Friday Night found the Darien Blue Wave football team traveling to Wilton High School for a showdown with the Warriors who were 5-0 entering play. Darien coming off the bye week was sitting at 2-2 and still not able to crack above .500 on the 2022 campaign was looking to change that.

Trevor Herget kicked off for the Wave, Brody Hess returned it out to the 25-yard line, and we were underway. False start, false start, and delay of game, in that order, were all called against the Warriors before the first play from scrimmage. Some early communication errors on the Wilton sideline, but they set up on the 1st and 25 on their 10-yard line to get play underway.

A run by Andrew Acosta-Rua and completion to Tommy McKiernan would all be for nothing as another false start penalty set the Warriors back to the 11. Wilton’s punt unit came out and turned it over to the Wave.

A weak punt resulted in the Wave starting on the Warriors 38 yard line, a great field position for Simeon Doll and co. The Wave marched a bit before being faced with the 4th and 4 inside the RedZone on the 11. This was a familiar situation against Maloney, where the Wave was unable to convert on crucial plays in the red zone. The Wave forced the Warriors offsides and avoided the fourth down play.

However, a personal foul against the Wave would undo all of that, pushing them back to the 24-yard line, and pass interference on Wilton’s Henry Roy gave the Wave a second life.

Facing a fourth and goal on the 6, Doll dropped back, looked for Herget in the end zone and completed the pass for the Blue Wave touchdown. Darien would go up 6-0 as a bad snap on the PAT resulted in an unsuccessful attempt.

After another punt from the Warriors, Darien took back over. 3rd and 12 on the Darien 43, Doll dropped back. He was looking for Herget downfield but instead was met with Wilton’s Will Soojian for an interception. Soojian a leader on that Warrior defense took matters into his own hands and gave the ball back to Acosta-Rua and the offense. It was to no avail as the Warriors remained off the scoreboard.

Moving to the second quarter, Simeon Doll was faced with a 4th and 3 on the 44-yard line and again was looking deep for Trevor Herget. This time was stopped by George Schwartz on the defense for the turnover on downs.

Wilton used that momentum until they faced a 4th and 4 on the 33-yard line. Keeping the offense on the field, Acosta-Rua dropped back and was looking to the end zone for Dexter, it was there where Morgan Ruppenstein tripped up the receiver and get called for pass interference giving the Warriors a new life.

Wilton capitalized on a 4th down in the RedZone and handed it off to Alexander Reyes rushing it into the scrum for a 2-yard touchdown tying the game at 6. Michael Wall came out and hit the extra point putting Wilton up 7-6 heading into the half.

Darien started off the second half rocky with the first drive resulting in a turnover on downs after Doll struggled to find a receiver and tried to run. Wilton’s defense made its mark on stoping Darien on those 4th down plays as the Wave went 1-5 on 4th down conversions in the first half.

After a sack from Carter Hagan, Wilton found themselves on a 3rd and 18 looking to go deep to McKiernan, in the way got Robert MacLehose who picked off the pass and took it the other way for Darien.

3rd and 12 Doll was looking far downfield to Isaac McMullin and completed the pass moving the chains for a big gain, next play again a pass to McMullin, but this time the ball popped loose, and Wilton’s Conner Flanagan recovered.

Wilton ran an 11-play drive that gave them 80 yards and set up Michael Wall for a 30-yard field goal. A good snap, a good hold, but a low-lining kick would be no good, and the score remained 7-6 Warriors.

George Schwartz sacked Doll for a big loss late in the 4th quarter setting up the 4th and 8 on the Wilton 29-yard line. Trevor Herget would run a perfect route and beat his defender Soojian, Herget looked up and reeled in the pass from Doll for the touchdown. Herget’s second of the game and the Wave had the lead with 5:36 left to play. An incompletion on the two-point conversion kept it 12-7.

Wilton got the ball on their own 20-yard line with 2:02 left on the clock. Back-to-back completions to Nicholas Walden and Tommy McKiernan gave Wilton 23 yards in just 11 seconds! Next play a pass to Michael Wall. It moved the ball to the other side of the field and the Darien 45.

2nd and 10 on the 45. Acosta-Rua dropped back and looked deep for McKiernan. McKiernan jumped up, and over Schwind brought the ball in and ran it into the end zone for the 45-yard score with 1:17 left to play. Wilton led 13-12, and then a pitch to Peter Reyes would be a successful two-point conversion making it 15-12 Warriors.

After the kickoff Darien had one last shot with the game on the line, starting on their own 30-yard line with 1:10 on the clock, a holding penalty set them back 5 yards and the clock running away. Back-to-back receptions to Trevor Herget picked up major yards as Darien now set themselves up on the Wilton 30-yard line with 47 seconds left.

1st and 10, Doll threw to Herget once again, this time Nicholas Stevenson played the tough defense and force the dogfight. Both Herget and Stevenson would rough each other trying to grab possession of the ball. Herget was looking to set Darien up at the 2 while Stevenson was looking to put the game to bed. The referee came over and signaled the completion and possession of Darien.

35 seconds on the clock, inside handoff to Wilson, he was stopped for a gain of 1, Darien’s sideline telling the offense to go again. Handoff to Wilson, and this one would go as Jake rushed the 1-yard for the Darien score. Touchdown Darien and the 18-15 lead went in favor of Darien.

4 seconds to go, Wilton had the ball on their own 35 with one final chance left in this one. An incompletion to McKiernan would be all the time they had, and Darien took the win in this one 18-15.

Darien coming all the way down to the final 11 seconds to win this one left Fujitani Field with a win over the Warriors. Darien, despite its struggles on the 4th down conversions and special teams, used the heroics of Trevor Herget to win this one.

Herget finished with 8 receptions, 2 touchdowns, and 153 of the team’s 241 reception yards. Trevor has now scored 5 receiving touchdowns in just his 3 games playing offense!

Wilton had many communication errors that started with the first false start penalty on the night. The Warriors had 7 total penalties against them for 75 yards lost, in addition to the hole in the coverage on the second touchdown. This was a big point of emphasis from head coach EJ DiNunzio post-game.

Darien with this win, advances to 3-2 on the season and above .500 for the first time in 2022. The team will shift their attention to Fairfield Ludlowe on Friday for a showdown with the Falcons.

Darien also now moves back into a state playoff spot overtaking Fairfield Warde for the 8th and final playoff spot.

DARIEN 18,

WILTON 15

DARIEN 6 0 0 12 —18

WILTON 0 7 0 8 — 15

Scoring: 

D – Simeon Doll 12 yard passing TD to Trevor Herget (Stevens PAT no good)

W – Alexander Reyes 2 yard rushing TD (Wall PAT good)

D – Simeon Doll 29 yard passing TD to Trevor Herget (Two point conversion failed)

W – Andrew Acosta-Rua 45 yard passing TD to Tommy McKiernan (P. Reyes Two point conversion)

D – Jake Wilson 1 yard rushing TD (Stevens PAT no good)

QB: D – Simeon Doll 18-27 (66.7%), 219 yds, 2 td, 1 Int; W – Andrew Acosta-Rua 17-32 (53.1%), 194 yds, 1 tds, 1 Int.

RB: D- Jake Wilson 29 carries, 120 yds, 1 td; W – Peter Reyes 9 carries, 4 yds, 0 tds.

WR: D- Trevor Herget 8 receptions, 153 yds, 2 td; W – Tommy McKiernan 6 receptions, 76 yds, 1 tds.

DEF: D – Carer Hagan, 2 sacks, Jack Barber, 1 sack; Robert MacLehose, 1 interception; W – Will Soojian, 1 interception; Owen Theoharides, George Schwartz, 1 sack.

Records: Darien 3-2 ; Wilton 5-1.