WEST HAVEN — This year’s edition of the West Haven football defense isn’t as massive as last season’s crew.
The Blue Devils’ D are by no means overrun by the short and scrawny, but they aren’t as beefy as they’ve been in the past. The likes of Kadear Dembele and Derrick Lewis are not walking through that door.
These Westies are fast though and, as always, love to hit.
The Blue Devils’ defense made Shelton’s Friday night miserable. They forced six turnovers, four of them interceptions, to win 21-10 at Ken Strong Stadium in the Southern Connecticut Conference opener for both teams.
“We want to be fast on defense,” West Haven interim head coach Tom Unger said. “We want to be aggressive. ... We don’t do anything fancy. We just kind of get on them to play fast and they embrace it.”
Seniors Amir Daniley, Trew Kitson and Caimier Walker and sophomore Charles Sutton all had a pick for West Haven (2-0, 1-0).
Juniors Cordell Barrow and Darryl Small both recovered a fumble while classmate TJ Stevenson added a sack.
“Coach made a whole entire drill (at practice) for us to strip the ball,” said Stevenson, an outside linebacker. “Somebody rips (it), somebody punches (it), and somebody gets it. Yes, sir, we do that every practice. And it definitely paid off.”
Daniley added 20 carries for 121 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown run on his team’s second play of the game. He also scored the game’s final points on an 84-punt return.
Blue Devils’ sophomore Mason Wright threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to senior Aaron Johnson, too.
Shelton (1-1, 0-1) did itself no favors by committing 10 penalties for 83 yards, including three personal fouls.
“You cannot win a game in this league with the turnovers that we had tonight,” Gaels’ head coach Mike DeFelice said. “That’s not us, and that can’t be us if we want to win football games, plain and simple.”
Senior Kaden Tracey caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from classmate Logan Sepkaski for Shelton and junior Michael Onofrio added a 23-yard field goal.
The Gaels trailed by four early in the fourth quarter with the ball at the West Haven 48-yard line when they had a pass deep into the latter’s territory ruled out of bounds.
Shelton punted two plays later and Daniley fielded the ball at the Blue Devils’ 16. He cut right toward his team’s sideline, slipping past a Gael in the process. He immediately ran into traffic but kept on trucking down the sideline for an 84-yard touchdown.
Junior Justin Chacon made the extra point to push West Haven’s edge to 21-10 with 7 minutes, 58 seconds left in the game.
Player of the Game
TJ Stevenson, West Haven: A Westies’ defender must be the POTG after what that group did Friday night, and Stevenson was in the middle of it all.
Quotable
“The score was really close, and I’m like, ‘I need to change this game.’ …. I beat the first guy, and it was just green from there” — The Blue Devils’ Amir Daniley about his punt return for a touchdown.
West Haven 21, Shelton 10
(At Ken Strong Stadium, West Haven)
SHELTON 3 0 7 0 — 10WEST HAVEN 7 7 0 7 — 21
S—Michael Onofrio FG 23WH—Amir Daniley 25 run (Justin Chacon kick)WH—Aaron Johnson 8 pass from Mason Wright (Chacon kick)S—Kaden Tracey 25 pass from Logan Sepkaski (Sepkaski kick)WH—Daniley 84 punt return (Chacon kick)Team records: West Haven 2-0 (1-0 SCC); Shelton 1-1 (0-1).