In football — as in life — the final score often belies a far more interesting story.

Sure, by the time it was over, the New Canaan High School Rams had defeated Trinity Catholic on Saturday afternoon 48-8.

But that same FCIAC showdown might have been described as "Anybody's game" as the first half wound down.

The home team Crusaders and the Rams spent most of the half between the 20-yard lines. Then the Crusaders got a bad break. Their star running back, Mike Revis, a 6'2", 220 pound senior, who displayed speed, power, quickness and good field vision, went down and out of the game with an ankle injury. Revis was a handfull and a half. He was hard to bring down even when he was wrapped up, but when he went out, so did Trinity's offense.

After a scoreless first quarter, New Canaan struck first. With just under five minutes remaining before the break, Kevin Macari took it to the four and then Kevin McDonough  up the middle for the score. The Rams led 7-0. But Trinity got it back quickly. They went for and capitalized on a two-point conversion, to take an 8-7 lead with 3:06 left in the half. That's when the Rams went on a 41-point run. Matt Milano connected with Willie Gould, who made it to the one-yard line, followed by Milano to Kevin Macari for the touchdown.

The two-point conversion failed and the Rams left the field with a  13-8 lead.

It didn't take New Canaan long to score after the break. Hunter Budd returned a short kickoff to the Crusader's 35-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Milano zipped one to Costigan on a post pattern for a touchdown. The Rams led 19-8. Revis returned to the game for Trinity but after one play he had to come out again, this time for good.

On the Rams next touchdown, Costigan carried the ball on three consecutive plays; the first from  midfield to the 22-yard line of Trinity. Then he ran it to the four, followed by a burst up the gut for the touchdown and a 27-8 lead after converting the two-point attempt. The Rams scored shortly after when Milano, like good cheddar cheese, was extra sharp in the second half. He hooked up with  Peter Kraus for a 34-0 lead.

Milano credited the "O" line's play, especially in the second half. "They really gave me a lot of time to find my receivers and we took advantage of that."

With the passing game clicking as well as the running game, the Rams went to the run for the next score. Willie Goluld ran for 41-yards and a touchdown. The quarter ended with New Canaan scoring four touchdowns making the score 41-8 after three quarters.

The final score came in the final quarter when Bobby Distler ran it in from the 19-yard line.

The Rams showed excellent balance on offense with a passing game that netted 202 yards and the running  game 233 yards. Costigan ran the ball 11 times for one touchdown . Gould, McDonough, Distler and Jake Granito all rushed for over 40 yards.

Milano was 12/20 passing for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Connor Kilbane – before he had to leave with a dislocated shoulder that was pushed back into place – had four catches for 52-yards.

Costigan spoke about the team play, "the all- around effort was  excellent and this was the kind of performance we can look forward to the rest of the year." The co-captain added that  they cut out the mental mistakes from the first half.

Milano praised the pass blocking, "I didn't even get touched the second half. The line really made it easy for me in the second half.

The Rams (2-0) play Fairfield Ludlowe, next, on Friday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m.