“Look out…old Mack is back!” – Bobby Darin
NEW CANAAN – When the New Canaan 3rd Grade Black team last played Ridgefield, they barely escaped Tiger Hollow with a 2-point win. It was their toughest test of the year to that point, and when head coach Jason Milligan saw the final score of the other NFC 3 semifinal - a 20-8 Ridgefield win over a solid Wilton Blue team - he sought out a logical choice for advice...NCHS head coach Lou Marinelli.
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“We were a little too predictable the first time we played them,” said Milligan. “We ran 95% of the time, and they knew where we were going. This time we switched it up. That was Coach Marinelli’s advice…instead of scouting the other team, look at your team, and what would you do to stop yourself.”
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And…as usual…Coach Marinelli’s words of wisdom paid off.
With a balanced running game that attacked both sides of the Ridgefield line, complemented by a ball-hawking defense which forced and recovered 5 fumbles, the Black 3’s dismantled the Tigers 31-14. With the win, New Canaan advanced to the FCFL Bantam 3 championship game where they will face AFC winner, Darien.
“Ridgefield was a pretty good team, and our offensive line was playing really good,” said New Canaan’s Eoin Mueller, who scored 4 TD’s on the day. “We practiced as hard as we could, and we brought it all to this game.”
New Canaan’s hard work paid off almost immediately. On the game’s first drive, great defense by Johnny Maechling and R.J. DeCamillo put Ridgefield in a quick hole. And on the 6th play of the drive, Andrew Nolan and Tucker Milligan broke through the line to blow up a QB-RB exchange, forcing a fumble. Mack “The Knife” Seelert fell on the loose ball, and New Canaan was set up with a first-and-10 at the 31-yard line.
Ridgefield was initially able to show off their top-ranked defense, stopping New Canaan at the 36 and forcing a punt. Little did the crowd who packed Dunning Field know, it would be the only stop of the game for the doomed Tigers.
On the ensuing Ridgefield possession, New Canaan wasted little time getting the pigskin back. On second down, Seelert stripped Ridgefield’s Robbie Hinkle of the ball, making his second fumble recovery of the morning, again at the 31-yard line.
This time New Canaan was able to convert the turnover into points. Behind big blocks from Alex Capelo and Colin Perkins, as well as an impressive downfield block from QB Ty Groff, Mueller ran 42 yards for the first score of the game. With just under a minute left in the 1st quarter, New Canaan had a 6-0 lead.
Ridgefield was quick to answer, however, as on the opening play of the 2nd quarter, Justin “Don’t Call Me Dustin” Keller took a handoff 51 yards for a TD. Ridgefield converted the extra point, and had a 7-6 lead with 10:31 to go in the half.
New Canaan would have an answer of their own, as runs by Mueller and Henry Garrity coupled with a 27-yard Groff-to-Mueller pass had the Black 3’s set up on Ridgefield’s 15. Two plays later, Mueller – sprung by a great block from Caden Bowling – found pay dirt again, scoring his 2nd TD of the day via a 12-yard run. With 6:15 left in the half, New Canaan had regained the lead, 12-7.
The Black 3’s defense was back to its takeaway-oriented self on the next Ridgefield possession, and changed the momentum of the game. On second down, Dominic “The Dominator” Rasso timed the snap perfectly and broke through the line to disrupt a handoff. A.J. Bell outraced Ridgefield’s Connor “Don’t Call Me Brad” Dougherty to recover the resulting fumble, and New Canaan had the ball on the Ridgefield 28 with time winding down in the half.
Behind solid blocking from Will Pepe and Flynn "Mister" Coffey, New Canaan was able to maneuver its way to the Tiger 17 yard-line. But after a fumble, a short run and an incomplete pass, the drive was seemingly stalled. Facing a fourth-and-8, New Canaan went to Mueller again. Taking a reverse from Garrity, Mueller could not be stopped until he reached the marker for a New Canaan first down.
In fact, the only thing that seemed to be able to stop Mueller was the marker itself, the mishandling of which by an unidentified volunteer - we will just call him “Steve Austin” - drew the ire of the crowd as well as the PA announcer. Regardless, the drive was still alive and New Canaan reached the 6-yard line with mere seconds left in the half.
On third-and-goal, New Canaan was called for a false start. Normally such a penalty would require a time runoff, which would have ended the half. Instead, it worked to New Canaan’s advantage, as they were without any timeouts. The clock stopped and with 2.5 seconds left, the Black 3’s had time for one more play.
Having run to the right side on the previous two plays, Milligan called for a reverse to the left side. After a direct snap to Mueller lured the defense to one side, Garrity took the reverse to the opposite side, running untouched to the end zone. It was a demoralizing, backbreaking score for Ridgefield, as New Canaan was able to go into the half extending to an 18-7 lead.
“It actually was good that we got a penalty because we had no time outs, and the time was running down,” said Milligan. “Our guys are used to running no-huddle. They did a great job of getting up there, getting set and running the play, and a good job of blocking and getting in the end zone.”
Starting the 2nd half on offense, New Canaan picked up where they left off, with perhaps the definitive drive of the season.
Hugh Gardiner, Ben Capelo, Holden Busby and Devon Christian provided excellent blocks for Groff, Mueller, Garrity and Seelert as the Black 3’s chewed up yardage and more importantly – time. When Mueller ran a reverse in from the 13-yard line for his third TD of the game, it capped off a 14-play, 80-yard drive that took up all but 1:45 of the 3rd quarter. New Canaan now had a 24-7 lead.
Despite the solid defensive play of “Mad” Max Bombeck and Tommy “Whatever He Wants He” Goetz, Ridgefield was able to break through on their next possession. Shane “Don’t Call Me Muddy” Watters slipped a tackle en route to a 17-yard TD run, pulling Ridgefield to a 24-14 deficit.
With that said, the long drive by New Canaan on the previous possession had taken its toll on the Tiger defense. Behind huge blocks from Busby and Christian, Mueller hit a hole and did not stop until 80 yards later when he reached the end zone for the fourth time, and New Canaan had a 31-14 lead with 9:04 left in the game.
Ridgefield tried to answer, driving as far as the New Canaan 26-yard line. That’s when Mack The Knife struck again.
Slicing through the line, Seelert pounced on a fumbled exchange for his third recovery of the game.
“You just look for elbow up and just smash it,” said Seelert. “Ball comes right out, and when you see it on the ground you just hop on it.”
After Ridgefield stopped New Canaan and got the ball back, Peter Cieszko followed Seelert’s lead and recovered another Tiger fumble – their 5th of the game – sealing New Canaan’s win and vaulting them into the championship game.
The Black 3’s will face a Darien team that will be seeking payback for a 28-14 loss to New Canaan back in Week 3.
“It’s going to be tricky but they’ve done a good job of that all year,” said Milligan. “It’s not a team we take for granted. Darien has #11 (Isaac McMullin), who is probably the fastest kid in the whole league, so it’s certainly not in the bag yet.”
New Canaan’s players were a little less cautious, exhilarated by the remarkable performance they just displayed against Ridgefield.
“I got a feeling that we’re going to beat Darien,” said Seelert. “It was hard against Ridgefield, but we did it. I think we’re going to do great.”
-Terry Dinan
The Bantam 3 championship game against Darien will kickoff at 9am on Saturday November 16th at Dunning Field.
1 2 3 4 TOT
RIDGEFIELD 0 7 0 7 14
NEW CANAAN 6 12 6 7 31
NC – Mueller 42-yd. run (conversion failed)
R – Keller 51-yd. run (conversion good)
NC – Mueller 12-yd. run (conversion failed)
NC – Garrity 11-yd. run (conversion failed)
NC – Mueller 13-yd. run (conversion failed)
R – Watters 17-yd. run (conversion good)
NC – Mueller 80-yd. run (conversion good)
