Rams Stomp Crusaders, 41-12

Any good prize fighter will say that no matter how good you look during training, everything changes the first time you get punched in the face. Trinity Catholic delivered that punch to the New Canaan football team Friday night by taking an early lead, but the Rams came back swinging to knock out the Crusaders 41-12.

“The kids came right back,” said New Canaan head coach Lou Marinelli. “The responded (to Trinity Catholic’s early touchdown) really well.”

The Crusaders (0-2) took the opening kickoff from the Rams (2-0), but weren’t able to get anything going on their first drive. New Canaan took possession at their own 25 yard line, and showed a new look with quarterback Willie Ouellette flanked to his left by backup quarterback (and recent transfer) Turner Baty. This looked to be New Canaan’s first attempt at the “wildcat” offense, in which a passing threat lines up at running back in order to confuse the defense and create more offensive options. The play didn’t work as planned, however, and the drive ended in a New Canaan punt.

“That was a stupid play,” Marinelli said of his wildcat experiment. “It was open, but we won’t be doing that again.”

Trinity Catholic capitalized on that mistake, and took possession at the New Canaan 44 yard line. Crusader quarterback Brian O’Neill marched the team down the field, completing a 17-yard pass over the middle to running back Mike Rivas, and converting on a fourth down with a quick slant to wideout Shawn Robinson. It looked like the Rams might get a stop when Trinity was presented with 4th and 14 from the 16 yard line, but an O’Neill pass was tipped by two Ram defenders before landing in the arms of Jayme Antonetti for the game’s first score. The extra point was blocked, and New Canaan faced its first deficit of the season down 6-0.

“That first touchdown was a good break for them,” said Ram receiver Kevin Macari, who led the team with 138 yards receiving and two touchdowns on the day. “I think we came back at them really well.”

Indeed they did, coming out on the field with a little extra fire on the ensuing possession. The squad once again lined up in a two-back formation, this time with Joe Costigan and Peter Park sharing the backfield with Ouellette. Ouellette rolled out to his left on the first play of the drive, and tossed a pass off his back foot that connected with Macari for a 20-yard gain. A screen pass to Park got the Rams down to the six yard line, and a handoff right up the gut to Tim Robustelli got them in for their first score. The PAT put the Rams up 7-6 late in the first quarter, and it was a lead they would never give back.

“They all can really pick apart defenses,” Ouellette said of his trio of running backs. Having three solid options at such a position that requires so much skill is definitely a good problem to have.

After a Crusader three and out, the Rams re-took possession at midfield. Park took a draw for about ten yards, and then Ouellette connected with Macari with a 40-yard touchdown pass, only to have it called back for holding. This didn’t faze the senior quarterback, as the southpaw rolled out to his left and hit Park in the flat for a 35-yard gain. This put the Rams at the 9 yard line, and from here Park finished the job taking a sweep wide left and into the endzone putting New Canaan up 14-6.

Penalties plagued the Ram defense on the ensuing Crusader drive, with a costly interference call giving Trinity another mid-way through the quarter. Three good solid plays later, however, the Rams had the offense facing a 4th down. The Ram front seven got great pressure on O’Neill, forcing him to throw one up for grabs down the right sideline. New Canaan defensive back Ronnie Balzano came down with the interception, and capped it off with a beautiful return into Crusader territory. Costigan and Park then took over, picking up big gains on the ground and setting up a huge 25-yard touchdown pass from Ouellette to receiver Cody Newton, giving the Rams a 21-6 lead.

A great stop by the defense put the Rams in position to score again before the half, and they did just that. Ouellette connected on a 36-yard bomb to Macari, and Park finished the drive with 14-yard sprint up the middle for a touchdown, giving New Canaan a 27-6 lead at the half.

“Peter Park is very hard to take down,” Ouellette said. “He ran all over the defense.” Park finsihed the game with 45 yards and two touchdowns on six carries. Costigan led the team in rushing yards with 53.

The Rams took possession at the beginning of the second half and picked up right where they left off. Baty took over at quarterback, and immediately made his presence felt with a huge touchdown pass to Macari in the back corner of the endzone. After a successful two point conversion toss to Macari the Rams led 36-6. The Baty-to-Macari hookup started to become a theme, as on the next drive the pair connected again on a 40-yard bomb to the same spot in the endzone as the first touchdown. Baty stayed strong in the pocket during the play, checked off his other receivers and dialed up six points with Macari giving the Rams a 41-6 lead. Baty’s style is definitely distinct from that of Ouellette; Baty is the more traditional pocket passer with a cannon arm while Ouellette can get more done with his legs. Ouellette compiled 133 passing yards and one touchdown on the day, while Baty chipped in with 127 yards and two scores.

“Both (Ouellette and Baty) throw really great balls,” Macari said of his signal callers. He added that he faced single coverage for most of the game, noting that if the Crusaders decided to put two men on him then there was an array of other offensive weapons that would be unaccounted for.

Trinity Catholic would add a touchdown late in the game to cement the final score of 41-12, but the contest was nothing short of a walk in the park for New Canaan. The Rams go on the road to face Fairfield-Ludlowe next Friday at Taft Field.