EAST HARTFORD — For the 14th time in its history, the New Canaan is a state football champion.
And fittingly, it was the virtually unbreakable defense that has been the Rams' trademark the past two seasons, which came through with the title on the line.
A forced fumble and recovery by Ryan Barnard set up the game-winning score and New Canaan, the No. 2 seed, rallied for two touchdowns in the final 5:03 to defeat eighth-seeded Darien 28-21 in the CIAC Class L final Saturday at Rentschler Field.
The game was a roller-coaster ride, with each team erasing deficits before Ram senior Alex Benevento scored a winning touchdown on a six-yard run with 2:33 remaining.
“Our defense has carried us all year and today we did enough on offense, scored 28 points, and were able to hold on,” New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli said. “It was a great high school football game. It was back and forth, two really good high school football teams head-to-head. That’s the way a state championship should be. I’m just glad we came out on top.”
It’s New Canaan’s second consecutive Class L title and its 14th CIAC crown overall, all of which have come under Marinelli, who started coaching the Rams in 1981. His first state title was 41 years ago in 1982. The Rams have appeared in 19 state finals, including 12 times in the 17 tournaments since 2006. Ten of its championships have come during that span.
Prior to Saturday, the last CIAC team to repeat as a state champ was St. Joseph in 2018-19, but three accomplished the feat this season, with North Haven (Class MM) and Joel Barlow (Class SS) joining the Rams.
The Class L final also marked the ninth time the Rams and Wave have played twice in the season, resulting in five New Canaan sweeps and four splits. They played twice in 2021, with New Canaan winning on Thanksgiving and Darien winning in the Class LL semifinals.
While the defense had the spotlight late, Benevento saluted the Rams’ offense.
“Obviously, (the defensive plays) are very fitting for our year, but honestly, I can’t say enough good things about the offense today,” Benevento said
“We got ourselves in a little bit of a hole defensively and we weren’t communicating as well as should’ve, but our offense stayed with us and kept us in the game the whole way.”
The Rams certainly had their backs to the wall.
Charlie Thom scored the second of his two one-yard touchdowns, to give Darien a 21-14 lead on the opening play of the fourth quarter, and the Wave later stopped New Canaan on a fake punt, setting up a short field at the Rams’ 29-yard line.
But Darien came up empty against the Rams’ defense and New Canaan marched 74 yards and tied the game on a 12-yard pass from Luke Robinson to Will Langford with 5:03 remaining.
Barnard then stripped the ball from Darien quarterback Ben Rolapp and recovered at the Wave’s 16-yard line. Four plays later, Benevento was in the end zone and the Rams were on their way to another crown.
“Those are the plays you dream about when you’re a kid,” Barnard said. “And to make a play like that in the states like this is just surreal. This feels so amazing. The team last year set a precedent for us and I’m so happy we were able to live up to those expectations.”
For the Blue Wave (9-4), an amazing state playoff ride, which included road wins over No. 1 Naugatuck and No. 4 Newtown, came up just a bit short in the final.
“The attitude just developed over the last 14 days and I’m really proud of how we showed up today,” Darien’s first-year coach Andy Grant said. “We could’ve rolled over a few different times, and we could’ve rolled over in Game one of the postseason, but we continued to improve and put ourselves in good positions. I’m really proud of our guys.”
Darien had huge games from Rolapp (249 passing yards), and tight ends Kevin Roche (12 catches, 135 yards), and Charlie Thom (9 catches, 106 yards). Thom also scored on two short runs, and completed a 28-yard pass when the Wave was backed up near its own end zone.
For New Canaan, quarterback Luke Robinson was 15-for-22 passing for 169 yards and two TDs, rushed for 29 yards and had a 10-yard reception.
Photo Credit: Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media