By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
NEW CANAAN, Conn. - Hollywood screenwriters couldn’t have come up with a more dramatic or outrageous ending to a football season than the one the New Canaan Rams experienced last fall.
Trailing the Daniel Hand Tigers 30-13 in the fourth quarter of the Class MM championship game, New Canaan rallied for 21 unanswered points to capture a second straight state crown with a 34-30 victory. Remarkable. Unbelievable. Stunning. You name it and just about any superlative can apply.
That game will be talked about for years to come, but when it comes to the 2008 edition of the Rams, it’s best if the team simply turns the page. Not that a little leftover magic wouldn’t hurt, but this year’s football team has a storyline of its own to pen.
“Our goal every year since I’ve been here is to put ourselves on a position we’re we can get into the FCIAC championship and the State playoffs,” head coach Lou Marinelli said. “That’s our goal whether we’re old, young, experienced or green. That’s what we want to do.”
And with those goals in mind, the Rams will embark on their latest endeavor when they host the Trumbull Golden Eagles tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Dunning Field.
It will be a different looking squad for New Canaan, which lost nine of 11 starters from an offense which was one of the most explosive in school history.
“We’re inexperienced,” Marinelli said. “We lost nine of 11 on offense and that’s not to mention the quality of those players. There was Charlie Westfal, one of the best quarterbacks ever to come through here. We lost Kyle Duncan, who’s fighting for a starting job at Bowdoin and Charley Donnelly, who’s fighting for a starting job at Ohio-Wesleyan.”
That’s not to mention people like tailback Teddy Finan at Hamilton, receivers Brendan Fitzpatrick at St. Lawrence and Patrick Ready at New Hampshire, and lineman Michael Glass at Dean.
Westfal leaves behind the greatest legacy as he had a season for the ages at quarterback. Westfal had a combined 3,079 rushing and passing yards, the most in school history, and passed for 2,669 yards and 25 TDs as the Rams went 10-2. He also had 375 yards in the State final to take MVP honors.
While those numbers are nearly impossible to duplicate, Marinelli seems confident that this year’s starting QB, senior tri-captain Nate Quinn (6-2, 175) can keep the spread offense running at peak efficiency.
“He has the biggest shoes to fill,” Marinelli said. “Nate got hurt and he played some defense last year, but he didn’t get the reps. We’ve scrimmaged a lot mainly to get him more reps to help get him comfortable running the offense. Every scrimmage, (Nate) and the line have gotten better, every practice they’ve gotten better, so it’s just a matter of time and will we be ready.” enough by the time the season starts.”
Quinn will have a few weapons to work with on offense, including the two returning starters, Kurt Ondash (6-1, 180) and Chris Sciarretta (5-10, 205), also senior tri-captains.
Ondash will shift from wide out to tight end after catching 45 passes for 828 yards and eight TDs as a junior. Ondash’s receiving yardage is the third most in a singe season at NCHS. Ondash will also be in his third year as the team’s kicker after hitting 37-of-42 PATs and 3-of-5 field goals, including a long of 40 yards, last fall. Ondash excelled in the State final, despite having separated his shoulder in the semifinals just four days earlier.
“Kurt Ondash was our leading receiver last year, he’s very skilled and he’s certainly a guy we’re going to look to throw to.” Marinelli said.
“Then you have Chris Sciarretta, who, if he’s not our best football player is certainly in the top two or three,” Marinelli said. “He plays both sides of the ball and he’s just a great high school football player who loves to play. He’s just a great kid.”
Sciarretta will be the feature back this season, after rushing 107 times for 590 yards — a 5.5 average — in 2007. He will also star at linebacker on defense for a second season. He’ll also pick up the punting duties again this season.
The three captains give New Canaan an edge over the competition, and Marinelli feels that the Rams should be all set at the skill positions.
That showed during the summer, when New Canaan excelled during 7-on-7 tournaments, and even beat nationally-ranked Don Bosco in overtime at the Stony Brook tournament last month.
“Skill-wise, we’re good, it’s just that up front, we’re inexperienced,” Marinelli said. “How quickly the linemen come along will tell what we can do this year.”
The Rams have numerous options on the line, with senior Alex “Buddha” Tharp (6-1, 255) starting at left tackle, senior Ben Hornblower (6-0, 240) at left guard, senior Will Rice (5-11, 179) at center, senior Sean Donovan (5-10, 210) at right guard, and senior David Wente (6-2, 283) and sophomore Conor Hanratty (6-3, 250) fighting it out for the right tackle spot.
Also in the mix for playing time on the O-line are senior Chris Sandvik (5-11, 215) and juniors Geoff Young (6-1, 177) and, along with centers Kyle Rogers (6-0, 21), a senior, and Jack Atchue (6-4, 197), a sophomore.
Behind Quinn at quarterback is lefty Willie Ouellette (5-8, 148), a junior.
The halfback spot is owned by senior Sean Simmons (5-11, 170), and several others could see time there, including senior Evan Otis (5-10, 175), and juniors Peter Park (5-9, 165), Cole Duncan (6-0, 174), Ben Manning (5-11, 157), Tim Robustelli (5-9, 140) and Darryl Cummings (5-6, 140).
With Ondash at tight end, the wide receivers positions will be filled by junior Cody Newton (5-11, 168) and senior Mike DiRocco (6-0, 176) at one spot, and senior Frank Granito (5-9, 150) and sophomore Joe Costigan (5-10, 162) at the other.
Senior Andrew Lanaway (6-1, 154) will also be in the mix, while sophomore Kevin Macari (6-0, 183) will be the back up tight end.
“One big thing for us is that we have a lot of kids and they’re really good kids,” Marinelli said. “They work their asses off and they do a great job. They’re fun to be around and they’re fun to coach, so that part of it is very good. It’ll just be a matter of how fast we can bring them along.”
Things on the defensive side of the ball look good, after a roller coaster 2007 season. New Canaan struggled at times last year, but came up big during the fourth-quarter comeback in the final. This year’s group could be a bit more consistent.
“The defense is improved from last year,” Marinelli said. “We were hurt a little bit last year, but this year, we’ve looked pretty good so far.”
Up front, New Canaan will have senior Nick Lemoine at nose guard, as he takes over for his brother Chris, while junior Michael Santella (6-0, 205) and Wente are the back-ups.
At the tackles are seniors Eduardo Padilla (6-2, 249) and Wynne Holden(6-2, 215), along with Atchue and Hanratty.
At defensive end, the Rams return senior Nick DiRubio (5-10, 190), with Otis, Duncan, Manning, senior Dan Jensen (6-4, 185) and junior Bobby Femia (6-2, 190) figuring in.
The linebacking corps is led by Sciarretta, who had one of the biggest plays in the state final when he intercepted a pass in Hand territory, immediately after the Rams had turned the ball over, and helped keep the comeback rolling.
He’ll be joined at linebacker by seniors Brandon Leeming (6-2, 185) and Graham Rissell (5-7, 170), with juniors James Cody (5-8, 180) and Chris White (6-2, 183), and Manning, vying for playing time.
In the secondary, Granito and senior Chris Millisits (6-0, 169) are the starting corners, with Quinn and Costigan as reserves.
The safety position features four players, as senior Zach Swanson (5-11, 168), Ondash, Robustelli and Macari are all in the mix.
While the Rams grapple with their inexperience and attempt to find their way, the schedule-makers put up a big road block with three Class LL schools to open the season.
After Trumbull in the opener on Sept. 12, New Canaan will face Ridgefield on Sept. 19 and Danbury on Sept. 27. Both games will be held at Dunning Field, with the Danbury contest coming on Homecoming Day. In scheduling quirk, the Rams will then play six straight games on the road, before returning home for contests against Wilton and then Darien in the annual Turkey Bowl on Thanksgiving.
“We have the three tough games and then we go away for six weeks,” Marinelli said. “It couldn’t be a more difficult schedule, but we’ll just keep our mouths shut and go play. I’m concerned with the fact that we’re so young up front and those three games we start with are tough. Skill-wise we can play with anybody. In the 7-on-7s, our kids go all over the place and they actually beat Don Bosco in overtime at Stony Brook and that team is No. 4 in the Nation. But it’s a whole different ballgame starting with Trumbull.”
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