News

FCIAC Final vs. Darien Looms as New Canaan Football Finishes Unbeaten Regular Season with 47-16 Win vs. Trinity

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Though his team’s 47-16 win over the Trinity Catholic Crusaders on Saturday capped an undefeated regular season, the first thing New Canaan Football head coach Lou Marinelli said afterwards was that the final score belied a mistake-laden effort that the Rams must address before taking to the gridiron for the FCIAC final and states. The second thing he said was that Trinity head coach Don Panapada and his players—notably standout seniors Randy Polonia and Thomas Costigan, a captain, both of whom Marinelli said gave him “agita” all game—“made a tremendous effort and really played their hearts out.”

“I have all respect for Donnie and these kids—just a heartfelt, tremendous job by them,” Marinelli said. The Rams overcame an early deficit and five penalties for 47 yards, including a fourth-down off-sides call at the end of the first quarter, up just 14-7 at the time, that gave new life to a gutsy Crusaders team led by quarterback Anthony Lombardi, in perhaps the best QB performance against New Canaan all season. New Canaan also would fumble three times in the game—including once at Trinity’s 1-yard-line, with about one minute left in the first half, and just a 21-10 edge at the time. Yet another tremendous game from senior co-captain Alex LaPolice (three touchdowns, two interceptions), huge contributions from senior Michael Kraus (two touchdowns, interception) and a 13-23, 350-yard performance from QB Mike Collins—protected by an offensive line led by senior co-captain Jim Keneally—proved too much for Trinity to overcome.

Sports

‘We’re On That Mission’: New Canaan Football Dominates Wilton

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Alex LaPolice had a game most football players can only dream about Friday night against Wilton. What made it even more special was that he did most of his damage in just one quarter. New Canaan’s senior co-captain took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and added two more touchdowns on receptions as the Rams dominated the Warriors in every facet of the game en route to a 47-7 win at Dunning Field. “He makes things happen and he makes me look smart,” New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli said of the Harvard-bound LaPolice. “He’s done a great job all year.

News

NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week: Isabel Taben and Frank Cognetta

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The NewCanaanite.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. Congratulations to Frank Cognetta and Isabel Taben, the NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week. At the start of the season, Frank Cognetta didn’t know exactly when he’d be back on the football field, as a broken foot was expected to have the senior co-captain sidelined until at least mid-October. The healing process went better than expected and Cognetta made his much-anticipated debut Homecoming weekend in limited action against Greenwich. One week later Cognetta scored three touchdowns in a 35-14 win at Warde, and this past week he capped off his comeback with a 30 carry, 200-yard performance against St.

News

New Canaan Football Makes Statement With Big Win Over St. Joe’s

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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.

News

New Canaan Football Wrecks Staples, Improves to 6-0

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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.