Less than a month ago, New Canaan High School head football coach Lou Marinelli wondered aloud to reporters whether his team would make the playoffs. Now New Canaan will get a shot at its fifth straight state championship, having trounced Daniel Hand High School, 39-21, in the Class L semifinals Saturday night in West Haven.
With Hand focusing on the Rams' explosive wide receiver Kevin Macari, New Canaan went to the run more often than usual. Joe Costigan shined at running back, rushing for nearly 100 yards and adding an 11-yard score. Costigan also recovered a fumble on defense with Hand threatening at the Rams 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter.
"I've got to give credit to my offensive line. They were giving me holes you could drive a truck through," Costigan said. "Our lines don't get much attention, but they give us so much time to get things done on offense."
Despite the extra attention, Macari still managed to catch three touchdown passes of 6, 12, and 39 yards. He now has an incredible 22 receiving touchdowns on the season. Macari also gave the Tigers fits on special teams, recovering two fumbles on kickoffs and returning one 38 yards for a touchdown.
"Our coaches do an incredible job figuring out how teams are going to try to cover me," Macari said. "We got them sucked into thinking we were going to run and started to run some play action and I finally got loose."
For the second game in a row, New Canaan was the beneficiary of an uncharacteristically sloppy opponent, with Hand coughing up the ball five times -- twice by interception and three times on fumbles. Ryan Shullman also forced a safety in the Tigers end zone.
The Rams will have their work cut out for them in the Class L state title game next Saturday, Dec. 11, versus top-ranked Masuk. Behind quarterback and Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year Casey Cochran, Masuk has the highest-scoring offense in the state. Masuk pummeled FCIAC champion Darien, 41-0, in the other Class L semifinal.
Do you think the Rams can win their fifth straight state title? Were you at Saturday night's game? Start the discussion below!
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
