Following a regular season in which it registered a record of 9-1 and a victory over Stamford in the quarterfinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Football Tournament, Greenwich was just one victory away from earning a return trip to the state final.

Yet unfortunately for the Cardinals, they won’t have an opportunity to win a second straight state title, since the win they were seeking eluded them on Sunday.

Turning a pair of third-and-long situations and a fourth-down play into touchdowns, third-seeded West Haven posted a hard-fought 26-13 triumph over second seeded Greenwich in the Class LL semifinals at chilly, rainy Cardinal Stadium.

The win catapulted the Blue Devils (10-2) into the championship game of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, where they will play top-seeded Staples (11-1) on Saturday at Central Connecticut State University. The Class LL final is scheduled to begin Saturday at 5 p.m. For the Cardinals, the tough loss ended a season in which it finished with a 10-2 mark, with their other loss coming against rival Staples on Thanksgiving. Greenwich captured the Class LL championship one season ago by topping Fairfield Prep in the final at UConn’s Rentschler Field.

“I’m tremendously proud of our team,” said Greenwich coach Anthony Morello, who has been at the helm since 2019. “The culture is still firmly intact here at Greenwich High School and that’s the goal every year. We want to continue the traditions that were established well before any of us were here and these guys did that.”

“We won nine straight games and made it all the way to the semifinals and we played a team that made more plays than we did today.”

West Haven, which will make its first appearance in the state championship game since 2003, received two touchdown runs from junior quarterback Nick Conlan and one touchdown reception apiece from senior wide receivers Armani Reid and Demarco Eady.

“They came to practice every day, locked in and were lining up correctly,” West Haven coach Rich Boshea said of his squad. “When we’re aligned and we run our assignment we are a very, very good team.”

Senior quarterback Rocco Grillo scored on a short touchdown run and senior linebacker/running back Sebastian Parra caught a touchdown pass from Grillo for Greenwich’s scoring.

“My experience with this team was great, the guys showed me support through the highs and the lows,” Grillo said while reflecting on the 2023 season. “The season was great and I’m grateful to the coaches, players, and community – it was a great time. I’ll never forget it.”

The highly anticipated Class LL semifinal-round matchup had a promising start for the Cardinals, who reached the end zone on the game’s first drive, which featured a lengthy drive. The home team methodically drove the ball down the field, using the effective running of senior Ian Kim a pair of short completions by Grillo and reception of more than 10 yards by senior wide receiver Gavyn Gennarelli. Following his offensive linemen, Grillo scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak, putting GHS ahead, 6-0 with 8:06 remaining in the first quarter.

“We had a really good first drive, but we had some costly penalties that set us back on some other drives,” Morello noted.

Indeed, drives like their march to start the game didn’t occur often enough for the Cardinals on this day. After they scored on their opening drive, they didn’t light the scoreboard again until late in the fourth quarter.

“Our defensive coordinator, I told him, he set the world record for most film watched in a week,” Boshea said. “He studied, he was on them and he came up with a game plan and our kids bought in and did what they had to do.”

Holding a 6-0 advantage, Greenwich held the Blue Devils scoreless for most of the first half. The visitors went three-and-out on their first drive of the opening quarter, then punted after gaining two first downs on their second possession. They were then stopped on downs at the Greenwich 41-yard line on their third drive, as the hosts maintained their one-score edge.

Senior linebacker John Insinga registered a first-half sack, as did senior defensive linemen Yahcere McGhee and Ignacy Pietryka for the Cardinals. Sebastian Parra and Jaden Scott, both senior linebackers and Nick Aravides, a senior defensive back also made key tackles in the first half for the Cards.

One of the biggest plays of the came occurred with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Conlan dropped back to pass, lofted the ball in the air and Reid caught it at around midfield. Reid broke away from the secondary and ran down the left sideline, completing a 77-yard pass play for a touchdown with 2:25 left in the second quarter. West Haven was facing third down and 20 on the play.

“We knew we were going to get big plays from West Haven,” Morello said. “That game is no surprise, but we’ve got to execute too. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done today. Not enough on the offensive side of the ball.”

West Haven took the lead for good when Conlan scrambled 44 yards to the end zone with 8:15 left in the third quarter. On the play, Conlan fumbled the snap, but quickly picked the ball up sprinted up the middle, then cut right and dashed down the right sideline for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion pass was incomplete, but the Blue Devils held a 12-6 lead.

“We basically are a big play team,” Boshea said. “Conlan, I feel, is one of the top two quarterbacks in the state. He’s great, he’s focused, he loves football and he loves West Haven.”

The Westies extended their advantage to 18-6 at the 3:55 mark of the third quarter. Facing a fourth-and-14 situation, Conlan completed a screen pass to Eady, who took the pass 21 yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals closed to within 18-13 when Grillo rolled left on fourth-down-and-goal from the 2-yard line and threw a touchdown pass to Parra. Senior placekicker Erick Perino booted the extra point, making it 18-13 with 4:44 to go in the final quarter.

However, a fumbled snap gave the Westies the ball deep in Cardinals territory and the visitors sealed the win when Conlan ran left for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:28 to go in the game.

“It was tough for us this game to move the ball in this weather,” Morello said. “Even still, we had a chance to go up with three minutes left and the ball just slipped through the fingers.”

Staples advanced to the championship game of the Class LL playoffs by rolling past fifth-seeded Southington, 41-0, in Saturday’s other semifinal-round matchup.

Morello reflected on his team’s accomplishments and especially thought about the seniors on the squad who put so much effort into the program for several seasons.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the senior class, they did everything the right way,” he said. “Sometimes things don’t go your way, but hopefully, they learned some great life lessons that they can carry on for a lifetime and developed friendships they are never going to lose.”

The game capped a great career for Insinga, who led the Cards in tackles this season.

“I’m super proud of everyone,” Insinga noted. “Everyone showed true character. When we were down against Maloney (a comeback win) everyone stayed up, everyone cheered each other on. In the game against Staples, even though we lost, everyone still had tremendous effort – flying around making plays. West Haven was tough, they were fast. They just outplayed us a little bit.”

“We had a great year last year, we won a state championship and this year we fought hard we had a bunch of guys on our team,” Insinga continued. “We were fast, we were strong, we were big, but everything just doesn’t go your way sometimes.”

Said Parra: “It was a great job on both sides of the ball by our team all season. This team did a great job. It was a really fun time for me at Greenwich High School and I loved playing for this team.”

“You tip your hat to West Haven,” Morello added. “We wish them the best of luck next Saturday and tomorrow, we get back to work.”