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New Canaan Red fourth-grade Bantam prevailed 20-8 in its home opener over Darien Blue with Robert Evans having a three-touchdown performance on the day.
After a shaky start by New Canaan Red's offense, the defense had a great series, stopping Darien on the 7-yard line with a fumble recovery by Tyler Saitta. The New Canaan offense came alive on its second series, moving the ball to the Darien 45-yard line. On the fourth play of the series, New Canaan's offensive line, led by Steven Hoge, Thomas Marshall, Charlie Mullaney, Alec Kazlauskas, Andrew Morse, Greg Korsun and Jack Anderson, opened a hole, allowing Robert Evans to run for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point was successful with a run by Nick Gilio. Key blocks were also made by Ryan McAleer, Gilio and Andrew Smith in the backfield.
The New Canaan Red defensive line was led by Tyler Saitta, Nicky Hoge, Thomas Marshall, Jack Hynes, Mullaney and Korsun. The big hitting linebackers were Smith, McAleer and Evans. The swarming defensive backs were Colby Gardiner and Nick Gilio. This crew combined to stop Darien on its next three possessions, allowing only one first down. The Red offense took over on its own 40 and drove the ball to the Darien 38-yard line. The drive was capped by a 38-yard touchdown run by Robert Evans. The extra point was not good. New Canaan took a 13-0 lead into halftime.
Red stopped Darien on downs in the beginning of the second half. The offense took over with Colby Gardiner at quarterback and Tyler Saitta, Xander Arnone and Dylan McDonald in the backfield. After several first downs, New Canaan turned the ball over to Darien.
On the last New Canaan Red possession, the offense drove to the Darien 46-yard line. The next play capped the scoring for the day, with a 46-yard touchdown by Robert Evans. Gilio successfully completed the point after.
Late in the game, Darien finally broke through for a score, making the final 20-6.
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