Doug Reilly
Senior Editor
The story of the day was not the missing Darien players that may have changed the outcome of the game, but the complete team effort by Rams that overwhelmed both the Blue Wave defense and offense. After 35 unanswered points in the second and third quarters, the Rams knocked Darien out of State playoff contention and earned a berth as the fifth seed in the Class L playoffs with a dominating 42-21 performance.
Senior captain quaterback Matt Milano led the Rams’ aerial assault on the the Blue Wave defense, throwing for 278 yards and four touchdowns, while going 19-36 in the air with just one interception, also including a 25-yard touchdown run of his own in the third quarter. Milano earned the Jack Dempsey Memorial MVP award and also broke another NCHS record, passing Kurt Horton’s record for career passing yards of 5,515, setting the new mark at 5,716. Milano holds the career records in TD passes, attempts and completions, and now career passing yards, a mark that stood for nearly 40 years. “Those records are certainly nice to have,” he said. “But I’d trade them all away for a state championship.”
On this day, however, it wasn’t all about the offense. The Rams’ defense held the Blue Wave to just 34 rushing yards, while intercepting junior quarterback Henry Baldwin five times on the afternoon. Senior Jared Meichner’s two picks in the redzone and interceptions by senior captain Kevin McDonough, senior Patrick Burke, and junior Casey Ouellette led the dominating defensive effort for the Rams.
The Rams had 535 yards of total offense, nearly doubling Darien’s 285, with 254 on the ground and 281 passing. Senior captains Bobby Distler and McDonough led the way on the ground, and senior Connor Kilbane accounted for a team-high six receptions for 88 yards on the afternoon. Seniors Peter Kraus and Patrick Newton both added two receiving touchdowns.
New Canaan opened the scoring just three minutes into the game with a 10-yard pass from Milano to Newton, capping a nine-play 67 yard drive, with senior Colin Shapiro kicking the first of his six PATs. The Blue Wave answered with a solid drive of their own, before Jared Meichner intercepted Baldwin on the Rams’ 13 yard line.
Darien got on the board early in the second quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Harlan Smith from Baldwin, knotting the score at 7-7. But the Rams would answer quickly, as Milano hit Peter Kraus across the middle and Kraus broke through the defense for a 68-yard touchdown, giving the Rams the lead for good, at 14-7. “It took us a little while to figure out what the best approach was,” Milano said. “But by about the end of the first quarter we were able to have a hold on what they were trying to do and after that it was just a matter of executing.”
The Rams’ defense forced a Darien punt, and the Rams put together a 12-play, 70 yard drive, converting four third downs on the drive, before Milano hit Newton for 25 yard and a touchdown. The scoreboard read 21-7 New Canaan heading into halftime.
To start the second quarter, Darien missed on two field goal attempts. The Rams’ nearly unstoppable offense took advantage with a 75-yard drive, with McDonough plowed his way through the Blue Wave defensive line for a one-yard touchdown run, and the rout was on, 28-7 Rams.
Patrick Burke’s interception on the following possession gave the Rams the ball back in Darien territory, and Milano took it himself for a 25 yard touchdown run. On the first play of the next Wave possession, McDonough came down with an interception of his own, setting up a 10-yard touchdown from Milano to Kraus, giving the Rams a 42-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Darien added two late fourth quarter touchdowns to make the score a little more respectable, with passes from Baldwin to junior standout Peter Gesualdi for 56 yards and 15 yard to Harlan Smith.
With the loss, Darien was eliminated from CIAC Class L playoff contention, as they fell to 8-2 on the season. The victory for the Rams, however, clinched a berth in states, setting up a first round matchup this Tuesday night, November 29th at 4th seeded New London at 6:30pm. The 42-21 win marked the ninth straight victory over Darien, continuing a decade of dominance for the Rams in which they’ve posted a record of 10-0-1 since 2001. “It’s huge. To beat them, senior year, in front of a huge crowd like that is a really special experience,” Milano said.
Photos by Kelly Saiz
