Football: First the lights, then West Haven black out Hamden

By Austin Bruno
@austinbruno

The West Haven High School Blue Devils scorched the Hamden Green Dragons in Hamden Friday night in a 43-6 offensive onslaught. 

Before the 7 p.m. game could start, the lights went out and the field went dark. A mistake in the lights’ timer disabled them three hours early at 7:15, Hamden athletic director Tom Dyer said.

Head coach Todd Dowty said that the blackout didn’t shock his Green Dragons (1-7). 

“We had trouble with the lights here the past two years… It wasn’t a total surprise, and the kids just went with it,” he said.

However, what the Blue Devils did after the delay may have been a little shocking.

Even the marching band, cheerleaders and fans of the visiting West Haven (7-2) squad dwarfed the Hamden crowd by nearly outnumbering the home team’s attendees.

West Haven running back Anthony Godfrey scored his first of four touchdowns of the night in a drive lasting nearly eight minutes toward the end of the first quarter.

Upon gaining possession, a resilient Hamden immediately retaliated with a 46 yard-run that brought them right up to the goal line, scoring the next play.                                                                                              
Those six points were the only ones Hamden scored Friday night.

During the point-after attempt, Angelo Dimonaco received a botched snap that never made it to the kicker’s foot. This misfortune was a portent of Hamden's efforts for the night. 

In spite of this, “Nothing surprised us… we prepped our team accordingly, and they just got the better of us,” Dowty said.

West Haven quarterback Tim McCarthy was on his mark. By the end of the first half, he had completed 88 percent of his throws. He helped set the pace for the Blue Devils’ smooth victory.

Early in the second quarter, Godfrey received five straight carries for yardages that led another six points for West Haven.

After a turnover on downs, West Haven capitalized where Hamden didn’t. This time, McCarthy passed instead of Godfrey carrying, a 37-yard long endeavor. The Blue Devils led 21-6 after the extra point.

Godfrey passed the scoring duties to Chris Chance for a 43-yard rushing touchdown. Godfrey punched in the two-point conversion, piling the rubble onto a disheartened Hamden team before the first half had even ended.

One of several Hamden fumbles set Godfrey up for yet another scoring success.

The annihilation lessened as the fourth quarter began, with West Haven leaving the damage at 43-6.

The immediate response from the Green Dragons was to identify a moral cause of the loss.

“Discipline’s our key factor. We let it slip away when they scored. That’s our problem…. It’s all discipline. It’s not talent,” senior co-captain Kwadir Delgado-McIntyre said after the game.

Another co-captain stressed the need keep spirits high in the face of adversity.

“It’s kind of hard to come every day motivated when you walk into practice at 1-7… you need to make sure everyone’s up and the energy’s up,” Angelo Dimonaco said.

Optimistic outlook aside, there was an inability to keep their momentum going past the first quarter.

“We need to maintain our focus throughout the whole game. I think we started the game off really well. We were moving the ball, we were driving it, and we were in pretty good shape,” Dowty said.

​Hamden faces an undefeated Shelton team next Friday for their penultimate game of the season.