FCIACs Darien honored by Max Preps

DARIEN -- The Darien High School football team has finished No. 77 nationally for the 2015 season. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, the online high school sports leader and a CBSSports.com site. MaxPreps ranks more than 15,000 high school varsity football teams.

Darien (12-0) socked Shelton, 39-7, on Dec. 12 to capture the Connecticut LL state championship, the school's sixth football title. Darien, which was last unbeaten in 1994 at 12-0, is one of 50 schools being honored on the 11th annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard.

"For more than a decade, MaxPreps, in partnership with the Army National Guard, has honored the top high school sports teams in the nation. Darien High School is one of a very select and elite group of football teams to be honored this year," said Andy Beal, president and founder of MaxPreps. "We congratulate the coach, players and the Darien High School community for earning the Army National Guard national ranking trophy."

"It's an honor for the entire state of Connecticut. We were number two in 1994 and didn't get a chance to play the number one team. But we were ranked number one this year and that's a good thing. After thirty-seven years of coaching, I really cherish this season," said Darien head football coach Robert Trifone, who completed his ninth season.

Operating out of a spread offense, the Blue Wave rode the precision passing of senior quarterback Timmy Graham, who connected on 70.1 percent (223-of-318) of his passes for 3,155 yards and 41 touchdowns. Senior slot-back Hudson Hamill caught 45 passes for 659 yards and 12 TDs while senior Shelby Grant rushed for 794 yards on 125 carries and hit paydirt 14 times while beind on the receiving end of 39 passes for 484 yards and six more scores. Senior Colin Minicus grabbed 58 passes for 953 yards and tallied 11 TDs. Junior tackle Andrew Stueber (6-foot-6, 310-pounds) anchored the offensive line.

End Mark Evanchick made an impact in Darien's 4-3 defense with 89 tackles including 39 for loss and 23 ½ quarterback sacks. Christian and Bobby Trifone stood out in the Blue Wave secondary. Christian made 47 stops, had a pair of pass interceptions and recovered a pair of fumbles. Meanwhile, Bobby picked off four passes and was in on 31 stops.

Connecticut Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Felix Guiffra presented Coach Trifone and the team with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy Tuesday night at halftime of the boys' varsity basketball game. The team also received a banner for their accomplishment.

"Courage, commitment and unity are just a few qualities that superior athletes, along with the men and women of the Army National Guard, have in common," said Sergeant First Class Michael Semeja of the Army National Guard. "On behalf of the National Guard, I am privileged to recognize these nationally ranked championship teams for their dedication, leadership and teamwork."

MaxPreps Computer Rankings are used to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. The system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents), margin of victory, and strength of schedule. Playoff games are weighted 2.1 times a regular season game.

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About MaxPreps.com

MaxPreps.com is America's leading online high school sports media brand, offering the most comprehensive high school sports coverage, with the latest news, analysis, rankings, and streaming content. A CBSSports.com site, MaxPreps.com aspires to cover every high school team, game, and player by partnering with state high school associations and over 150,000 varsity coaches throughout the country. Founded in August 2002, MaxPreps.com is headquartered in Cameron Park, California and is a unit of CBS Interactive. For more information about MaxPreps.com and for the latest high school sports news, scores, and expert analysis, please visit maxpreps.com <http://www.maxpreps.com/>. Follow MaxPreps.com on Twitter: twitter.com/maxpreps <https://www.twitter.com/maxpreps> and on Facebook: facebook.com/maxpreps <https://www.facebook.com/maxpreps> More information about CBS Interactive and its businesses is available at cbsinteractive.com <http://cbsinteractive.com/>.

About Army National Guard

As the largest reserve component of the U.S. military, the Army National Guard also serves as the oldest brand of the armed forces, with more than 378 years of service. The National Guard provides training, career opportunities, funding for school and other benefits to men and women across the United States looking to serve and protect our country's interests at home and around the globe. The National Guard offers paid training for over 200 career fields, across all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with more than 3,600 training locations. For more information or to learn how you can join our over 350,000 members, visit www.NATIONALGUARD.com/moneyforcollege.