Rams Stumped by Hilltoppers

The New Canaan Rams couldn't wrap up a spot in the FCIAC championship game on Friday night because they couldn't  wrap up the Bridgeport Central runners.

The home team Hilltoppers ran over and through the Rams defense as they barely had to pass the ball for their 42-7 win. The Rams spent most of the rainy, windy night arm tackling as Central ran up a 28-0 halftime lead, scoring on each of four possessions—the fourth coming as the result of an interception.

On Central's first possession, Shabashe McIntosh ran inside, and behind strong blocking, went 55 yards for a touchdown. It was 7-0. After a three-and-out for the Rams, Central struck again. Starting from their own 31. they drove, exclusively on runs, to the Rams two where McIntosh ran it in for a 14-0 lead after one quarter. McIntosh was on his way to rushing for 184 yards on 22 caries and four touchdowns.

Rams quarter back Turner Baty had the ball slip out of his hands on his first pass attempt and on one medium-range attempt the ball changed trajectory shortly after it was thrown. The rain, cold and wind was hardly conducive to a passing game which has been the Rams' strength all season.The middle screen however, did produce some yardage but there wasn't much else going for the Rams.

Central's next possession started at the New Canaan 47-yard line and with 7:21 left in the half, they scored again with Lucas Desouza, another in the Hilltopper's talented stable of runners, taking it in from the five for a 20-0 lead.

On the Rams next possession, David Rhoden picked off a Baty pass and returned it to the six where the Hilltoppers scored on play action with their first pass completion. Quarterback Christon Gill did a nice "selling job" in faking the hand-off and then throwing to a wide open Keishaun Fernandez in the end-zone. The two-point conversion made it 28-0 at halftime.

In the second half, after the Rams stopped Central on a fourth down in their first possession, Baty fumbled on the Rams 20-yard line and Central recovered, taking the ball to the six. The Hilltoppers then ran it in again for a 35-0 lead.

New Canaan scored its only touchdown with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. A Kevin Macari block allowed Peter Park to run for a first down, then Cody Newton converted on fourth down in the next series to move the chains again. Baty followed with a 4-yard completion to Cody Newton for a touchdown.

Central capped off the scoring with one more break-away run for a 42-7 final score. Central piled up 333 yards in the game, all but 28 of them coming on the ground.

"They're the most athletic team that we've played," Marinelli said after the game. "They didn't make any mistakes."

Quarterback Turner Baty said agreed with his coach that the Rams had not seen this level of athleticism before, as the defense pounded recievers, batted down balls and went for interceptions. But he also said the team would "go forward with our heads held high."

"I don't anticipate any more games like this the rest of the season," Baty said.

Central's win, along with wins by Stamford and Greenwich puts the Hilltoppers into the FCIAC championship game-its second appearance and first since 2004. They will play Staples, a 34-0 winner over Trumbull on Friday night at Wilton for the FCIAC title. Trumbull beat Central 21-0 in the regular season, handing them their only loss.

The "NC Pride" cheer may have been muted Friday night as the team saw their 24-game wining streak end, but New Canaan, is still "alive" for the state tournament. The Rams will conclude their regular season on Thanksgiving Day against Darien in the Turkey Bowl at Dunning Field.

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Listen to analysis of the game by New Canaan Patch Editor Amy Jeffries on FCIAC Blog LIVE: http://patch.com/lVlc