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Darien And St. Joseph Set To Renew Rivalry — As Top 10 Teams
Jeff Jacobs
10.17.2024
Andy Grant remembers games against St. Joseph being really physical.
“And for some reason,” Grant said, “really hot.”
“Hot and muggy,” Joe Della Vecchia said. “Although I do remember one (1995) when it was pouring rain. We were the only game played in the state that day. We lost 6-0 on a fumble recovery. It was awful.”
The good news is it won’t be hot nor raining Friday night at Darien when the No. 5 Blue Wave (3-1) face the No. 8. Cadets (4-0) in one of two Top Ten matchups of FCIAC teams.
So no cramping. And no puddles.
Just two teams coming off bye weeks and looking for elusive fast starts.
Over the last decade the teams usually met in September. Thus, the heat. St. Joseph won the last matchup, 14-0, in the 2022 season opener.
Darien won six in a row before that one, ending the Hogs’ 29-game winning streak in 2021. With both teams 6-0, the media had Darien No. 1 in their poll. The coaches had St. Joseph No. 1 in their poll.
Final: Darien 42, St. Joseph 14.
With under 11 minutes left, the Cadets cut it to 21-14. Only 18 seconds later, Jeremiah Stafford got behind the Hogs’ defense for a 70-yard TD reception.
“It broke our back,” Della Vecchia said. “They scored on that same play in the first half and we thought we had corrected it.”
One matter both coaches want to correct are slow starts.
With an awful first half, one cost Darien. The Blue Wave fell behind 28-7 at Windsor late in the third quarter before charging back in a double overtime loss.
Darien also was relatively sluggish against Norwalk in its last game before the bye week, leading by only a score with six minutes left in the third, before reeling off four scores.
“It’s a discussion we’ve had every practice for the last few weeks,” Grant said. “Coming out of the gate fast. A lot of that is not turning the ball over. A lot of that is getting a three and out or a shortened drive on defense. We need to get our focal-point players going early. Be successful with our run game and get Charlie Thom, Kevin Roche and Thomas Herget the ball early on.”
Grant said Georgia Tech-bound tight end Roche, who missed the Norwalk game after suffering a leg injury late against Windsor, is 50-50 to play.
St. Joseph, meanwhile, didn’t score a point in the first quarter against North Haven, Westhill or Stamford. They ended up winning those games, 17-7, 44-0 and 38-13. Stamford led at halftime of their last game before T.J. Wright’s 85-yard kickoff return ignited the Cadets.
“We haven’t had a good start yet,” Della Vecchia said while singling out the only good one, in the opener against Bloomfield. “Our thing is we want to get the ball first, go down and score. We’ve been pretty successful with that over the years. This year we haven’t been able to do that. Why? I don’t have the answer. I wish I did.”
Although the schools own multiple state titles, with enrollment differences, they have never met in the postseason. There have been some regular-season dandies.
In 2012, St. Joseph won, 35-28, in double overtime.
“It was the first time we ever played overtime,” Della Vecchia said. “We were down two scores in the second half and came back. A vivid memory for us.”
In 2014, Darien erased a 17-point deficit in the second half to win, 21-17. Former coach Rob Trifone called it the greatest comeback of his long career.
“That ‘14 team had a lot of character,” said Grant, a defensive assistant at the time. “And also were slow starters. St Joe’s came out flying. We made some schematic changes in the secondary and they started to wear away.”
That’s the past.
The present schedule shows that after Darien, St. Joseph has Ridgefield, followed by No. 1 Greenwich and No. 3 Staples. No one has a tougher schedule.
“I told the kids, ‘Look, we’re basically going to play three No. 1 ranked teams, so we better be ready for the challenge,” Della Vecchia said. “Darien, Greenwich, Staples, they’ve all gotten No. 1 votes. Every play is going to mean something. One mistake and it could be the ballgame. We’ve got to be locked in. Darien is a well-oiled machine. Large school, large amount of kids on their team and can bring them in and out. You’ve just got to be mentally tough and be prepared.
“That’s why we went back to some basic things like footwork and communication on the bye week. A lot of individual work. Tried to clean up some stuff we weren’t doing well. We had a lot of guys injured against Stamford, seven or eight, and we’re hoping that gave them a chance to heal.”
Grant said his focus of bye week was to take stress off bodies.
“We did a lot of low-impact practicing,” Grant said. “Fundamental reps, workout bags, workout garbage cans, a lot of routes, more film work, more mobility and weight room work. After four weeks and three weeks of preseason try to get bodies a little bit of a rest, but continue to make them sweat, think football and stay dialed into the scene.”
As far as coaching plans, neither are a fan of the bye.
“I don’t like it,” Della Vecchia said. “I don’t like the break in the action. I like to keep going. I don’t like to break routine. I don’t think players like to break routine.”
Grant says it takes a coach out of rhythm.
“Coaching is a habitual process,” he said. “You know you’re going to have a game on Friday night. Come back and review the film Saturday morning. Sunday coaches will plan. Monday, start to implement. Tuesday, add a little more onto it. Wednesday, we kind of have a real plan going. Having an off-week gives you more time to think and do some stuff, but I’d rather play every week. Obviously the extra time is good to give you a little more time to see what the opponent is doing.”
The video of St. Joseph caught Grant’s attention.
“Defensively, they’re sound schematically,” he said. “They do some things differently than they did last year and several years prior. There’s new twists and turns defensively. Offensively, Joe does a great job. He has speed, size, physicality, kind of has it all. I look at the team from some of the film they had last year compared to what I’ve seen this year, it’s drastically different. They’re much bigger. It’s going to be a great challenge.”
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