The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
It’s a Blue Wave 3-peat
STAMFORD — One streak continued and one ended before thousands of spectators at frigid Boyle Stadium’s snow covered field Saturday. And the streak that continued gave Darien what it’s used to receiving this time of year — the CIAC Class LL football championship.
Third-seeded Darien once again, rose to the occasion in the biggest of games, enabling it to add a championship trophy to its display case for the third straight season.
Behind a 21-point first half, Darien posted a 31-22 victory over top-seeded Greenwich in the championship game of the Class LL Tournament in a classic matchup that was much closer than the final score indicated. This thrilling snow bowl saw the Blue Wave hold just a 24-22 edge on the Cardinals in the final minutes of play, before scoring a late touchdown to secure its third consecutive Class LL title and seventh overall. The Blue Wave snapped Greenwich’s 12game winning streak and halted its quest to claim its first state title since 2007.
“To say we worked hard for this win is an understatement,” said Darien coach Rob Trifone, who has coached in six state title games since taking over the helm in 2007. “With the adversity we’ve faced, we’ve had to pull out a little bit of a Houdini against three high school football teams in the playoffs, especially Greenwich. They are as good a team as I’ve seen in the past several years. It was a back-and-forth game and Greenwich could have easily won that game. I’m so happy for our team.”
The adversity the Blue Wave faced stemmed from the arrests of two star players — QB Jack Joyce and WR/S Brian Minicus — on Thanksgiving eve stemming from a November assault on a New Canaan teen. Joyce returned for the start of the state playoffs and was stellar on Saturday.
Joyce passed for 102 yards and threw two scoring strikes in inclement weather while also rushing for 113 yards on 20 carries.
“Winning this game and the title feels so good, I can’t explain it,” Joyce said. “The weather was tough, but once we got into the game it was not that big of a deal, it was fun. Greenwich has one of the best defenses in the state, but we stepped up.”
Junior Gavin Muir threw for 280 yards with two touchdowns and senior Zach Moore kicked three field goals for the Cardinals, who lost to the Blue Wave in the quarterfinals of last season’s tournament.
“We have come a long way and this especially hurts for our senior class, but they can hold their heads up,” GHS coach John Marinelli said. “The way they represented the town, our program, I can’t say enough about them.”
Darien (12-1), which never trailed, scored the game’s first touchdown with 10:03 remaining in the first quarter, while only driving 10 yards. While fielding a low snap on a punt after Greenwich went three-and-out on its first possession, Moore’s knee hit the turf on the 10yard line and he was ruled down. Joyce was sacked by Greenwich senior defensive end Tyler Blizzard, backing the Blue Wave up to the 19-yard line. But on the ensuing play, Joyce connected with junior receiver Tyler Herget, who made a diving, one-handed reception. Austin Hagander’s extra point gave Darien a 7-0 advantage.
“Our receivers have been doing that all year,” Joyce said. “They have been the reason why balls like that are complete.”
Said Trifone: “That helped set the tone. You get out early on that against a team that’s not used to being down, it’s important. We have a little more experience in the state playoffs and I think it helped.”
Greenwich’s ensuing drive stalled at Darien’s 40-yard line, courtesy of junior linebacker Connor Fay. The Blue Wave extended its lead to 14-0 when Joyce broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run, in which he found a hole through the left side. The Cards closed to within 14-7 on Muir’s 5-yard touchdown pass to senior Henry Saleeby with 4:12 to go in the second quarter. Junior Tysen Comizio’s 37-yard run keyed the drive.
Darien regained a twoscore lead when junior TJ Cornacchia snared a 23-yard touchdown pass from Joyce while falling to the turf, putting his team on top, 21-7 at the 11:09 mark of the second quarter.
“After the Turkey Bowl (a loss to New Canaan) we knew we had to step it up and we definitely did that today,” Cornacchia said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, but we stepped up.”
Senior Jael Negron made an impressive reception down the right sideline for a 41-yard touchdown with 3:48 left in the second quarter, slicing the Blue Wave lead to 21-13. Greenwich then stopped Darien on the 1-yard line the final second of the opening half, keeping it a one-score game.
The Cardinals held the Blue Wave to an Austin Hagander 37-yard field goal for most of the second half, while Moore connected on field goals from 25, 36, 38 yards. His 38-yarder with 7:12 left brought GHS to within 24-22.
“They punched us in the mouth in the first half and when we went into the locker room at halftime, we knew something had to change,” Blizzard said. “We didn’t want to get blown out in the state championship and we wanted to prove we could hang with them and beat them.”