The Shelton High School football team’s season came to end Saturday with a 39 – 7 loss to Darien High School at Veterans Stadium in New Britain in the CIAC Class LL State Championship.
The Gaels couldn’t establish any momentum in the game early on.
On the first play of the game on offense for Shelton, quarterback Zach Tuskowski threw an interception to Christian Trifone who returned it 20 yards for the touchdown for Darien.
Later in the quarter Tuskowski broke his collarbone during a tackle by Darien’s Mark Evanchick.
It was the latest in a season of broken bones for the Gaels. But, in every game this season, Shelton found a way to win.
“We preach to our kids you just keep playing hard, working hard,” Shelton Coach jeff Roy said. “Next man up all year and [with] all the injuries the kids just keep playing hard.”
But playing their hardest wasn’t enough to make a dent in Darien. The Blue Wave’s defense dominated, returning two of three interceptions for touchdowns early in the game.
Darien led 18 – 0 at the half.
Early on in the third quarter, the Blue Wave scored on consecutive possessions when running back Shelby Grant took a pair of short runs in for touchdowns, giving Darien a 32 – 0 lead.
“[The defense] played spectacular tonight…we knew we had a goal coming in tonight, we knew we had to win [and] we were going to leave it all out on the field no matter what,” said Darien’s quarterback Timmy Graham.
See the video below for an interview with Graham.
Shelton junior David Wells stepped in for the injured Tuskowski, and finished the game with 95 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Shelton capped off the scoring with Wells throwing a 24-yard touchdown to senior Kevin Robinson late in the fourth quarter.
