By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
WESTPORT, Conn. – Football games between the New Canaan Rams and Staples Wreckers always come with their own unique brand of emotions.
For New Canaan, emotions were on the surface more so than usual this time around as the team received word that former quarterback and captain Tom Mazzella had died of cancer late last week at the age of 38.
Mazzella, a three-year starter with the team in the late 1980s, was honored by the Rams, who wore stickers indicating Mazzella’s No. 20 and the United States Marine Corps on their helmets. Mazzella was a Lieutenant Colonel in the USMC when he died.
And if you ask the Rams, there was the feeling that Mazzella was with them again on the field Saturday.
“No. 20 definitely was with us today,” senior tri-captain Chris Sciarretta said. “If you don’t believe in angels, you’re nuts because he was definitely with us today.”
New Canaan and Staples staged another tooth-and-nail battle in a key FCIAC contest, as the Rams edged out a 21-20 victory to remain undefeated at 7-0.
The outcome was in doubt until the final minutes, as the Wreckers rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game in the third quarter. After the Rams went up by seven following a 90-yard scoring drive, Staples (5-2) came back with a touchdown to make it a 21-20 score with 1:34 on the clock.
But kicker Kevin Clark’s PAT hung up in the wind and floated just wide to the left as New Canaan maintained the narrow lead.
Using all of its timeouts and a big stop near midfield by the defense, Staples managed to get the ball back with one minute to play, but Brandon Pacilio’s pass downfield was intercepted by Frank Granito at the 14-yard line to end the game.
The victory not only put the Rams in prime position for one of the two spots in the FCIAC final, it helped put to rest some bad memories from last year’s double overtime loss to Staples at Dunning Field.
“It’s really surreal right now,” Granito said. “We all remember what happened last year and we came in with revenge on our minds. It feels great just to get that done and taken care of.”
“I almost had a heart attack out there,” Sciarretta laughed. “Last year was one of the toughest losses I’ve ever had in my football life. Double overtime and it was terrible. That was in our mind.”
While the Rams remain tied atop the league standings with Darien (7-0 overall, 6-0 FCIAC), the Wreckers are likely out of the conference title hunt with a 3-2 league record and a 4-2 overall mark.
New Canaan held a slight advantage in yardage on Saturday with 317 to the Wreckers’ 252 and opened up a two touchdown lead in the first half.
Quarterback Nate Quinn completed 20-of-32 passes for 213 yards and a TD with one interception, while also rushing 14 times for 76 yards and a TD.
Senior tri-captain and receiver Kurt Ondash had eight receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Sean Simmons had six catches for 55 yards and also scored a rushing touchdown. Cody Newton caught three passes for 36 yards.
For Staples, Tae Dangerfield ran 12 times for 60 yards and a TD, and Pacilio ran 15 times for 57 yards. Pacilio also completed 4-of-9 passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. He was picked off twice, both times by Granito.
After both teams fumbled on their first possessions, New Canaan’s defense forced a punt and when the kick got hung up in a strong wind, the Rams had the ball with a short field at the Wreckers’ 31-yard line.
Quinn hit Ondash for a quick 12 yards and scored two plays later on a 15-yard run. Ondash kicked the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 4:16 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Rams used a six-play, 60-yard drive to score again. The final blow was struck when Quinn connected with Ondash on the right side, and Ondash broke through several tacklers for a 13-yard touchdown.
With the Rams leading 14-0, the wind again became a factor on a punt, giving Staples the ball at the New Canaan 39. The Wreckers eventually hit paydirt on a 2-yard run by Dangerfield to get back in the game at 14-7.
After forcing New Canaan to punt after a three-and-out to open the second half, the Wreckers knotted the game on 60-yard drive. Jacob Levi did the damage this time, catching a 16-yard pass from Pacilio. Clark’s PAT made it 14-14 with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter.
“We’re a good, composed team and we were really just thinking what do we need to do now to get back on pace,” Granito said. “They made it tough and they capitalized, but it was big for us to be able to stand the way we did.”
An interception by Robert Toole at the Rams’ 16 put the Wreckers in prime position to take the lead. But the defense, led by ends Nick DiRubio and Evan Otis, linemen Wynne Holden, Nick Lemoine and Eduardo Padilla, linebackers Sciaretta and Brandon Leeming, and the secondary of Granito, Ondash, Simmons and Chris Millisits, came up with its biggest stop of the season.
After Dangerfield was stopped for no gain on first down, Pacilio picked up two yards on the next play and Toole gained three to bring up a fourth-and-5 at the 10. New Canaan stopped the Wreckers cold on the next play, even coming up with a fumble at the 10, to keep the score tied.
“Our defensive coach, Joe Ditolla, is the most amazing guy and he always calls the right plays,” Sciarretta said. “We knew this was it and we just had to buckle down and go all-out.”
“We take a lot of pride in our defense and our big thing the past few weeks has been getting weird and having a lot of fun with it,” Granito said. “Those are the kind of situations we live for. I can’t even tell you how much time we put into the goal line situational things. We take pride in that and we’re very proud about how we did today.”
The offense responded with its own huge moment, turning the tables on Staples and driving 90 yards on 11 plays over the next 4:46.
During the drive, Quinn hit Ondash for 26 yards to put the ball in Wrecker territory and Simmons had a 3-yard run to the Staples 36 on a fourth-and-one play.
After three consecutive passes to Ondash put the ball at the Staples two, Simmons carried it in for a 2-yard score with 4:56 remaining. Ondash’s third PAT of the game made it 21-14 and would eventually prove to be the difference in the scoring.
A long Staples drive ended with a 29-yard run by Tyler Healy with 1:34 remaining, but the kick was missed to leave New Canaan ahead.
The Wreckers had their final shot at a comeback dashed when Granito picked off Pacilio’s pass intended for Andrew Sawch at the Rams’ 14-yard line.
“We’ve watched that same route all week,” Granito said. “They put one receiver to one side and dragged him across and try to hit him there. We knew that was coming. I was aware that the back two side posts were coming and I just sort of sat there and the quarterback put it up. Our motto is once that ball’s in the air, it’s ours.
“I guess you could say I was in the right place at the right time.”
With a big test out of the way, the Rams will finish up a six-game road stretch with a game against Bassick at Bridgeport’s Kennedy Stadium on Friday, and a contest at Trinity Catholic in Stamford on Nov. 8.
The FCIAC final and the State playoffs are beginning to creep into sight, but the task now is to stay focused on the next week.
“It’s just one game at a time,” Sciarretta said. “We hung in there and now, it’s just one game at a time and practice hard. The captains are trying to keep everybody focused on the next games. We don’t want anyone to look too far ahead.”
St. Joe’s Regional Too Much for Greenwich
The Greenwich Cardinals have been ready and willing to square off against some top-flight competition the last few years. Last fall, the Cards traveled to Florida and represented Connecticut well against Naples.
Last Friday at GHS, St. Joseph Regional steamrolled into town and routed Greenwich, 47-7, in a game which likely knocked the Cardinals (4-3) out of the Class LL playoff picture. The deficit was the worst in head coach Rich Albonizio’s 12 years with Greenwich.
The Green Knights, who sport a 6-0 record and are ranked No. 2 in the tri-state area, scored on their first possession, when Kevin Adams ran for a 76-yard touchdown. Kai Dominguez then had a 54-yard TD reception from quarterback Gabriel Hernandez for a 13-0 lead.
Greenwich scored next when quarterback Mike Lefflbine hooked up with Ricky Riscica on a 24-yard touchdown pass. The touchdown was just the second allowed by the Knights this season, as they have outscored their opponents, 221-13.
Greenwich’s TD made it 13-7, but St. Joseph scored two more times before halftime to take a 28-7 lead. Steve Beauharnais scored on a 53-yard TD run and then William Giles caught a 32-yard touchdwn pass from Hernandez for the scores.
The Cardinals, who have a record of 4-1 in official league play and still have a shot at reaching the FCIAC final, will play at Wilton Friday night at 6 p.m. Wilton is still in the hunt with records of 4-1 in league play and 4-3 overall.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com.