New Canaan Red 3's Fall To Wilton White

“You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack, and one guy not getting in the end zone.” -John Madden

Despite a strong defensive performance and time-consuming, ground-and-pound offensive scheme, the New Canaan 3rd Grade Red team found itself on the wrong end of a 7-0 score, losing to the Wilton 3rd Grade White squad in their regular season finale.

Big Red battled hard from start to finish behind textbook tackling from Trey Hartnett, Charlie Harrison and Ryan Connelly. Also playing well on the defensive side were linemen Andrew Rittenberry, Charlie Besgen, Gunnar Watson and Will Larson.

New Canaan had several long drives, but was not able to punch the ball in the end zone. QB Giovanni Cascione and RB’s Matthew Salmini and Max Budnick worked their way through holes provided by Sean Watchmaker, Jack Hladick and Colin Tiscornia.

James Casey and Matthew Mercede did a great job on the ends with their downfield blocking, helping New Canaan control the ball for most of the first half. Special mention goes to unsung hero, Brian Balkun, whose flawless snaps from center immeasurably helped the backs with their running assignments.

Other stars included Griffin Gentner who made a touchdown-saving tackle late in the 1st quarter. The outstanding play of and Matthew Cutler, Jason Pastushan and Cooper Dinan upfront, LB’s Harrison and Henry Scott, along with Richie Whitcomb and Will Casey in the secondary helped keep Wilton off the board for 3-plus quarters.

Wilton was finally able to break the scoreless tie, as George “Don’t Call Me Cole” Hahn scored on a 9-yard TD run with only 4:10 left in the game. New Canaan was unable to answer on the ensuing drive, and the 7-0 Wilton lead held up as a final.

-Terry Dinan