Charles Milot

Turkey Bowl: New Canaanites Gather for Beloved Annual Tradition as Rams Beat Down Blue Wave 27-0

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[Editor’s Note: This article has been updated by removing the name of at least one arrested teen whose charges were dismissed.]

For generations of Americans, Thanksgiving Day and football are synonymous. And for New Canaanites, the football appetite is fed each year when the New Canaan High School Rams football team is pitted against their arch rival, the Darien Blue Wave in the Turkey Bowl. Thousands of New Canaanites traveled to Stamford’s Boyle Stadium on Thursday as part of the local holiday ritual—students, teachers and faculty, alumni, parents and residents. Among them was James Freyre, a 2017 NCHS graduate, and linebacker of two state championship Ram football squads, who said he was eager to come back and enjoy his first game as an alumnus. “It’s definitely a little less stressful to be a fan than a player,” Freyre told NewCanaanite.com while standing on the sidelines on a sunny, mildly chilly day.

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Three Darien Teens Arrested after Assault in New Canaan; Trio Includes At Least Two DHS Football Players

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[Editor’s Note: This article has been updated by removing the name of at least one arrested teen whose charges were dismissed.]

Police on Wednesday evening arrested three Darien teenagers by warrant following the assault of a juvenile earlier this month in New Canaan. Brian Minicus, 18, was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree unlawful restraint; [an arrested teen], 18, was charged with disorderly conduct and interfering with an officer; and a 17-year-old was charged with conspiracy to commit third-degree assault and second-degree unlawful restraint. Police withheld the name of the third offender because of his age. [An arrested teen] and Minicus play as quarterback and wide receiver, respectively, for the Darien High School football team, and their arrests come on the eve of the Turkey Bowl. It isn’t clear whether or how the arrests will affect whether they’re permitted to play in the annual Darien-New Canaan rival football game that’s held each Thanksgiving morning, or whether the third teen arrested also is on the Blue Wave roster.

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NCHS: Turkey Bowl Tickets Now Available for Purchase Online

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Tickets to this year’s Turkey Bowl may be purchased online in advance of the football game, and paper tickets also will be sold on Thanksgiving morning at Boyle Stadium in Stamford, officials say. Those who wish to purchase their $10 tickets in advance may do so here, according to New Canaan High School Athletic Director Jay Egan. Children 5-and-under will be admitted for free. “There will be no paper tickets sold in the Athletics Office,” Egan said in an email to local media outlets. The online purchase option is being presented by Darien High School as the “home” team this year.

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District: New Canaan-Darien ‘Turkey Bowl’ Football Game To Be Held at Boyle Stadium in Stamford

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District officials said Tuesday that the “Turkey Bowl”—the annual Thanksgiving Day football game between New Canaan and rival Darien—will be held at Boyle Stadium in Stamford this year and next. The 10,000-capacity stadium “is the ideal venue for this traditional rivalry game between the schools, and we are thrilled that our student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete in this exciting environment,” according to a press release issued by New Canaan Public Schools Director of Communications Mike Horyczun. “Neither school district’s stadium has such a large capacity, which has resulted in many community members from both towns being turned away from attending the event in the past,” it said. “After much conversation and collaboration between the schools, the decision was made to provide virtually unlimited seating for this exciting rivalry, which allows for alumni, extended families, community members, and football fans region-wide to attend the game.”

The Darien High School team is 5-0 so far this season, perched atop the FCIAC East, while New Canaan fell to 3-2 following a loss last weekend at the hands of the Greenwich Cardinals. Details have not yet been released about purchasing tickets in advance of the game.