New Canaan (Conn.) vs. Darien (Conn.)
Mike Collins, New Canaan
Photo by Bill Berg
Among the many traditional Thanksgiving Day football games to be played this year in the Northeast, probably no other matchup carries as much weight as Thursday morning's showdown between New Canaan and Darien at Boyle Stadium in Stamford. Both teams enter the game with unbeaten records, and the winner will come away with the championship of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. New Canaan (9-0) generates the majority of its offense via the arm of 6-foot-5 quarterback
Mike Collins. The junior has thrown for 1,948 yards and 23 touchdowns this season. Collins had 349 passing yards and three touchdowns in the Rams' last game, a 47-16 rout of Trinity Catholic (Stamford) on Nov. 15. Darien (10-0) also features a lanky top-notch junior signal caller in
Tim Graham. Last time out, the 6-5, 185-pounder threw for a season-high 248 yards and a touchdown in Darien's 31-0 shutout of North Haven.
Sign up to provide live scoring updates from this game via QwixcoreJust the facts: This will be the 87th meeting in a rivalry that kicked off in 1928. The two teams have played on Thanksgiving every year since 1994,
according to the New Canaan Advertiser. New Canaan has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, including a 44-12 blowout in
last year's Class L state championship game. … A win would give New Canaan its fifth overall Fairfield County championship since 1999. Darien is shooting for its third since 1998. Both will advance to the CIAC tournament beginning Dec. 6.
Mitch Stephens: New Canaan 28, Darien 21
Kevin Askeland: New Canaan 27, Darien 14
Jamie DeMoney: New Canaan 27, Darien 21
Stephen Spiewak: New Canaan 28, Darien 17
Leland Gordon: New Canaan 17, Darien 13
Colin Ward-Henninger: New Canaan 20, Darien 17
