Molly Keshin
Sports Editor
@mollykCourant
Senior quarterback Mike Collins broke the state record for touchdown passes in a single season as he lead the Rams to a rousing 51-27 defeat of Notre Dame-West Haven Monday night at Dunning Stadium.
The offensive charge for the Rams was led by senior receiver Kyle Smith. During the game, Kyle scored four touchdowns, with 16 catches for 222 yards. His effort, along with senior Peter Swindell, helped Mike Collins throw five touchdown passes to break the state record that was previously held at 51 TD passes in a season.
The Rams will meet North Haven in the CIAC Class L final on Saturday at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm.
Wherever they play, the Rams will have a chance to capture a title after falling to Darien 28-21 in the FCIAC Championship, while on the hunt for a third consecutive State Championship.
After their loss in the Turkey Bowl, the boys set their sights on winning the CIAC State Championship, a title they have held for the past two years. “After going 8-1 in the FCIAC with our one loss being to the Wave, who was the second seed in Class LL, we thought we would have a pretty good seeding in the Class L playoffs, but we got the six seed,” senior co-captain Cass Knox said. “This got us really riled up, so going into the first round of States we were angry and ready to redeem ourselves after the tough Thanksgiving loss.”
On Tuesday, December 1, the Rams did just that, as they shut down the previously undefeated Windsor Warriors in the Class L quarterfinals. Despite the cold and rainy weather and injuries to seniors Matt and Mike Cognetta, Mike Collins completed 16 of 28 passes, allowing the Rams to take a 21-6 victory. Senior Kyle Smith, along with junior Ryan O’Connell stepped into the Cognettas’ roles and accumulated a combined 125 yards on 15 carries. New Canaan was able to capitalize on several Warriors’ turnovers, when senior Andrew DeFranco intercepted a pass on Windsor’s opening drive of the game and junior James Freyre recovered a fumble in the second quarter.
By rolling over the Warriors and the Green Knights to reach the State Championship, the Rams got their shot at redemption from the Turkey Bowl, where the Darien Blue Wave claimed a 28-21 victory in a back-and-forth battle. On Thursday, November 26, the New Canaan Rams looked to “take back Thanksgiving” by of ending a four-year losing streak against arch rival Darien. They faced off in the 22nd annual Turkey Bowl, which was also the FCIAC Championship for the second consecutive year. Despite an early lead by New Canaan, the Blue Wave pulled ahead late in the fourth quarter and the Rams were not able to complete the comeback.
Things started off strong for New Canaan, as they shut down the Darien offense on their opening drive with a blocked punt by senior Thomas Williams. The Rams offense capitalized on this, as Mike Collins ran the ball in for a QB keeper touchdown with 9:30 left in the first quarter.
But in a game between two of the strongest offenses in the FCIAC, the Wave answered back immediately with their own touchdown. Darien quarterback Timmy Graham connected with receiver Hudson Hamill down the middle for the pass. With the game tied at 7 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter, both sides were in for a game of constant ups, downs, and comebacks. After a New Canaan fumble was recovered by Darien, the Wave pushed onwards with a strong drive, only to be shut down by junior Ryan O’Connell, who intercepted a pass in the end zone, which would have given Darien the lead, to end the first quarter.
Despite the strong effort of the Rams’ defense, Darien grabbed the lead just over four minutes into the second quarter. In the final minutes of the first half, New Canaan was faced with the same 7-point deficit, until Mike Collins’ pass to senior receiver Andrew Jahns tied the game at 14.
Going into halftime tied 14-14, the Rams head to the locker room ready to recover and get back out onto the field. Cass Knox feels that because the game was so close, the boys had to stick to their guns and play they game the best way they knew. “The mindset coming out of the first half was that it was a 0-0 game all over again,” Cass said. “We did a good job of staying calm and our defense and offense were both insane.”
The third quarter played out much like the second, as both teams went scoreless with short-lived offensive drives until Darien took a 21-14 lead with only 3:21 left in the quarter. Once again, the Rams were able to fight back and tie the game at 21 as Mike Collins handed the ball off to Andrew DeFranco, who walked the ball in from the Wave 1-yard line.
Going into the fourth quarter, key punts by Peter Swindell pushed Darien deep into their own territory, setting up the interception by senior co-captain Mike Cognetta with 10:54 left in the game, giving the Rams one of their last opportunities to get the lead. However, the Rams could not finish the drive as Peter Swindell hooked a 46-yard field goal attempt wide to the left.
As the clock wound down the final minutes of the Turkey Bowl and FCIAC Championship, Darien struck again with another touchdown pass from Timmy Graham to Hudson Hamill, putting them up 28-21. Despite the effort of the Rams, another fumble recovered by Darien with 1:08 remaining locked up the game for the Wave, as they would take the Turkey Bowl and FCIAC crown.
Because the game was an offensive battle, head coach Lou Marinelli feels that the turnovers are what hurt them in the end. “That’s how good teams do it, they capitalize on fumbles and turnovers,” Coach Marinelli said. “We did some stuff like that and we capitalized at certain points, but it’s really too bad because it was two very good teams. We just came up short.”
Because Darien has taken the Turkey Bowl every year since 2011, this year’s graduating class of seniors have never experienced a New Canaan victory on Thanksgiving. Since Darien moved up in to Class LL in States, the Rams will not have a shot at revenge like they have in the past two years. “Right after the game, we were stunned, not only because we lost but also the fact that we weren’t going to play against Darien anymore,” Kyle said. “It’s sad that our times playing against Darien are over, and I don’t regret one part of it, but this time, they didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves.”
While the team has moved on from the loss, defensive coordinator Chris Silvestri believes that there are several points that they can take from this game and use to their advantage in States. “We’re a big play defense, we gave up some big plays but we also created some big plays,” Coach Silvestri said. “The boys never gave up, and that’s really what we need moving forward, just that same competitive fire. It’s not about emotion, it’s about guts. Keeping it simple is better so that everybody’s not really thinking, they’re just doing it.”
