GREENWICH, Conn. — The situation was dire for the New Canaan Rams as they faced a 13-point deficit to Greenwich, on the road, in a hostile environment at Cardinal Stadium with fewer than nine minutes remaining on the clock. 
Tim Robustelli, New Canaan
File photo by Richard Stieglitz
But while the hometown crowd was beginning to celebrate what looked like a sure victory, the Rams’ bench was surprisingly confident.
"If you came up and down our sidelines, all you heard was ‘We will win this football game. We are going to win this football game,’" quarterback Turner Baty said. "I don’t think there was any doubt in our minds. We were praying a lot, but we knew we could do it. It was just unbelievable."
The confidence proved to be well-founded. New Canaan scored twice in the final 8:29 to overcome a 13-point deficit and defeated Greenwich, 35-34, in a classic battle between two titans of the FCIAC on Friday night.
The game-winning points came on a 2-point conversion pass from Baty to Kevin Macari with a minute remaining. Baty pitched the ball to senior co-captain Willie Ouellette on the right, and Ouellette cut back to the left. Ouellette handed the ball back to Baty, who went right and hit a wide-open Macari in the end zone for the 35-34 lead.
The win was among the most dramatic of head coach Lou Marinelli’s career, ranking alongside the 2007 Class MM championship game, when the Rams scored three TDs in the fourth quarter to defeat Daniel Hand, and the 1999 FCIAC title game, when the Rams upset heavily favored Greenwich, 14-9.
New Canaan, which improved to 8-0, kept its winning streak alive at 24 games and took a huge step towards securing berths in the FCIAC title game and the Class MM tournament. Greenwich, meanwhile, fell to 6-2 with the heartbreaking defeat and fell out of the running for a conference final bid. The Cardinals also saw their chances at qualifying for the Class LL tournament take a huge hit. Both of Greenwich’s losses this season have been by one point.
Needing two scores with 8:29 remaining, New Canaan got a big lift when Baty threw a deep ball to senior co-captain Cody Newton, who made a difficult catch in double coverage and went 46 yards for a touchdown with 8:19 to play. Greenwich blocked the point after and the Rams trailed 34-27. The Cards picked up one first down on their next drive, but were stopped on downs at the New Canaan 24-yard line with 5:32 to play.
Baty and the Rams then picked apart the Greenwich defense during a methodical, 10-play drive that covered 73 yards in 4:32. The Rams reached the end zone when senior running back Peter Park ran 7 yards for the score with a minute remaining. Down 34-33, Marinelli opted to go for the 2-point conversion and the win.
Greenwich got the ball back and worked it into New Canaan territory and inside the 35 with 20 seconds remaining. But two 15-yard penalties, one for illegal hands to the face and another an unsportsmanlike conduct call on the Cards’ sideline, cost 30 yards and left them well out of striking distance. Two long passes by quarterback Mike Lefflbine fell incomplete, and Chris White then sacked the QB as the clock ran out and a wild Ram celebration began.
Baty finished the game with 329 yards on 22-of-35 passing, with three touchdowns and one interception.
Macari caught seven passes for 166 yards and two TDs, while Newton had six catches for 84 yards and a TD. Park had five catches for 44 yards and rushed six times for 42 yards and a TD, while Tim Robustelli had seven rushes for 41 yards and a TD.
2. Masuk football survives in Bethel: It was nearly the upset of the season in the SWC. Instead, Bethel became the latest victim of the 2009 Masuk football team.
Bethel survived several knockout punches, but Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran amassed 458 yards passing and tossed five touchdown passes — three to receiver Anthony Giaimo — as the Panthers scored a hard-fought 42-34 victory to remain undefeated at 8-0.
Cochran completed 22-of-32 passes and his TD strikes came on throws of 80, 6, 27, 21 and 32 yards. Giaimo caught TD passes of 27, 21 and 32 yards, with the last of those putting Masuk up by eight in the third quarter.
Alex Trump scored twice, once on an 80-yard pass from Cochran to get the offense going in the first quarter, and then on a 3-yard run in the second frame.
Masuk led 21-13 after one quarter, 28-20 at halftime and 35-20 in the third. Back-to-back TD runs of 53 yards by Schmidt and 13 yards by Pete Gallagher closed the gap to 35-34, before Giaimo’s final touchdown boosted Masuk’s lead back up to eight points. Schmidt finished with 121 rushing yards, and he and Gallagher each scored twice. Bethel fell to 6-2 with the loss.
3. New Fairfield scores upset of Newtown: Another SWC barnburner did result in an upset, as New Fairfield knocked off Newtown, 42-21. The game turned on a few plays early in the second half, as New Fairfield scored twice to take a 28-14 lead after the teams were tied at the half, 14-14.
Quarterback Bobby Ward hooked up with Frank Guardi for a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14. Newtown fumbled on its next possession, and on the first play of the ensuing drive, Ryan Mallon scored on a 13-yard run to make it 28-14. Newton came back with a TD, as QB John Fracker connected with Sean Devaney for a 65-yard strike, but New Fairfield responded with a long drive and scored when Wood hit Chris Shannon in the end zone.
Wood had 265 passing yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for 102 yards and two TDs. Devaney had two receiving TDs, while Jimmy Andreozzi had two rushing TDs. New Fairfield evened its record at 4-4, while Newtown fell to 6-2 and put its postseason chances in jeopardy.
4. Blue Wave volleyball hangs nine on FCIAC: The closest thing to a sure bet in the Connecticut High School athletics would have to be the Darien Blue Wave volleyball team.
With their 3-0 shutout of the Greenwich Cardinals in Saturday’s FCIAC final, coach Laurie LaRusso’s Wave spikers have been crowned conference champions for nine consecutive years, and have won 16 of the last 17 and 18 of the last 20 league titles. Darien, the state’s top-ranked team, not only finished the season unbeaten in the FCIAC at 21-0, but it never lost a single set, sweeping each opponent 3-0.
The Blue Wave once again dominated the championship game, beating No. 3 Greenwich (18-3) by scores of 25-18, 25-12, 25-17. Junior setter Mackenzie Begley was named the tournament MVP after racking up 27 assists, 18 service points, one ace and two kills.
Middle hitters Colby Billhardt and Sarah Gorski also had big days, as Billhardt finished with 11 kills, three blocks, six service points and four aces, and Gorski had 12 kills, two blocks and five service points. Sarah Suckow pitched in with 15 digs. The 2009 Blue Wave’s road doesn’t end here by any means, as Darien begins play in the State Class M tournament this week. The Blue Wave will be seeking its ninth consecutive Connecticut class championship.
5. Darien field hockey steamrolls to three-peat: Blue Wave volleyball wasn’t the only team celebrating a title in Darien last week, as the field hockey team made it three consecutive FCIAC titles with a 3-0 blanking of rival New Canaan in the final last Thursday.
Top-seeded Darien, which is 18-0 this season and a combined 57-3-1 since 2007, scored twice in the first half and added a final tally in the second en route to the win. During the conference tournament, the Wave outscored its opponents, 12-0. No. 2 New Canaan suffered just its third loss of the season and fell to 14-3-1. The Rams knocked off No. 3 Greenwich, 2-1, in a tough semifinal contest last Tuesday.
Darien had two goals from Ellie Reigel, who was named the MVP of the final. Sophie Watters scored the other goal, while Sam Johnston had two assists and Leslie Gill had one assist. Darien held advantages of 16-2 in shots and a 16-0 on penalty corners.
Top performers
• Drew Arcoleo (Ridgefield) ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers defeated the Golden Eagles of Trumbull, 21-7. Arcoleo carried the ball 17 times for a 7.76 average, and his scores came on 12- and 44-yard runs. Charles Gravitte had 90 yards rushing and one TD for Ridgefield, which improved to 7-1 and remained in the hunt for a State Class LL playoff berth.
• Senior kicker John Gardner (Darien) booted field goals of 44, 29 and 35 yards as the Blue Wave won an ugly game with Westhill, 37-0, on Saturday. Gardner also had three PATs as the Wave improved to 6-2.
• Senior quarterback Brian O’Neill (Trinity Catholic, Stamford) had 160 yards passing and two touchdowns as the Crusaders delighted their Homecoming crowd with a 39-14 win over Bassick. The victory was the third for first-year head coach Peter Stokes, who saw his team improve to 3-5.
State Tournament race goes down to the wire
The State tournaments are fast approaching, and there are several FCIAC and SWC teams in contention for postseason berths. The top four teams in each class, based on a playoff point system, will qualify. In Class LL, the Staples Wreckers (8-0) currently hold the second seed with two games remaining against Trumbull and Greenwich. Central (7-1) and Ridgefield (7-1) are sixth and seventh, respectively, and will need help to get in.
The SWC owns the top two spots in the Class L rankings, with Pomperaug (8-0) as the top seed and Masuk (8-0) in second place.
In Class MM, first-place New Canaan (8-0) has almost locked up a spot, as the Rams seek their fourth straight championship. The Rams will qualify with a win over either Central or Darien in their last two, or with a loss by any of the other contenders in the class.
Darien, which was last year’s Class MM runner-up, has rebounded from a 1-2 start and is 6-2 with two games remaining. The Blue Wave sits on the State bubble in fifth place. In Class SS, the St. Joseph Cadets (7-1) are in fourth place, although they face a tough final two games against Greenwich (6-2) and rival Trumbull (5-3).
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.
