WINDHAM – Sheehan junior quarterback Jake O’Brien wasn’t too concerned when his team was trailing in the early going of the Class SS semifinal football game against Windham Sunday afternoon.
“It got a little scary in the beginning, but that’s happened all year to us, so …” O’Brien said. “We’ve been down the first drive, we come out a little slow. And we just pick it up from there. We settled in.”
A fumble recovery deep in Sheehan territory quickly led to a Titan touchdown and Sheehan was off and running (and throwing). O’Brien completed nine of 13 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns and senior Jayden Dougherty had six receptions for 255 yards and three touchdowns as Sheehan defeated Windham 49-13 to advance to the Class SS championship game.
Third-seeded Sheehan (10-2) will play top-seeded and undefeated Killingly, a 42-7 winner over Waterford in the other Class SS semifinal, Friday at 6:30 p.m. at Rentschler Field.
Sheehan last went to the championship game in 2019, when the Titans beat Bloomfield for the Class S title.
“We had to settle in, make a couple adjustments, fix a couple things,” Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi said of Sunday’s game. “We had to settle in to the speed of the game and the way they run their stuff. I thought our kids did a hell of a job after that. We bent on that first series there. We found the issue, fixed it.”
Windham (10-2) used its bruising fullback Asael Garcia Rodriguez to get the ball down the field on the first series and Troy Torres-Morey had a two-yard touchdown run. Rodriguez kicked the extra point and the Whippets led 7-0. Their defense stopped Sheehan on its first drive and Windham began to drive again. But the Whippets fumbled on the Sheehan 17 and Sheehan recovered and the momentum of the game shifted.
O’Brien found junior Tucker Larson for a 73-yard touchdown pass. On Sheehan’s next possession, Dougherty caught a 39-yard pass from O’Brien for a touchdown. On their next drive, six plays in, O’Brien connected with Dougherty for a 55-yard TD pass. On the Titans’ last drive of the half, Dougherty hauled in a 73-yard touchdown pass and took off. The score was 28-7 at halftime.
Jake O’Brien 55 yd TD pass to Jayden Dougherty, Sheehan up 21-7 3:13 left 2Q #cthsfb pic.twitter.com/eNfTLVC1D0
— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) December 8, 2024
“(Dougherty) is the real deal, that kid was amazing,” Windham coach Randall Prose said. “We had no answer to him. We were able to slow the run down and play with them. The fumble really turned the emotion around – we were going in to get our second score – they made big plays first half. They made big plays all day.”
Windham was missing two senior captains, Darien Jenkins at safety and Julian Cruz at corner, due to injury so two sophomores started in their places.
“They got in the show, they played hard and now they know what the goal is,” Prose said.
Sheehan, which knocked Windham out 33-0 in the quarterfinals last year, lost to Joel Barlow in the semifinals last year 17-16, and the returning players like Dougherty were thinking about that Sunday.
“This feels great, coming off last year what happened in the semis – we lost to Barlow, there were some questionable calls late in the game but we can’t blame that, we had to put it together and we’re happy to be back,” Dougherty said.
“It was on our minds. We wanted to show the state what we’re made of this year.”
Class SS semifinal
Sheehan 49, Windham 13
Sheehan 0 28 14 7 – 49
Windham 7 0 0 6 – 13
First quarter
W-Troy Torres-Morey 2 run (Asael Garcia Rodriguez kick)
Second quarter
S-Tucker Larson 73 pass from Jake O’Brien (Evan Keating kick)
S-Jayden Dougherty 39 pass from O’Brien (Keating kick)
S-Dougherty 55 pass from O’Brien (Keating kick)
S-Dougherty 73 pass from O’Brien (Keating kick)
Third quarter
S-Josh Durant 61 run (Keating kick)
S-Durant 5 run (Keating kick)
Fourth quarter
W-Yadiel DeJesus 16 pass from Francisco Alvarado (run failed)
S-Nick Ferraro 2 run (Keating kick)
Records: Sheehan, 10-2; Windham, 10-2.