Believe the hype
Rolapp, Roche lead Darien in rout over Cheshire
DARIEN — The football preseason hype is over.
And Darien, at least for Week 1, sure lived up to the billing.
Junior quarterback Ben Rolapp connected with Kevin Roche for an 82-yard touchdown on No. 2 Darien’s second play from scrimmage, jumpstarting a 45-6 win over Cheshire in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance game Friday night in Darien.
There were plenty of big stats for the Wave, among those a stellar defense which forced five turnovers and four touchdown passes for Rolapp, but it was the big early play to the Georgia Tech-bound Roche that set the tone.
Roche cut across the middle of the field, caught a short pass from Rolapp and was off to the races.
“I saw a 6-9 guy coming across the field, so you want to throw it to him,” Rolapp said. “Breaking out a big play early is always a relief. Especially when you’ve got everybody here for the game. You want to show out for them.”
The Blue Wave came into the season carrying the mantle of a “team to beat,” a designation earned thanks in large part to the return of several key players from last year’s Class L runner-up team, including 6-foot-9 tight end Kevin Roche.
They are No. 2 in the GameTimeCT Preseason Poll, and received more first-place votes than any other team except defending Class LL champion Staples.
Heck, even the 8-Ball picked Darien to win in Week 1.
Still, the Wave has tried to downplay the hype.
“I’m nut sure how much (the players) talk about it, but from my standpoint, the expectation is to go 1-0,” Darien coach Andy Grant said. “I think they lived up to the expectation tonight. Our big players made big plays and the guys we’ve been wondering how they would show up in the first few games as
varsity players did what wanted them to do.
“From my standpoint, I’m pretty impressed with how they lived up to the expectations.”
Cheshire never kicked into gear.
The Rams had five turnovers in the first half, helping to set
up 21 points for Darien.
The game was the first of four against 2023 state finalists on Cheshire’s schedule. The Rams face champs North Haven (Class MM) and Daniel Hand (M), as well as Class LL runner-up West Haven.
“We’ve got to be better,” Cheshire coach Don Drust said. “You can’t have five turnovers in the first half against a team like that. That’s a really good football team and when you
play a team like that and make the mistakes we made, it compounds into that. We’ve got to be better and I have to be better in preparation to get our guys ready to play.
“We’re going to show up tomorrow, we’re going to learn from it and we’re going to get better.”
Player of the game Ben Rolapp, Darien:
The junior quarterback passed for
219 yards and four touchdowns, and rushed for one more score to lead the victory.
Quotable
“Obviously, everybody’s got their eyes on that kid, so to come out and make a big play early was huge for him and the team. There was an excitement level that kind of drove us forward. “- Darien coach Andy Grant on Kevin Roche’s 82-yard touchdown reception.