WILTON – The New Canaan High football team played yet another nail-biter on Friday night, this time against Wilton at Tom Fujitani Field.
This time, the Rams finished off a 16-12 victory over the Warriors, but it came down to one final defensive stand at their own goal line.
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New Canaan improved to 7-2 while Wilton fell to 4-5.
Wilton senior Liam Smith came up with an interception of New Canaan quarterback Maddox Hoffman at the Rams’ 24-yard line with 3:41 left in the game. The Warriors pushed the ball to the 10, where they had it on second-and-9 with two minutes remaining.
New Canaan’s defense stopped Wilton quarterback Connor Harlacher on a draw for no gain, then an incomplete pass from Harlacher brought up fourth-and-9 from the 10 with 1:13 remaining. The Warriors called for a trick play, a lineman-eligible pass from Harlacher to senior Krystian Babinski, but the Rams sniffed it out after just a 2-yard gain to squelch the home team’s last gasp.
As he has done time and again, New Canaan senior captain Jack Crowell came up big for his team. The Rams trailed 6-0 at halftime, but Crowell took a direct snap for a 53-yard touchdown 1:29 into the third quarter. Neel Arora’s extra point put New Canaan ahead 7-6.
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Wilton senior captain Nicholas Mercado was in the right place at the right time when Maddox, who was in the grasp of a sack, tried to get rid of the ball. It went right to Mercado, who took it 75 yards for a touchdown and a 12-7 Warrior lead late in the third quarter.
After New Canaan took advantage of a bad Wilton snap and stopped Denny Dustin in the end zone for a safety that cut Wilton’s lead to 12-9 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, the Rams got good field position.
New Canaan drove to the Wilton 4, where it faced a fourth-and-3. Crowell, who had run the ball on direct snaps on the previous two plays, took another run toward the right side. He pulled up short, jumped in the air and threw a pass to junior Luke Williams for a 4-yard touchdown and the lead. Arora’s extra point made it 16-12 in favor of the Rams with 7:44 left in the game.
Wilton punted on its next possession to pin New Canaan deep with 4:38 to play. The Rams ran the ball twice, then Hoffman rolled to his right on third down and threw toward his team’s sideline. Smith caught the ball and got both feet in bounds to preserve the pick.
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On a third-and-9 from the New Canaan 23, Harlacher hit Dustin for a 12-yard gain and a first down at the 11 with 2:53 to play. The Warriors, who had upended Greenwich the week before, were within range of pulling off another huge win.
New Canaan’s defense stepped up when it had to, however, and preserved the victory.
Wilton scored the first half’s lone touchdown on a 41-yard pass from Harlacher to Michael Duarte Jr. The extra point was blocked.
Player of the Game
Jack Crowell, New Canaan: The senior captain accounted for both of his team’s touchdowns, one on a 53-yard run and the other on a 4-yard jump pass.
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New Canaan 16, Wilton 12
New Canaan 0 0 7 9-16
Wilton 6 0 6 0-12
W-Michael Duarte Jr. 41 pass from Connor Harlacher (kick blocked)
N-Jack Crowell 53 run (Neel Arora kick)
W-Nicholas Mercado 75 interception return (conversion failed)
N-Luke Williams 4 pass from Crowell (Arora kick)
Records: N 7-2; W 4-5.
This article originally published at New Canaan football makes late goal-line stand to hold off Wilton in Week 10 thriller.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
