West Haven — Austin Richards, Norwich Free Academy’s first-string quarterback, watched Friday night’s game from the sideline in street clothes with a brace on his injured knee.

Jakob Hosko, who replaced Richards two weeks ago, joined Richards on the sideline when he was knocked out in the first quarter with a leg injury.

The Wildcats were down to third-stringer, sophomore Jayden Desilus, against West Haven. And they didn’t lose 27-13 because of the adversity. They lost due to a lack of execution.

NFA (3-2) had three second-half drives stall out within 36 yards of the Blue Devils' end zone. One was due to a Desilus interception.

The Wildcats receivers also had too many drops, uncharacteristic for a group that had been tearing it up through four games.

“Yeah,” NFA coach Jason Bakoulis said. “All we ask from these guys is to play hard every single rep. I’m proud of the fact they came out here, no matter what happened, and they played hard."

Desilus was 10 of 19 for 155 yards with a touchdown and a pick. He also helped NFA come back from two early deficits in the second quarter.

The Wildcats trailed 6-0 and were facing third-and-23 at midfield when Desilus threw a pass that ricocheted off teammate Andrew Cote.

Damien Bleau, who was behind Cote, caught the ball on the rebound for a 44-yard gain down to the Westies 6.

Xavier Marquez ran for a touchdown on the next play. The conversion attempt was no good.

Marquez ran 12 times for 72 yards.

West Haven went back ahead 13-6 with 3:02 left in the first half.

Two plays later, Desilus found Marquez wide open in the middle of the field for a 59-yard touchdown as NFA tied the game again.

“I’m proud of the way he stepped up,” Bakoulis said about Desilus. “He went in and played. He didn’t have excuses. He played every single rep as hard as he possibly could and, as a coach, (I’m) absolutely proud of him.”

The Blue Devils went ahead late in the third quarter. Kyle Rigsbee got behind the NFA defense on third-and-13 and took a deep pass from Andre Rentas 48 yards down to the Wildcats 11.

Jaden Grant ran for a touchdown on the next play to put West Haven ahead 20-13 with 1:57 left in the third.

Grant ran 21 times for 91 yards for the Blue Devils (2-3).

n.griffen@theday.com