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.
Matt (#5) and Frank Cognetta (#4). Credit: Terry Dinan
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.
“The positive I take out of this is that every time they were being moved back, they kept fighting,” New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli told NewCanaanite.com. “They didn’t lose their poise, and I take away from this that we have something special.”
Michael Kraus sets up a Rams score with an INT. Credit: Terry Dinan
In what is becoming a 2014 trademark, the Rams – only five days removed from their Homecoming win over Greenwich – had yet another strong start. On the game’s opening defensive series, senior cornerback Michael Kraus picked off Warde quarterback Brandon Bisack at midfield and returned it to the Mustangs 4-yard line. One play later Frank Cognetta powered his way into the end zone on a direct snap for a 7-0 Rams lead with 10:35 left in the opening quarter.
After trading punts with Warde on four successive possessions, New Canaan broke through again as Frank Cognetta’s 6-yard touchdown run capped off a 5-play, 44-yard drive. Although the extra point bounced off the right upright, the Rams had a 13-0 lead that held through the end of the first quarter.
“The run game was jelling all night,” Cognetta said. “We just went with what worked and line was just blowing huge holes for me to run through so I just did the easy part.”
New Canaan works out of its own end zone. Credit: Terry Dinan
Warde opened up the second quarter with a long drive–aided by two Rams personal foul penalties–where they were set up with a first-and-goal at the Rams 3-yard line. They were however unable to punch it in from there, as the New Canaan defense made a strong goal line stand, forcing a turnover on downs at the 1-yard line.
The Rams then mounted their most impressive offensive drive of the season. Runs by Frank Cognetta and fellow co-captain Alex LaPolice gave New Canaan some breathing room as they moved out from the shadow of their own goalpost. Interspersing runs from Matt Cognetta with receptions from junior wideout Kyle Smith, New Canaan moved quickly to the Warde 27-yard line. Matt Cognetta then weaved in and out of would-be tackles for a sensational 27-yard touchdown run, capping off the 13-play, 99-yard drive. A Collins-to-Zach Allen fade pass resulted in a two-point conversion and a 21-0 Rams lead with 3:52 left in the half.
Warde answered with a scoring drive of its own on the following possession, as Bisack found Joey Potenza for a 5-yard TD, pulling the Mustangs to within 21-7 with 42 seconds left in the half.
The Rams offensive line, led by co-captain Jim Keneally. Credit: Terry Dinan
The Rams were able to utilize a Warde penalty on the ensuing kickoff to their advantage, starting their next drive at the Mustangs 48. Collins hit LaPolice with a 20-yard strike, followed by an 18-yard run from Frank Cognetta. Collins then found Matt Cognetta on a swing pass that resulted in the junior running back’s second TD of the night and a 28-7 halftime lead for the Rams.
Warde was able to convert two fourth downs on their way to a touchdown on its first offensive possession of the second half. Bisack’s scoring strike to Ryan Brown cut the Rams lead to 28-14 with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
Lots of penalties on the Rams in their win. Credit: Terry Dinan
New Canaan then drove to the Warde 3-yard line, when on third-and-1, Rams running back Teagan Saitta was stopped short of the first down. New Canaan offensive coordinator called out to the game officials that some Warde Mustangs had not made it to the sidelines by the time the ball was snapped. A personal foul penalty was then assessed to Marinelli – his second such penalty of the game – resulting in his ejection.
Things seemed to go from bad to worse for New Canaan when Peter Swindell’s 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide. With momentum shifting toward the Mustangs favor as the game moved into the fourth quarter, Warde drove to the New Canaan 14-yard line – seemingly destined for a score that could have cut the Rams lead to one possession.
Enter Zach Allen.
The Northwestern-bound senior co-captain seems to always have a penchant for coming up big in the game’s biggest moments, and Thursday night was no exception.
Credit: Terry Dinan
Dropping back to cover Warde receiver Aubrey Raha, Allen made a great read on the ball and used every inch of his 6’6” frame to pick the pass off at the 10-yard line. Allen returned the interception down the right sideline and seemingly into the end zone. The referee’s initial touchdown signal was reversed and the ball was instead placed on the Mustangs 2.
“Wow, (Allen) really turned it around with that,” Marinelli said. “It’s too bad they didn’t give him a touchdown, but with the way tonight went I’m sure they weren’t going to do it. He’s a great player and he shows it every week.”
“That just comes from our coaching,” Allen said. “They put us in the right position to make the plays, and all the credit goes to them. They told me to read number 3 (Raha), and I saw he was doing a stick-slash/slant and I was able to just jump in front.”
On the next play Frank Cognetta ran in for his third touchdown of the game, and the Rams had a 35-14 lead with 11:18 left in the game.
Two possessions later, Kraus’ second interception of the contest put the exclamation point on a hard-fought win for the Rams.
“On one hand, you’re really proud of everybody for battling through,” Allen said. “On the other hand, we shouldn’t have had that many penalties and that’s just something we are going to really have to correct.”
New Canaan vs. St. Joe's - Nov. 1, 2014 at Trumbull, CT
 The Rams take the field. Credit: Terry Dinan | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Canaan | 7 | 21 | 0 | 13 | 41 |
| St. Joe's | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
*NC – Frank Cognetta 11-yd. run (Swindell kick)
*NC – Alex LaPolice 1-yd. run (Swindell kick)
*NC – Mike Collins 34-yd. pass to Kyle Smith (Swindell kick)
*NC – LaPolice 8-yd. pass to Zach Allen (Swindell kick)
*SJ – Lars Pederson 15-yd. pass to Pat Battista (2-pt. conversion good)
*SJ – Pederson 18-yd. run (conversion failed)
*NC – Collins 46-yd. pass to Smith (conversion failed)
*NC – Frank Cognetta 31-yd. run (Swindell kick)
Key NC stats:
* Passing yards: NC - 210, SJ - 1
* First downs: NC - 16, SJ - 7
* Mike Collins: 10-20, 202 yards, 2 TD passing, 1 INT
* Alex LaPolice: 6-14, 1 TD rushing, 1-16 receiving, 2-22 punt returns, 1-1, 8 yards, 1 TD passing
* Kyle Smith: 3-90 receiving, 2 TD's
* Zach Allen: 11 tackles (3 for loss), 2 sacks, 2-23 receiving, 1 TD
* Sterling O'Hara: INT returned 84 yards, 4 tackles
* Frank Cognetta, 35-200 rushing, 2 TD's
* Cognetta moves past NC great Lem James for 7th place all-time career rushing in school history (1,992 yds. and counting)
(l-r) Zach Allen, Frank Cognetta, Alex LaPolice and Jim Keneally are the 2014 Rams co-captains. Credit: Terry Dinan
Cognetta scores on a direct snap. Credit: Terry Dinan
Ryan O’Connell (#31) and Kyle Crowley (#63) cover a punt. Credit: Terry Dinan
Frank Cognetta is congratulated by Lucas Niang (#74). Credit: Terry Dinan
Credit: Terry Dinan
The Rams defense overloads the line. Credit: Terry Dinan