Saturday Darien found themselves on the wrong side of history. For the first time since 2009, the Wave will open the season 0-1.

It was a picture-perfect day at St. Joseph’s Dalling Field for the kickoff of the Darien football season. The first quarter was a slow one to start, both teams had 3 drives each and none of them resulted in any significant yards. But the Wave opened the second quarter with a 12-play drive that brought them to a 4th and 12 on the 14. Head coach Mike Forget called out the special teams unit and sophomore kicker Tucker Stevens. A good snap, good hold, but a low lining kick resulted in a miss to the left of the goalpost. After the missed field goal the defensive battle would continue and that drive from Darien remained the only red zone opportunity for either side in the first half.

The teams entered the locker rooms in a 0-0 stalemate, both teams had under 100 total offensive yards and it was all the defenses keeping it where it was. Neither teams running game could get going as Darien’s Running back Jake Wilson finished the game with 20 carries for 49 yards and St. Joes RB Riley Jordan, 24 carries for 38 yards. So the second half would be in the hands of Quarterbacks Simeon Doll and Will Singewald.

Darien started the third quarter with an 8-play drive, which resulted in a Trevor Herget punt.
St. Joes followed up with a three and out and punted. The third quarter saw four total drives, all of which resulted in punts.

Entering the fourth and final quarter of this game of two usual powerhouses was odd to be scoreless. That would change as the Hogs would open the fourth with a good punt return from Brandon Hutchison, and three good rushes from Riley Jordan set the Hogs up on the 16-yard line. 2nd and 10, Will Singewald dropped back, throws the pass over the middle, and found an open Brandon Hutchison for the first touchdown of the game. The St. Joes fans went wild. The 40-minute scoreless shootout had come to an end and the Wave now needed to play catch up.

Simeon Doll turned the intensity up after the touchdown completing the next 3 passes. Doll only had 12 completions all afternoon so this was a rally in the making. However on the 48-yard line Doll would look to throw to Briggs McGuckin but instead, the ball found it’s way into the hands of TJ Wright, it was an interception killing the Darien drive. The Hogs, with momentum on their side would march down the field and Will Singewald would connect with Hutchison again for a 42-yard touchdown to put the Hogs up 14-0.

Despite later efforts from Darien to make a comeback including a Trevor Herget punt return TD called back, a Darien fumble recovery overturned and a late interception would keep the blank scoreboard for Darien. The number two team in the state of Connecticut had fallen.

2009 was the last time Darien lost an opening day game, that was at Fairfield Warde when the Mustangs beat the Wave by you guessed it, 14-0. 13 years later the Wave find themselves with a losing record, and for only the second time in the Forget coaching stay a loss. This was also the first time since the 2019 Turkey Bowl in which Darien was shut out after 48 minutes of play.

“Obviously it’s a St. Joseph team that wanted it more than the Darien team today,” Head Coach Mr. Mike Forget told reporters after the game. The Wave only had two red zone opportunities all game in which a missed field goal and interception is all the Wave got. Darien has a lot of question marks after this game as they head into the homecoming game vs. the 0-1 Bridgeport Central Hilltoppers on Saturday. As the saying goes, it’s a long season and this is just simply the start.

ST. JOSEPH 14,

DARIEN 0

DARIEN 0 0 0 0 — 0

ST. JOSEPH 0 0 0 14 — 14

Scoring: 

SJ – Will Singewald 16 yard passing TD to Brandon Hutchison (Spoelstra PAT good)

SJ – Will Singewald 42 yard passing TD to Brandon Hutchison (Spoelstra PAT good)

QB: D – Simeon Doll 12-33 (36.4%), 174 yds, 0 tds, 2 Int; SJ – Will Singewald 12-24 (50%), 158 yds, 2 tds, 0 Int.

RB: D – Jake Wilson 20 carries, 49 yds, 0 tds; SJ – Riley Jordan 24 carries, 38 yds, 0 tds.

DEF: SJ – Bryce Prince, Dashawun Hall-Johnson, 1 sack; TJ Wright, Sam Rosa, 1 interception.

Records: Darien 0-1; St. Joseph 1-0.