NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/new-canaan-6th-grade-red-football-shuts-out-westport-aspetuck-42773)
Gunnar Watson (#61), Jake Ellis (#66), Gustav Neubohn (#75) and Flynn Coffey (#71) gang up on Westport. Credit: Jen Gentner
Caden Bowling casts aside a Westport blocker. Credit: Jen Gentner
Bennett Corley (#25) evades Westport’s grasp keeping his eyes on the ball carrier. Credit: Jen Gentner
Sean Watchmaker with one of his team-high seven tackles of the game. Credit: Jen Gentner
6 Red gets ready to run onto the field with a symbol of remembrance. Credit: Jen Gentner
Dominic Rasso (#77) stops Aspetuck at the line of scrimmage. Credit: Jen Gentner
Zach Manna with a QB hurry. Credit: Jen Gentner
Reese Hanrattie (#49) takes down Aspetuck. Credit: Jen Gentner
Tommy Goetz with a blitz. Credit: Jen Gentner
You’d almost think Clayton Kershaw was pitching for them.
The New Canaan 6th Grade Red football team has played three games in 2016 and they have just as many shutouts blanking both Ridgefield and Westport 6-0, followed by a 20-0 whitewash of Aspetuck this past Sunday.
With the three wins Big Red is one of three undefeated teams in the FCFL 6th Grade Division, joining last year’s co-champs—the Wilton White and Wilton Blue teams—atop the league standings.
NEW CANAAN 6, WESTPORT 0
Big Red overcame six penalties and a stingy Westport defense en route to a 6-0 win over the Wreckers on Sunday, Sept. 11 at Dunning Field.
After getting big tackles from Sean “All Along the” Watchmaker, Declan “Doc” Ratner and George “The Market” Stewart to force a Westport three-and-out, Mack “The Knife” Seelert gave New Canaan all the offense they’d need on Big Red’s first play from scrimmage. The big back broke through a hole created by “Super” Cooper Dinan and Reese “Don’t Call Me Terry” Hanrattie and weaved 39 yards for a touchdown, giving New Canaan a 6-0 lead with 7:57 left in the first quarter.
Westport tried to answer on its ensuing drive, moving as close as the New Canaan 35-yard line on seven plays. A sack from Dominic “The Dominator” Rasso and huge tackles from Flynn “Mister” Coffey, Jake “The Snake” Ellis, Bennet “Canuck” Corley and Caden “Candlepin” Bowling stopped Westport in its tracks and forced a turnover on downs.
Westport’s defense stymied Big Red for the balance of the half, despite great blocks from Ned “Quoth the” Ravanesi and Alex “The Great” Capelo to open up passing lanes for Gio “Cache” Cascione, who completed seven of his 11 throws on the day, including four to wideout Trey “Spiderman” Hartnett.
Defense, however, was the name of game as New Canaan forced turnovers on consecutive Westport drives to start the second half. Gunnar “The Show” Watson and Watchmaker recovered fumbles to help preserve the precarious six-point lead.
Westport made things interesting in the waning minutes of the game, as a 12-play, 45-yard drive got them as close as the New Canaan 12-yard line. It was a bone-crunching sack by Seelert that ended the threat, and the game—a fitting bookend to a stellar day for New Canaan’s two-way star.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westport | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Canaan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
***
NEW CANAAN 20, ASPETUCK 0
The biggest challenge to New Canaan prior to Sunday’s contest against Aspetuck was figuring out where the heck Aspetuck was.
And after Big Red’s 20-0 win, that remained the biggest challenge.
New Canaan (3-0) was eventually able to find the field—and the end zone—as its offense finally showed up with a complete performance, picking up a total of 208 rushing yards and three touchdowns—one more than their combined total output the previous two games. Meanwhile Aspetuck (1-2), coming off a 31-7 win over Darien, was unable to get anything started against the New Canaan D.
Giovanni Cascione led the way with 76 yards on six carries and touchdown, along with Brendan “Don’t Call Me Tom” Hagan (3-62, TD), Trey Hartnett (2-37) and Mack Seelert (3-27, TD). New Canaan was content to abandon their air attack in favor of developing a ground attack behind the protection of linemen Charlie “Don’t Call Me George” Harrison, Teddy “Bear” Rosen and Zach “I am the” Manna.
New Canaan’s defense set the tone early as hits from Tommy “Whatever He Wants He” Goetz and “Flyin’” Ryan Calyanis forced an Aspetuck three-and-out.
It was déjà vu all over again for New Canaan, as for the second consecutive week, Big Red hit paydirt on their first offensive play from scrimmage. Cascione raced virtually untouched for 58 yards for a touchdown, giving New Canaan an 8-0 lead with 9:19 left in the opening quarter.
After another defensive stop, New Canaan took over at its own 43. Three plays later, Hagan took a hand-off, bounced it outside and outran the Aspetuck defense up the left sideline for an electrifying 24-yard score, extending the Big Red lead to 14-0 with 4:41 to go in the first.
Neither team was able to break through in the second quarter, as both defenses controlled the game to the intermission.
New Canaan struck again with a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive to open the second half. Behind a tremendous push from O-linemen Teddy “Bear” Rosen, Ned Ravanesi and Reese Hanrattie, Seelert capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown dive. Despite a great catch from Charlie “Double-C” Chisholm, New Canaan was unable to get the two-point conversion, but still maintained a 20-0 lead.
New Canaan’s defense would not relent, as tackles by Hanrattie, Gustav “Flaubert” Neubohn and Cooper Dinan prevented Aspetuck from gaining any significant yardage or momentum. An interception by Hagan ended what turned out to be the best Aspetuck drive of the game, giving Big Red possession at its own 7. From there New Canaan’s offense burned off the clock with several nice runs from “Shiftin’” Griffin Gentner and Richie “Don’t Call Me John” Whitcomb.
One final Aspetuck possession was shut down, as New Canaan’s swarming defense played tough until the final gun had sounded. Cascione put the exclamation point on a great day with a game-ending sack, giving New Canaan the win and a share of first place.
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Aspetuck | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
