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The New Canaan Black 5th Grade boys met Ridgefield Orange at East Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield on Sunday, the emotional anniversary of 9/11. The game began with a moment of silence and the National Anthem and ended with a Ridgefield victory, 12-7.
Both teams quickly got down to business in the exciting game. Ridgefield advanced quickly to score first. New Canaans George Dumbauld had some great tackles, keeping Ridgefield on its toes and stopping the extra point to hold Ridgefield to 6 points.
Other notable players on defense for New Canaan in the first quarter were Tripp Ferguson, Brandon Broughton and Nico Savini, who all played with real heart, holding the line to keep Ridgefield from advancing at the end of the first quarter.
The New Canaan offense came on strong in the second quarter with quarterback Tripp Ferguson moving the ball with skill. On third down and 1 to go from the 30-yard line, Ferguson was hit as he released a 20-yard strike to Mark Gertsen, who outran the defense to score. Dumbauld banged the ball over the goal line to score the extra point, putting New Canaan in the lead, 7-6.
In the second half, Brian Harrell and JP OHara shut down Ridgefields offense, keeping New Canaan in the lead. After another six points for the home team, defensive guard Tommy Saitta made multiple tackles behind the line of scrimmage, keeping New Canaan in the game.
With just two minutes left in the game and deep in his own territory, Ferguson put the pressure on Ridgefield, sweeping right for 35 yards. On the next play, Savini sprinted 20 yards to the Ridgefield 5-yard line with barely a minute left. After three unsuccessful quarterback keepers and with 8 seconds on the clock, a 5-yard pass completion from Savini was stopped on the 1-inch line by Ridgefield as the clock expired.
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