Birds Can't Swim: The Blue Wave Crashes over the Cardinals

by Reed Barthold

 

Sophomore Spencer Stovall poses for the camera

On Saturday (9/22), the Darien High School Blue Wave football team faced the undefeated Greenwich Cardinals at home. Kickoff was at 2pm, and the wave came out hungry. Within the first nine seconds of play, Will Hamernick intercepted a Greenwich pass and brought it into the end zone to put Darien up 7-0. The wave continued to roll over the Cardinals with a quick three-and-out drive, that allowed the Blue Wave to gain possession of the ball, and let superstar senior Nick Lombardo score on a 3rd down possession. The PAT was missed, and the first quarter ended with Darien up 13 points on the Birds.

Greenwich continued to let the Darien defense put on a clinic in the second quarter and within the first few minutes of play in the second quarter, the ball was handed back to Darien's offense, and the Blue Wave punched in another eight points (Darien scored the two-point conversion thanks to a tight jet keep pass to Nick Lombardo).  Minutes later, starting senior quarterback Silas Wyper connected with Nick Lombardo for a 22 yard TD pass. Daly Hebert nailed the ball through the uprights to give Darien a 28-0 lead on Greenwich. With zero seconds left in the first half, Greenwich scored with a 12 yard pass. With the first half of play concluded, Greenwich trailed by three touchdowns.

The second half of play started with an unsuccessful offensive drive by the Blue Wave. However, Greenwich couldn't quite figure out how to hold onto the ball, and senior Andrew Nault recovered a Greenwich fumble on the 35 yard line. Darien returned the fumble favor and Greenwich then recovered the ball on their own 24 yard line. However, it must have been the popcorn Greenwich ate before the game, because the ball was lose again, and John Reed recovered and ran it back to put Darien up 35-7 after a PAT by Daly Hebert. Shortly after Greenwich received the kick, John Reed continued to show up the birds with an interception that put the ball in the hands of the Blue Wave once again. Darien drove down the field, however the drive was cut short with a Greenwich interception for touchdown that put another seven points up on the board for the Cardinals.

Greenwich trailed the Blue Wave by three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter, and within the first minute of fourth quarter play, Darien increased that margin by 7 with a monstrous drive up the middle by senior running back Jay Harrison. On the kickoff, Daly Hebert made the tackle for Darien. Greenwich again, handed the ball back to Darien with an interception by sophomore Hudson Hamill. With 1:19 left in the game (and Darien's JV team in), Greenwich scored on a 30 yard TD pass. The game ended shortly after, and the Blue Wave earned a 42-14 victory. When asked to describe Darien's play against Greenwich, Lombardo replied, "We balled out", and Saturday's score seemed to agree.  Darien now sits with a 2-0 record going into this week's Friday night game against Bassick.