Playing The 'Fields: NC Black 3's Roll

“Juggernaut - noun ˈjə-gər-ˌnȯt, -ˌnät: something (such as a force, campaign, or movement) that is extremely large and powerful and cannot be stopped.” – Merriam-Webster

NEW CANAAN - If first impressions are a sign of things to come, the future is very bright for New Canaan football.

The New Canaan Black 3’s improved to 5-0 on the season with impressive victories over Ridgefield and Fairfield. With the wins, NC now stands alone atop the FCFL’s Bantam 3 Division, outscoring their opponents 105-39 in the 5-game span.

Last weekend, New Canaan traveled up to Tiger Hollow to take on the second-place Ridgefield – always a daunting task no matter the age or sport. With that said, the Black 3’s wasted little time to show they were ready for the challenge, setting the tone from the first defensive series of the game.

On the opening play from scrimmage, New Canaan linebacker Mack Seelert knocked the Ridgefield RB out of the game with a teeth-rattling tackle for no gain.  On second-down, Andrew Nolan stopped the Ridgefield runner in his tracks, and almost recovered the resulting fumble. And on third-down, Peter Cieszko slipped around the offensive line to blow up a handoff for a 5-yard loss forcing Ridgefield to punt.

Ridgefield was able to answer, forcing New Canaan to a three-and-out and showing why they were the #1-ranked defense in the league.  Even so, NC was able to soften up the defense with hard runs up the middle by Eoin Mueller behind solid blocking from Beckett Beatman, Devon Christian and Flynn Coffey.

New Canaan’s “D” was able to hold again, with excellent tackles and containment from Johnny Maechling, Alex Capelo, Max Bombeck and Hugh Gardiner. The 1st quarter ended with the score 0-0.

New Canaan took over at the start of the 2nd quarter at their own 20. The drive appeared to have stalled at the Ridgefield 34-yard line, but a 9-yard Mueller run on fourth-and-three kept it going. Two plays later, a 23-yard TD run from Mueller gave New Canaan the lead. After Henry Garrity ran in the 2-point conversion, it was 8-0 NC with 5:32 left in the half.

Defense continued to be the name of the game for New Canaan. Dominic Rasso, Tommy Goetz and Tucker Milligan were wreaking havoc in the Ridgefield backfield all day long, and the secondary of Garrity and R.J. DeCamillo stymied any potential Ridgefield breakaways. The teams went into the half with NC still up 8-0.

Ridgefield was able to break through with a score late in the 3rd quarter after a long drive was capped off by a Justin Keller 1-yard dive. However, in what wound up being one of the biggest plays of the game, the 2-point conversion was thwarted when A.J. Bell stripped Keller of the ball. Johnny Maechling gathered in the fumble, preserving NC’s 8-6 lead with 3:04 left in the 3rd quarter.

New Canaan was content to run out the clock. Behind the runs of Seelert, Garrity, Mueller and QB Ty Groff coupled with the blocking of Holden Busby, Joshua Mun and Will Pepe, as well as the flawless snaps from Center Colin Perkins, the Black 3’s were able to eat up valuable time. By the time Ridgefield got the ball back, there was only 6:34 left in the game – just enough time for one last drive.

On first down, Tucker Milligan broke through the line to drop the Ridgefield QB for a 5-yard sack. On second-and-15, Keller took a pitch to the right side for a sweep that looked to be headed for the end zone. But Eoin Mueller was able to work off a block and made a shoestring tackle at the Ridgefield 33.

On third-and-four, Keller took the ball 20 yards to the New Canaan 27. But a costly holding penalty brought the play back, setting up third-and-14. Ridgefield tried the same play again, but this time Dominic Rasso was ready. The New Canaan lineman dropped Keller for a loss, sealing the 8-6 win.

This past weekend against Fairfield, offense was the story.  

Touchdown runs from Mueller, Seelert and Caeden Bowling, along with a Groff to Henry Garrity TD pass led to a 28-6 win and a stranglehold on first place.

-Terry Dinan

The NC Black 3’s will next see action on Sunday as the travel to Fujitani Field to take on the second-place Wilton Blue 3’s (4-1). Wilton will be looking to avenge their 14-7 loss to New Canaan in Week 2. Kickoff is at 12pm.