbelievable. I thought I would fit in pretty well.
“Basketball has always been kind of my first real love. Obviously the academics will be a little more intense, so it will be tough to manage at first. I think once I get in the groove it should be fine. There’s definitely not a lot of break in between times for basketball and football. There really isn’t here either. I’ve kind of done it my whole life. I’m looking forward to be able to play both.”
On the second offensive series against the Rams on Dec. 5, Drake remembers scrambling left with New Canaan’s Ned Brady, the 245-pound All-State lineman headed to Army, in pursuit.
“Ned Brady fell on me kind of weird,” Drake said. “He’s a pretty big guy. My toes kind of crushed up.”
The pain was real. Drake didn’t say anything as Darien went on to avenge its Thanksgiving loss to New Canaan.
“Adrenalin does the work mostly, but there were definitely some plays that aggravated it,” Drake said. “It was such a run-heavy game: Jeremiah (Stafford) (and) Tighe (Cummiskey); Jeremiah-Tighe. So my duties got relieved a little.
“The practices leading into the state championship definitely hurt a lot. The coaches made sure I was good to go. Before the game, our trainer John Carlozzi taped my foot really good. For the most part (the pain) stayed away.”
By this point, the players knew Drake was dinged. Darien led Fairfield Prep 14-0 in the third quarter when Drake scrambled, broke loose and scored on a 20-yard touchdown run.
“Toward the end of it, the last five yards,” Drake said, “I had to really sprint for the first time. It aggravated it a lot.”
The good news? It wasn’t Cummiskey’s right foot. The Darien running back rushed for 188 yards against Fairfield Prep and finished with 675 yards and five TDs in three playoff games.
“My duties were kind of relaxed in the semis and championship,” said Drake, who was 7 for 11 in the championship for 102 yards and a TD pass to Matt Minicus. “You could rely on Tighe, who was an absolute beast the entire season. And I had full faith the O-line would keep me safe.”
Drake said he stayed off the foot the following day before getting an X-ray that revealed the bone chip. He stepped into a protective boot. A couple weeks ago, an MRI showed no tendon or ligament damage.
“All bone, that was good, it’s could always be worse, right?” Drake said. “I’m fortunate I didn’t have Ryan O’Connell’s luck, which is awful. I feel terrible for that kid.”
The Fairfield Prep star tore his ACL in the state semifinals against Shelton and was unable to play in the championship.
Drake said he is exploring business or psychology as a course of college study. His dad, Evan, is a neuropsychologist. Football, basketball, Colby, it is not a challenge for the lazy or disorganized.
“Sports have definitely forced me to be more disciplined,” Drake said. “I manage my time better. I’m definitely not getting as much free time as a lot of kids do, especially in senior year. The reality is during the fall you’re not going to get home until, 7-8 o’clock, watching film. Basketball isn’t going to end until 7:30. It definitely forces you to be kind of be on top of it. There’s definitely some late nights doing homework.”
Drake has a follow up medical examination Friday to help determine a timetable for his return to basketball. In the meantime, he goes to every practice. He’ll slip in a few free throws. That’s it for now.
“Miles is a great leader on and off the court,” coach Charoy Bentley said. “He comes to every practice. He’s very involved. He can’t run up and down. It’s like having an extra coach out there. He’s one of our captains. The one thing I’m missing is him being on the court.”
Drake, a guard, was selected first-team All-FCIAC last winter.
“If he gets back that would be great,” said Bentley, whose team is 3-3. “If not, we’ve got to try to work without him. He has a positive mindset about it. He’s eager to get out there, but he hasn’t been down.”
Part of the job description of Darien basketball coach is patience. Bentley counted six of his players who played football and as many as four starters when Drake returns. Karson Drake (no relation to Miles), Jack Barber, Isaac McMullen, Simeon Doll, Liam McBride, all names from the football roster.
“I’m used to it,” Bentley said. “I’ve been here seven years and every year I have to wait for the football players to get to practice. We’re usually two weeks in (to practices) and I’m still waiting. Our football team is usually in the championship, winning the championship or close to winning the championship. We learn to adjust.
“I had them back for two days before our first game. We went against Bassick, a great team. It was kind of rough (a 66-41 loss), but we worked on it. When they couldn’t practice with us during football season, they did come and take notes. They were allowed.”
Bentley said he stays away from the Darien football championship games. He is afraid if he shows up Darien will lose. He said he doesn’t want to be the reason why.
“So I watch (on stream), take a picture and send it to them during the game with things like, ‘Look at you!’ ”
Yes, look at Drake putting his big toe to that heartbreaking, last-second loss to Newtown in the 2019 state championship.
“I’d been playing with all those kids since the fourth grade,” Drake said. “For the seniors of 2020-21, not to get their season because of COVID and telling us to keep our heads up. As juniors, they were going to have the taste of that Newtown championship game forever. As much as our run and the season was for ourselves to fulfill our dreams and our goals, it was for them to get back what they couldn’t even try to get.”