News

Flag Day: New Canaan Overcomes Penalties, Warde for Football Program’s 500th Win

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In a game where the officials threw more flags than New Canaan quarterback Mike Collins threw passes, the Rams defeated the Fairfield Warde Mustangs 35-14 at Tetreau-Davis Field. The Rams were called for an eye-popping 19 penalties for 186 yards, including several personal fouls – two of which led to a New Canaan assistant coach’s ejection from the game. The penalties almost overshadowed some impressive individual performances in New Canaan’s win, the 500th in the football program’s rich history. Senior co-captain Frank Cognetta– in his second game back from a foot injury – scored three touchdowns while younger brother Matt had the other two New Canaan scores as the Rams improved to 4-0 on the season. Warde fell to 2-2 with the loss.

News

Mr. 300: New Canaan Beats Greenwich for Marinelli’s Milestone Win

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On picture perfect day in front of a packed Homecoming crowd, the New Canaan Rams not only bested rival Greenwich on the gridiron—head coach Lou Marinelli also notched a milestone win in one of the most illustrious careers in New Canaan sports history. Kyle Smith caught five passes for 122 yards and a touchdown and also had an interception that set up New Canaan’s first score, as the Rams defeated Greenwich 35-20 Saturday afternoon at Dunning Field. The win was the 300th career victory for Marinelli, who saw his team improve to 3-0 on the season. “I’ve been looking forward to playing for coach since third grade,” Smith told NewCanaanite.com. “It’s all I wanted to do.

News

New Canaan Football Tames Lions

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Last week it was the Tigers, this week it was the Lions. Too bad the Norwalk Bears aren’t on New Canaan’s schedule. New Canaan’s stifling defense coupled with a quick-strike offense was simply too much for Bassick High School as they overwhelmed the Lions 43-6 in front of a packed house at Dunning Field. And while the win may have lacked the drama of last week’s nail biting win over Hand, it was a satisfying one for Rams head coach Lou Marinelli. “Our kids came out early and took care of business early,” Marinelli told NewCanaanite.com.

Around Town

New Canaan’s Zach Allen Sets NCHS Career Sack Record

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It was inevitable that it would happen. No one could have guessed it would happen this soon. Coming into this season tied with Connor Buck for the all-time NCHS record for career sacks at 19.5, senior co-captain Zach Allen wasted little time separating himself from his former teammate. In Friday’s season opener against Daniel Hand, on the second defensive series of the 2014 season, Allen exploded off the right side of the line and quickly closed in on Tigers quarterback Nick Van Dell, who was moving to his right. Before Van Dell could get rid of the ball, Allen had him in his clutches and quickly spun him 365-degrees to the Strong Field turf.

Sports

New Canaan Edges Hand in Football Opener

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It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t easy. But when the smoke cleared, the only thing that mattered to the New Canaan Rams was the final score. In a game filled with mistakes and missed opportunities on offense, the Rams did their best Houdini impression and escaped Strong Field at the Surf Club in Madison with a 21-14 win over the Daniel Hand Tigers in the 2014 season opener. The Rams defense – which was a big question mark coming into this game after being decimated by graduation – stepped up when it was needed the most, twice stopping Hand drives deep inside New Canaan territory with the game on the line in the second half. “I think they did a hell of a job for being new and undersized and for Chris Silvestri just taking over as the defensive coordinator,” New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli told NewCanaanite.com.