Friday Night will be the 2022 senior day for the Darien Blue Wave football squad. They will honor their 28 seniors and then take on the Norwalk Bears under the bright lights of the DHS Stadium Field.

The Wave entering play at 4-3 on the season, sits in 7th place in the Class L state playoff standings. Darien is coming off a tough loss against Greenwich on Saturday and can desperately use a win as they have not been able to do so at home since September 17th against Bridgeport Central.

Darien’s offense has started to turn it on as of late. The team picked up 26 first downs against the Cardinals as they marched to 20 points against a top team in the state. QB Simeon Doll is looking to build off a nice week where he passed for a TD and rushed for one in the loss on Saturday. Senior running back Jake Wilson had a slower game on the running side, but Norwalk is a team that allows more rushing yards than an air-tight Cardinals defense. The big X-factor player will continue to be senior Trevor Herget. Herget kept the Wave in the game against Greenwich with his 11 receptions for a whopping 114 yards. Trevor leads the receiver core in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. The big play will look to be converted as Herget averages 15 yards per catch!

On the defense, Darien will look to apply the same pressure they did to Wilson and the Cardinals. A game in which Layton Reesor, JD Brennan, Jack Silsby, and Jack Barber all hurried the QB but failed to get the sack. In the secondary, Robert MacLehose has two interceptions in the past three games and looks to stay hot with help from junior Ryan Girlamo. Darien held Greenwich to only 28 points which was the lowest amount of points they have scored all season! The Wave has started to turn on in recent weeks and looks to carry that momentum into Friday night.

Looking at the 2022 Norwalk Bears. A team that returned old foes in Sean Ireland and Pete Tucci back to co-coach the Bears. Under one-year coach Pat Miller last year, Norwalk was able to have one of their best years in recent memory, going 7-3 on the season. That team had one of Connecticut’s best running backs in Cam Edwards. Edwards, now playing at UConn, puts Norwalk at a deficit with his departure. QB Shawn Brown returns for a second season and appears to be the only source of offense for the Bears. He has 262 passing yards as well as a team-high 63 carries for 247 rushing yards. Andrew Hernandez saw some carries in the backfield this season but is more of a short-gain type of back.

This is a Norwalk team who has struggled on all cylinders in 2022. A 1-6 record to this point, including a 56-7 defeat to the Staples Wreckers last week. And if the score wasn’t bad enough, the Bears only had 102 combined offensive yards! Norwalk has been outscored 243 to 77 this season, including giving up 35 points a game on average!

With many players forced to play two-way, Norwalk has many fatigues with the lack of depth. Senior captain Brendan Gilchrist anchors the DL with a team leading eight sacks, but with no help from anybody else, the Bears often give up the long plays. Staples managed to rack up 440 total yards against the Bears last week.

As far as records date back to 2004, Darien has not lost to Norwalk. With the closing of Trinity Catholic in 2019, these two schools became new divisional opponents making this game a regular meeting. Last year Darien ran away with it against the Bears thanks to a big third quarter effort.

2022 is serving as a rebuilding year for the Bears as they combined their varsity and JV squads looking to build for the future. Friday night should be a great atmosphere, intreating football game and another week of high school football!

Friday Gameplan

It’s senior night! That means get to the Stadium nice and early to support the seniors as they get honored before the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm with temperatures appearing to be in the 60’s and no rain in the forecast. It will be another blackout, so get their early, be loud and cheer on the Wave!

If you can’t make it out to the Stadium and still want to cheer on the Wave, DAF has you covered with the live stream. DAF will be live for the senior day festivities and kickoff at 7:00.