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Big Plays Cost Staples In Season-Opening Loss To West Haven
The Ruden Report
09.08.2023
By Dave Ruden
Reporting from Westport
There was 3:24 remaining in tonight’s season opening game when the members of a raucous Staples student section departed the stands at Paul Lane Field to seek alternative entertainment on the first post holiday weekend Friday night of the school year. West Haven’s Aedan Coe had intercepted a pass by Wreckers quarterback Caleb Smith and zig-zagged 70 yards for a touchdown and 33-21 lead.
The odds were long and the memories short after Staples used an explosive offense to turn near losses into exhausting wins on more than one occasion a year ago.
Perhaps the fans had a sixth sense on this night, for moments later Smith, last year’s state leader in passing yards, was picked off at the Blue Devils’ 1-yard line — a 99-yard return was nullified by a penalty — and the Wreckers were moments away from a 33-23 loss, equaling the total they had in the 2022 regular season.
It was a dejecting way to begin a year full of optimism for a program that has been building toward becoming a sustainable long-term contender that competes for postseason berths annually.
It was a night of mistakes and big plays, and Staples yielded too many of them. West Haven’s shortest score was a 28-yard pass. They came in all varieties: a 74-yard pass, a 79-yard punt return, an 82-yard run and Coe’s clinching return. Demarco Eady and Armani Reid each scored twice. The Blue Devils outscored Staples, 27-7, after falling behind by 14-6.
“It’s the first game,” Staples coach Adam Behrends said. “We’ve got stuff to clean up. I’ve got to do a better job making sure I’m keeping everything organized. We’ve just got to tighten up some little things and get back to work. A lot of little mistakes but we’ll get them cleaned up.”
Behrends during his time at Staples has made a habit of of taking the blame after losses and pointing fingers after wins, so there was not much to glean from his postgame comments. And as we know, it will take at least three weeks to start getting an accurate read on where teams belong in the pecking order.
For now we have to go by the eye test, and there were positives and negatives alike. Smith ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. He also had the two interceptions and lost a fumble at the West Haven 10 after taking a hard hit. Smith forced some balls and had some nice passes dropped. You also probably would not yet recognize the name of any of the players the Wreckers’ leader was throwing to. The offensive struggles seemed mostly due to a lack of rhythm that will come with some more work.
The defense presented more troubling concerns on the night, especially the penchant for giving up those big plays. West Haven lost a fumble on the Wreckers’ 1, threw an interception in the end zone and missed a field goal.
West Haven is a good team with a lot of speed that caused problems for Staples and will for many more opponents during the course of the season.
It was a rough night all around for the top of the FCIAC. New Canaan and Trumbull lost close contests to strong opponents and St. Joseph is trailing Newtown in a game that was halted in the second quarter due to the weather. Darien’s Andy Grant has yet to take the sideline but won his opener today when North Haven forfeited the scheduled game due to an internal issue.
The Wreckers lost their second game a year ago and then ran the table during the rest of the regular season to earn a state playoff berth.
There were no signs today to indicate that could happen again. But there were also no reasons to write off the Wreckers from still achieving their long-term goals. Smith is too good and there are playmakers — raw ones at this point — who will be carrying the ball and catching his passes.
“We’ll get back to work, we’ll get a lot of reps in practice and we’ll get that stuff cleaned up,” Behrends said.
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