Fairfield Prep, West Haven share resilient spirit

FAIRFIELD — The answers on this Thanksgiving eve were found deep in the trenches. Deep, deep in the trenches where the big boys who’ll devour half a turkey and all the stuffing were pushing, shoving, sweating and grunting.

This wasn’t Southington storming back from a 21-0 deficit to beat No. 1 Greenwich, 29-28, in the closing moments.

This wasn’t Maloney edging No. 1 Southington, 31-28, on a field goal in double overtime.

And, no, this wasn’t Armani Reid pulling in a lastminute touchdown pass against Hamden to push West Haven to a 27-23 victory and eventually the No. 1 spot in the GameTimeCT poll.

All three of those games were instant Connecticut high school classics. They were seesaw. They were wild. And they conspired to bring undefeated No. 1 West Haven into Rafferty Stadium … where it was manhandled in a 21-6 loss to unranked Fairfield Prep.

Prep controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and defense.

Prep controlled the game. “We knew these guys were No. 1 in the state, would bring a lot of energy and would be hyped up,” said 6-foot-2, 270-point senior lineman Sam Paolini. “But they’re not very disciplined and we just got in their head. We controlled the line of scrimmage from beginning to end.

“They didn’t let up, but we had the upper hand.”

This was a no-doubter. West Haven was averaging 45 points and hadn’t scored fewer than 25 in any of its nine victories. On this night, they were shut out until the last minute.

Mixing in its bruising ground game featuring Wally Wuchiski and Malachi Mercer-Robinson with timely passing, Prep had 215 yards on the ground and 148 in the air. It outgained West Haven, 363-217. The defense stopped the Blue Devils five times on fourth down. Five times.

“Our O-line is one of the best in the state,” MercerRobinson said. “I have all the faith in them. Our plan was to just run it down their throat. Control the game clock and keep their offense off the field.”

This didn’t look like an upset. This didn’t smell like an upset.

And as we look ahead to the postseason that starts Tuesday: Beware the Jesuits!

Just saying. Although both teams already had clinched playoff berths in Class LL, there was no shortage of storylines entering the game.

After the devastating tragedy involving the stabbing death of Fairfield Prep player Jimmy McGrath last spring, Prep searched to find itself at the start of the season.

The 38 Prep seniors were honored before the game and the ceremony ended with a standing ovation that lasted a minute when McGrath’s family was awarded Jimmy’s framed No. 85 jersey. It was a powerful minute.

Prep’s march to the Class LL finals last year must seem like 10 years ago to those kids.

“So much happened so fast in the past year,” Paolini said. “It’s been really hard. Jimmy was my best friend. It was so tough losing him, but I know he has been with us every single game.”

Fairfield Prep won SCC Tier I. West Haven won SCC Tier II. Commissioner Al Carbone wasn’t handing out any trophy, but this was for the unofficial SCC championship.

“It’s us!” said wide receiver Trey Hartnett.

And so it is.

Then there was the peculiar manner of West Haven ascending to No. 1 in the state poll a week after many felt the Blue Devils deserved it.

Last week, 10 voted West Haven first, four second, two third, none fourth, five fifth and one each sixth, seventh and eighth. It’s baffling three would vote the Blue Devils six through eight. Southington, with eight first-place votes, ended up No. 1.

Although none of the Top 10 played last week, West Haven pulled a first-place vote from Southington and one from Maloney this week and eeked into No 1. The joy didn’t last long. “Prep made all the big plays and we didn’t,” West Haven coach Rich Boshea said. “We had chances to score the first two times we had the ball, didn’t and then we gave up that 98-yard drive before the half that stuck a dagger on us.”

And then there is Boshea himself.

A trip to the dentist for a cut in his tongue turned out to be cancerous tumor split in two. During a 14-hour surgery at Smilow Cancer Center, he had half his tongue cut out and rebuilt from skin near his wrist.

In August he suddenly had trouble breathing. Noninvasive surgery would show a tumor on his esophagus and one on his trachea.

Boshea can’t swallow. He has used a feeding tube in his side for months. With the tumors too large for immediate surgery, the plan was to shrink them through eight chemo treatments and then decide this month. He wasn’t sure he’d coach to the end of the season.

On Friday night, he said they are holding off surgery and he’ll finish the year.

“My chemo went so well they said let’s do eight more treatments and then we’ll look at it,” Boshea said. The man is a rock. “My message to the kids was, ‘We got a playoff game Tuesday night. We keep winning we won’t even remember this one. Shake it off. Put it behind you.’ ”

No one has been any more resilient than Boshea.

Prep knows something about resilience.

To a man, they keep pointing to the 42-27 loss to Hamden as the turning point. Prep was 1-3 and could have gone south. Instead, Prep enters the playoffs on a six-game winning streak.

“We had to change our attitude about how we were going into games,” MercerRobinson said.

“We really had to look in the mirror and see what we were doing wrong and adjust,” Hartnett said. “We realized we weren’t playing to our potential.”

“We turned a corner after Hamden,” Prep coach Keith Hellstern said. “We didn’t play well against a good team and got exposed.”

Maximize chances. Minimize an explosive opponent.

That was the game plan in a nutshell, Hellsetern said. It was executed to near perfection.

“On both sides of the ball, the lines played really hard, really tough,” Hellstern said. “They demonstrated physicality all game. It set the tone. This time of year you really need to do that.”

On its first possession, West Haven had the ball on the 5, had a false start and followed with an incomplete pass. On its second possession and behind 7-0, West Haven got to the 2 and couldn’t score. Fourth down. Incomplete pass.

“Huge stops,” Hellstern said.

Just when it appeared Prep would be content to run out the clock. Hellstern said his offensive coordinator Zach Thomas saw something. Tyler Smith hit Hartnett with a 40-yard pass.

“Swung momentum,” Hellstern said.

Smith then hit Hartnett for a 25-yard TD pass on a vertical route in the corner of the end zone. Beautiful throw. Beautiful catch. Suddenly, it was 14-0 at halftime.

“We’re a two-dimensional team,” Hartnett said. “Tonight we mixed both the run and pass.”

Mercer-Robinson, who scored earlier from 4 yards, ran for a 24-yard TD run to finish off the No. 1 team.

“I lived in West Haven, so it was kind of a personal game for me,” Mercer-Robinson said. “I used to play with some of those guys. Some old friends. Some I consider brothers. But my goal tonight was to score as many as possible.”

Prep played Belen Prep (Fla.), New Canaan, Hamden, Cheshire, Shelton, Notre Dame-West Haven, North Haven, West Haven. A grind.

“My kids are battle-tested in a lot of different ways,” Hellstern said. “We played as many if not more ranked teams in the Top 10 at some point than anyone else in the state. We’re used to it.

“Even though we had a tough start to the season, I think it has made us stronger now than ever.” Beware the Jesuits.

“I love our chances,” Hartnett said. “We’re a mean team to play right now.”