NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/its-payback-new-canaan-4th-grade-black-wins-fcfl-championship-17377)
NC moms made posters for all the players. Credit: Jen Gentner
Griffin Gentner picks up a block. Credit: Diane Rasso
Henry Garrity scores the first NC TD of the day. Credit: Diane Rasso
Tucker Milligan with a big tackle. Credit: Diane Rasso
Eoin Mueller with a long TD. Credit: Diane Rasso
Petey Ciezko goes airborne to try and break up a pass. Credit: Diane Rasso
Colin Perkins, Eoin Mueller, Dominic Rasso and Devon Christian take the coin flip. Credit: Jen Gentner
Eoin Mueller on the loose. Credit: Jen Gentner
Mueller boots home a PAT. Credit: Jen Gentner
NC's Tucker Milligan. Credit: Jen Gentner
The O-Line did a great job all day. Credit: Jen Gentner
Brendan Hagan with an INT. Credit: Jen Gentner
Mueller breaks free of Jackson Duncan's tackle. Credit: Jen Gentner
Ty Groff leads the charge! Credit: Jen Gentner
Milligan with a big hit. Credit: Jen Gentner
The Line. Credit: Jen Gentner
Will Larson and Eoin Mueller combine on a hit. Credit: Jen Gentner
Champions! Credit: Jen Gentner
The final score. Credit: Diane Rasso
The thrill of victory. Credit: Jen Gentner
It had to come to this. It had to come full circle.
The New Canaan 4th grade Black team started the year with a tough opening day loss to the Wilton White 4’s at Fujitani Field back in September. Two months later, the two teams squared off again, this time with the FCFL Championship on the line.
The second time around, the results would be different.
New Canaan scored 22 unanswered points and completely dominated Wilton on offense, defense and special teams en route to a 22-6 win. This was the second consecutive FCFL title for New Canaan head coach Jason Milligan.
“It feels awesome,” Milligan told NewCanaanite.com. “I’m so proud of these boys, they should be proud of themselves. It’s an honor to coach these guys.”
The win was the 10th in a row for New Canaan, who never lost after that first game.
The team. Credit: Jen Gentner
“It’s payback,” said New Canaan running back Eoin Mueller, who scored two touchdowns, converted two of three extra points, and made 14 tackles on defense with a fumble recovery in the championship game. “We came here and we lost in the first game of the season, and we worked for two months and came back here and won.”
Fans entering “The Fuj” knew the game would feature a contrast of styles, as New Canaan’s up-tempo, explosive offensive which had scored a league-high 249 points coming into the game was countered by Wilton’s #1-ranked shut-down defense, having only surrendered 49 points the entire season. Wilton was riding especially high, considering they had not allowed a single point in their two playoff wins.
This high was sustained on the first series of the game. New Canaan was unable to get a first down on four tries and turned the ball over on downs, giving Wilton excellent field position at the NC 29-yard line. Four plays later, Wilton’s Ryan Preisano took a handoff 22 yards around the left sideline for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 6:45 left in the 1st quarter.
“It’s not the way we drew it up or expected it,” Milligan said. “But we didn’t have much time to think about it to be honest.”
Henry Garrity scores the first NC TD of the day. Credit: Diane Rasso
On the first play of the ensuing possession, quarterback Ty Groff hit Henry Garrity on a quick screen. Garrity got a great block from Brendan Hagan and outraced the Wilton secondary for a 60-yard TD.
“It’s called ‘Split Z left screen left,’” Garrity said. “I look over to Ty, he passes to me and after that I just tried to do it on my own. When I got to the end zone, I felt awesome.”
Mueller added the two-point conversion kick and New Canaan had an 8-6 lead with 6:28 to go in the quarter.
The teams traded punts as both defenses stiffened with the game moved toward halftime. Strong tackles by Will Larson, Tucker Milligan, Beck Beatman and Petey Cieszko held Wilton in check as both teams looked for a game-changing turning point that would sway the outcome of the game.
With just over three minutes left in the half, New Canaan found it.
Brendan Hagan with an INT. Credit: Jen Gentner
On third-and-9 from the Wilton 26, a monstrous pass rush led by A.J. Bell, Dom “The Dominator” Rasso and Ben Bo forced Wilton QB George Hahn to loft a wobbly pass toward Tommy McKiernan. The ball instead found its way into the waiting arms of Brendan Hagan who took the interception down to the Wilton 6-yard line.
“I just saw the ball come out of the quarterback’s hands,” Hagan said. “The ball was thrown out of its place and it came right to me. I thought I had a chance at it so I took it.”
Four plays later Mueller punched it in from 1 yard out behind a huge hole opened up by Cooper Dinan and Holden Busby, and New Canaan extended its lead to 14-6 with 2:01 left in the half.
Will Larson and Eoin Mueller combine on a hit. Credit: Jen Gentner
Wilton came out of the intermission with a long, sustained drive that looked like it might swing the momentum of the game back in its direction. Moving 45 yards in 13 plays, the drive finally stalled at the New Canaan 15, as tackles from Larson, Milligan and Devon Christian forced a turnover on downs.
On the first play from scrimmage, Mueller struck again. Taking a direct snap from center Colin Perkins around the left side, Mueller picked up key blocks from Jack Hladick, Reese Hanrattie and Christian and sprinted 65-yards down the sideline for a touchdown. After converting the two-point kick, New Canaan led 22-6 with 3:39 left in the 3rd quarter.
Eoin Mueller with a long TD. Credit: Diane Rasso
“I was thinking about getting in the end zone,” Mueller said. “I was looking for number 75 (Jackson Duncan). He’s a really good player, but everyone was blocking their man. It was just great.”
With a two-score lead, New Canaan was content to eat up yardage – and the clock – on the ground. Jason Pastushan and Matthew Cutler sealed the edges of the line with excellent blocks as Mueller and Garrity handled the bulk of the ball carrying.
Meanwhile New Canaan’s defense continued to thwart Wilton from getting close to the end zone as Griffin Gentner, Mueller and Garrity controlled the flat with Jeremiah Brayboy and Flynn Coffey getting a significant push and constant pressure from the line of scrimmage.
As the fourth quarter began ticking down to its final moments, a Garrity strip of Hahn was recovered by Mueller – sealing the 22-6 win and providing a fitting coda to a virtually flawless game.
Champions! Credit: Jen Gentner
“It feels great,” Mueller said. “I’m so proud of all the people on my team. We worked so hard, and to do it here–against this team–feels especially good.”
It had to come to this. It had to come full circle.
And when the circle closed, the New Canaan 4th grade Black team had a championship.
 | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | 8 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 22 |
| Wilton | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
