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NEW CANAAN, Conn. The crisp, clean play New Canaan High School football fans are so used to was nowhere to be found Saturday evening in the Rams home opener. Charged for a whopping 12 penalties, the Rams gave plenty of chances to Trinity Catholic. But luck and the veteran leadership of quarterback Matthew Milano were on New Canaans side.
Milano went 26-for-39 in passing, racking up 287 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-14 romp over Trinity. Milano connected with four different Rams on his scoring passes. Any Rams fan could tell you, however, it was not a top-notch performance for the usually efficient Milano.
We just werent executing there for a while. Our reads were just wrong, Milano said. It was early-season mistakes, I guess. No way around that.
Milano added that he is still getting used to his new receivers. He said his relationship with graduated wide receiver Kevin Macari doesnt pop up out of nowhere.
The New Canaan fans were awfully quiet in the first quarter, as the Rams fought from behind. Trinity marched 86 yards on six plays, ending on a wacky tipped-ball touchdown catch by Donavan Stephenson to put the Crusaders up, 7-0.
The Rams answered right back, blazing down the field in a no-huddle offense. Milano led two consecutive scoring drives, ending in touchdown strikes to Ted Bossidy (10 yards) and Connor Kilbane (5 yards).
Trinitys lead back, Shaquan Howsie, nearly stole the show from there. The junior running back ran 60-yards to the house to tie the game at 14-14, sucking the energy out of the Rams fans.
We made it tough on ourselves. The score looks like a blowout, but [Trinity] played as tough as anybody, head coach Lou Marinelli said. They really put a scare in us that first half. [Milano] has seen a lot and his veteran leadership certainly helped tonight.
Trinity marched quickly down the field behind Howsie, but Crusaders quarterback Dan OLeary struggled mightily to complete passes. The Rams picked him off four times, twice in the New Canaan red zone.
New Canaan finally broke the Trinity momentum by getting lucky. The Rams botched a field goal attempt with time winding down in the half, but kicker Collin Shapiro recovered the ball and found Kevin McDonough wide open to put the Rams up at a more comfortable 28-14 lead heading into halftime.
The Rams offense finally settled down in the second half. Milano connected with Peter Minaglia and Peter Kraus twice for touchdowns.
New Canaan (2-0) will host an upstart Fairfield Warde team on Friday at 7 p.m.
Game Notes: The Rams were penalized for over 100 yards, but Trinity could do nothing with the gift yardage Trinity running back Shaquan Howsie, who finished with 226 yards on 19 carries, left the game with what head coach Pete Stokes called a serious knee injury New Canaan was called offsides on the opening kickoff three consecutive times before the game finally got underway.
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