NewCanaanite.com (https://newcanaanite.com/tag/zach-allen/page/4)
All season long, the New Canaan Rams have been fighting for respect. After an opening day win over Hand, naysayers said the Tigers were down. After a homecoming win over Greenwich, detractors said the Cardinals were banged up. After last week’s demolition of Staples, we heard how the Wreckers were overrated. After the way they played on Saturday against St.
The big question for the New Canaan Rams heading into Friday night’s matchup against Staples was how would they come out of the gate after a bye week. It was a question that took all of two minutes to answer. First, senior co-captain Zach Allen recovered a Staples fumble at midfield on the fourth play of the game. Then–on New Canaan’s first offensive play from scrimmage–junior quarterback Mike Collins hit classmate Matt Cognetta on a 48-yard bomb, setting up a 1-yard Frank Cognetta touchdown. Before most fans had settled into the Dunning Field stands, the Rams had a 6-0 lead, well on their way to a 35-2 shellacking of the Wreckers.
After a penalty-laden win over Warde, the focus at practice this past week for the New Canaan Rams was to play a cleaner, more disciplined brand of football for their Friday night game against 3-1 Danbury. Mission accomplished. Led by an all-around star turn from senior co-captain Alex LaPolice (three TDs—two rushing, one receiving) and a solid overall defensive performance coupled with great special teams play, the Rams dominated the Hatters—all while drawing just four flags on their way to a 42-14 road win at Danbury High School. “We just wanted to maintain control, and I think we did that,” Marinelli told NewCanaanite.com. “Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes of the past and move on.”
There weren’t many gaffes for the Rams this week as they played perhaps their most complete overall game of the season.
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.
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.