Greenwich entered halftime of its varsity football showdown against FCIAC rival New Canaan feeling it had the momentum on its side and for good reason, since it put the Rams in a situation they hadn’t faced this season. Trailing for the first time all season, New Canaan saw Greenwich head into halftime with the lead, yet the second half belonged to coach Lou Marinelli’s Rams.

Successfully running the Wildcat the majority of the second half, New Canaan leaned on its imposing offensive line to gain significant yardage on the ground and went on two long scoring drives in the final two quarters of action.

The result? New Canaan, the No. 1-ranked team in the state, kept its perfect record intact, defeating Greenwich, the No. 2-ranked squad in Connecticut, 23-19, in a matchup involving defending state champions before a huge, enthusiastic crowd at Cardinal Stadium on Oct. 23. New Canaan, the four-time defending CIAC Class L state champion, improved its record to 6-0 with the impressive victory, while Greenwich, the two-time defending CIAC Class LL state champion, is 5-1 on the season.

Senior Jack Crowell ran for two short touchdowns for New Canaan, which rushed for 163 yards in this much-anticipated matchup involving two storied, premier high school football programs in the state. Greenwich held a 13-9 halftime lead before the Rams unleashed its Wildcat formation, which saw Crowell and several other athletes take the shotgun snap from center and run the ball against Greenwich’s defense.

“That’s because they shut everything else down,” Marinelli said when asked of his decision to run line up the team’s offense in Wildcat formation, which consisted of using an extra offensive lineman and having a running back taking the snaps from center. “That was part of it. A lot of different guys did a good job.”

Seven different players ran the ball for the Rams, who received 54 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Crowell, 39 yards from senior Finn Mocco and 34 additional yards from senior Jeffrey Moultrie. Seniors Henry Keegan and Connor Furman and junior Heath Barry helped power New Canaan’s offensive line, giving the running backs room to run. New Canaan, which defeated Cheshire for the CIAC Class LL Tournament title a year ago, is atop the CIAC Class LL state rankings.

“We have two tackles – one is going to Harvard, one is going to Dartmouth – they are about 274, 6’3, so that helps,” Marinelli said after the Rams earned the close road win against the Cardinals. “We were just a little bit bigger up front then they were and I think that really helped us in the second half, especially.”

Junior quarterback Phil Tarantino completed 12 of 27 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions for Greenwich. Tarantino added 55 rushing yards, including a scoring run for the Cardinals, who totaled 275 yards of offense – 202 passing and 73 rushing – for the game. Greenwich is ranked second in the CIAC Class LL rankings.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Greenwich coach Anthony Morello said. “We had all the momentum going into halftime, I thought we played great in the first half.”

Leading 13-9 at the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half. The Rams took possession and methodically 55 yards in nine plays to take the lead in this hard-fought game for good. With New Canaan running the wildcat, Dallas George carried the ball, followed his blocks and reached the end zone for a 16-yard score. Neel Arora kicked the extra point, giving the Rams a 16-13 lead with 6:09 left in the third quarter.

“We had a quick three-and-out to start the second half and the defense was on the field the rest of the game pretty much,” Morello noted. “Our offense couldn’t stay on the field and our defense couldn’t stay off the field. We knew going into the game that their wildcat, their Rhino package was going to be tough for us.”

Another time-consuming drive put the visiting Rams ahead by two scores in the fourth quarter, a position the Cardinals hadn’t been in all season.

The Rams drove 57 yards in 13 plays, taking 7:21 in the process. Of the 13 plays during the scoring drive, 12 were runs, eight of which were by Mocco. Crowell’s 4-yard run capped the scoring drive, making it 23-13 in favor of New Canaan with 7:39 left in the fourth quarter.

New Canaan rushed the ball 49 times and threw it 18. Senior quarterback Maddox Hoffman completed 10 of 18 passes for 82 yards for the Rams (6-0).

“We’ve never been down in a game before and it was good to see our kids come back,” Marinelli said. “Greenwich does such a good job coaching, I think it was a good game, one versus two.”

Greenwich overcame a bit of a slow start to go into halftime with a four-point lead. On the Cardinals’ first possession of the game, junior quarterback Phil Tarantino was intercepted by Crowell, who leapt to make the INT, then returned it all the way to Greenwich’s 4-yard line.

A couple of plays later, Crowell scored on a 3-yard run. The ensuing PAT was blocked and the Rams had a 6-0 lead with 7:10 remaining in the first quarter. The Cardinals, who also hadn’t played from behind this season, quickly responded to the adverse situation.

Tarantino dropped back to pass and completed a 60-yard pass to senior wide receiver/captain Colin Suvansri, setting GHS up at the New Canaan 4-yard line. Taking a handoff from Tarantino, senior running back/linebacker Justin Carroll bulled his way into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown run. Junior placekicker Michael Galano converted the extra point, putting Greenwich on top, 7-6, at the 5:39 mark of the opening quarter.

“We overcame some early adversity with that quick pick that led to a touchdown,” Morello noted. “We responded right back, took the lead and held them to three points outside of that pick that they took to the goal line.”

Arora booted a 39-yard field goal, giving the Rams a 9-7 edge with just one second to go in the first quarter, but the Cards once again, responded. The host Cardinals marched 52 yards in six plays, culminated by Tarantino’s 10-yard touchdown run through the left side, making it 13-9, with 6:01 left to play in the second quarter.

Senior wide receiver Bobby Stanley had a 24-yard reception for a first down and Tarantino moved the chains with a 15-yard run during the Cardinals’ second scoring drive. Stanley caught three passes for 59 yards, one of which went for a touchdown for GHS.

Junior wide receiver Max Townsend had four catches for 45 yards and senior wideout Dan Black caught two passes for 25 yards for Greenwich, which was held to its lowest point total by New Canaan so far this season.

Behind 23-13 late in the fourth quarter, Greenwich embarked on a six play, 66-yard drive, capped by Stanley’s 17-yard touchdown reception off a Tarantino pass with 39 seconds left to play, bring the home team to within 23-19. Greenwich executed an onsides kick, with Galano kicking it but New Canaan recovered to seal the hard-fought win.

“These guys are going to fight, they’re not going to stop,” Morello said of his squad’s late game score. “We used our clock management to the best of our abilities and we ended up with an onsides kick.”

Leading the Rams’ receiving corps were Charlie Koch (3 receptions, 33 yards) Matt Reed (2 receptions, 21 yards) and Luke Williams (2 receptions, 20 yards).

“We didn’t play our best, we made some mistakes, but so did they,” Marinelli said. “We’ve never been down in a game before and it was good to see our kids come back.”

New Canaan follows its tough win against Greenwich by hosting Fairfield Ludlowe and St. Joseph, then visiting Wilton and Thanksgiving rival Darien to close out the regular season. The Rams began the season with one-sided victories against Trumbull (47-0), Fairfield Prep (27-0), Brien McMahon (49-0), New Britain (47-14) and Bridgeport Central (42-0).

“It was good for our kids,” Marinelli said of his team’s highly competitive matchup versus Greenwich. “Because the gauntlet that we’re going to face – we have Ludlowe, St. Joe’s, Wilton and Darien – so we have a lot of football ahead – we have a lot of things to clean up though.”

Pacing the Cardinals’ defense against the Rams were Carroll, who registered six tackles and one assist and Suvansri (six tackles). Senior Gustav Pietryka made six tackles and senior captain Mickey Petrone had four tackles for the Cards, who also received three tackles and one assist from senior Joshua Alexandre and three tackles and one assist from Alexander Neitzell, who left the game with an injury.

“Hats off to them, you have to play four great quarters against New Canaan and we played two,” Morello said. “I’m proud of our guys and our effort, we just didn’t do enough. The team (New Canaan) is on a 28-game winning streak, you have t o play great for four quarters, we played great for two quarters.”

Up next for Greenwich is a road game against FCIAC foe Ridgefield on Oct. 30th at 7 p.m. The Cardinals will then play host to Wilton on Nov. 6th at 7 p.m., before traveling to St. Joseph (Nov. 14th) and Staples on Thanksgiving (Nov. 26th).

“We haven’t lost two games in a row since I’ve been here,” said Morello, whose Cardinals beat Southington for the Class LL state title one season ago. “So, we’re good at responding, making corrections and turning our attention forward. Ridgefield is a really good program, playing at Tiger Hollow is not easy. We’ll use this as a measuring stick for everything going forward.”