Few people outside of Avon are giving the undefeated Avon High football team much of a chance against New Canaan and its legendary coach Lou Marinelli when they meet in the Class L quarterfinals on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Simsbury High.

Avon went 10-0 and won its fourth Pequot Uncas Division championship in five years to secure the No. 3 seed in the eight-team Class L tournament. New Canaan went 8-2 and earned the No. 6 seed. It will be the first meeting ever between the two schools in football. Avon hasn’t faced an FCIAC opponent since 1962 – its third season as a varsity program.

The Rams are in the state playoffs for the eighth straight year and for the 14th time. While Avon went 10-0 in the regular season for the second time in three years, critics would argue that Avon’s Pequot Conference schedule was soft outside of about four games against larger schools.

New Canaan began the year with a young and inexperienced group. The Rams lost to Trinity Catholic in Stamford for the first time in 28 years in overtime and dropped its Thanksgiving Day contest to Darien for the first time since 2001. Still, New Canaan won eight games including a win over Norwalk when 10 players and six starters were suspended for one game.

Darien High coach Rob Trifone shared his thoughts about New Canaan with the Norwalk Hour before his Blue Wave beat New Canaan on Thanksgiving.

“(New Canaan) always gets better, they are multi-dimensional, they run, pass, and run the option,” Trifone told The Hour. “They are big and physical up front, and they have 10 or 12 kids skill-player wise who can hurt you. They have so many kids who can catch and run. Every time I turn on their film, a different kid is scoring a touchdown.”

New Canaan has been balanced this year, averaging 194 yards a game on the ground and 172 yards in the air. Junior QB Nick Cascione is the leading rusher with 711 yards and eight TDs. Throwing the ball, Cascione has completed 103-of-171 passes for 1,093 yards, 15 TDs and five interceptions.

Casicone has several targets. Grady Lynch (29 receptions, 299 yards, 5 TDs) is the leading receiver with Jack Gilio (24-241, 3 TDs), Andrew Read (21-225, 2 TDs), Jack Barfuss (13-149, 5 TDs) and Cole Turpin (13-179, 2 TDs) as his primary receivers.

Trifone said the Rams are solid on defense, too. “As long as I’ve played them they are solid on defense,” Trifone told The Hour. “They are sound, they play hard, and it’s difficult to move the ball on them.” Cole Harris is the Rams’ top tackler with 111 with Mike Root with 65 tackles. The Rams have 29½ sacks led by Connor Buck with nine and Zach Allen with six. New Canaan has 17 interceptions and 18 fumble recoveries.

Avon makes its living on the ground, led by senior running back Colin Moore, who ran for over 2,000 yards for the second straight season. Moore has run for 2,033 yards and 29 TDs behind an offensive line that was new at the beginning of the season but has grown over the past 11 weeks.

Offensively, the key will be if Avon can successfully throw the ball and take some pressure off Moore and the running game. Junior QB Noah Hahn has completed 43 of 74 passes for 652 yards and six touchdowns, primarily to Chris Suttmeir (20 receptions, 290 yards, 3 TDs) and Justin Reichler (13-228, 3 TDs). It won’t need to be a lot of passes but just enough to keep the Rams defense honest.

Defensively, the Falcons have given up just 97 points this season but they will be challenged with a stronger and speedier Rams offense. Avon has intercepted 12 passes and recovered 12 fumbles. Leading tackler Jimmy Murphy (124 tackles) also leads the team with seven sacks for 44 yards. Joey Murphy has made 111 tackles.

It won’t be easy for Avon. They won’t be able to afford many mistakes, including turnovers. And they will have to play for 48 minutes. But they have shown they can play with top teams from around the state.

In the 2008 Class M semifinals, the Falcons forced six turnovers and led Brookfield at halftime by five before losing, 35-19. And Brookfield went on to win the Class M title. In 2009, Avon made several early errors as Berlin raced out to a 28-0 lead but the Falcons rallied before falling 35-28 in the semifinals. Berlin also went onto win the Class M title that season.

No. 3 Avon (10-0) vs. No. 6 New Canaan (8-2)

When: Wednesday, Nov. 28
Where: At Simsbury High
When: 6:30 p.m.
Series: First meeting
CIAC playoffs: New Canaan, 14th appearance, 20-5, 8-4 in finals; Avon, 3rd appearance 0-2, 0-0 in finals.
Of note: The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday night but postponed a day due to the forecast of snow throughout the state. … New Canaan earned a spot in the CIAC tournament for the eighth straight year and have played in six straight title games. The Rams have lost in the last two Class L finals after winning a quarterfinal and semifinal contest. They also won four straight Class MM titles from 2006-09 with eight straight CIAC victories. … This is Avon’s first game against an FCIAC opponent in 50 years. Avon dropped three games to Wilton from 1960-62 and a game to Trumbull in 1961.

About New Canaan

Coach: Lou Marinelli, 34th season, 282-95-7 (including 2012 results)
Conference: FCIAC
Record: 8-2, 4-2 FCIAC East (3rd)
RUSHING                        Att-Yds                    TDs
15 Nick Cascione            107-711                      8
6 Ted Bossidy                  69-358                       3
10 Louis Hagopian          74-329                        2
41 Frank Cognetta           55-268                       3

RECEIVING                        Rec-Yds                TDs
7 Grady Lynch                    29-299                     5
3. Jack Gilio                        24-241                     3
20 Andrew Read                 21-225                     2
5 Jack Barfuss                    13-149                     5
22 Cole Turpin                    13-179                     2

PASSING                        C-Att-Int            Yds         TDs
15 Nick Cascione           103-171-5          1093         15
6 Ted Bossidy                   51-85-2             619          7

TACKLES
2 Cole Harris 111
25 Mike Root 65

SACKS (29½)
99 Connor Buck 9
44 Zach Allen 6

2012 New Canaan results

Points: 337 Pts. allowed 152
Sept. 14: Bassick, W 42-16
Sept. 22: at Trinity Catholic, L, 31-28 OT
Sept. 29: at Fairfield Warde, W 35-6
Oct. 5: Brien McMahon, W 38-14
Oct. 12: Norwalk, W 39-7
Oct. 20: at St. Joseph’s, W 27-21
Oct. 27: Wilton, W 21-14
Nov. 9: Stamford, W 35-0
Nov. 16: at Trumbull, W 49-7
Nov. 22: at Darien, L 36-23

About Avon
Avon Football Online

Coach: Brett Quinion, 10th season, 67-36 (including 2012 results)
Conference: Pequot Conference
Record: 10-0, 10-0 Pequot Uncas
RUSHING                        Att-Yds           TDs
Colin Moore                    242-2033          29
Mitch Cappello                  51-279            2
Jimmy Murphy                   12-130            1
Joey Murphy                        6-88              1

PASSING                        C-Att-Int          Yds    TDs
Noah Hahn                       43-74-2           652      6
Colin Moore                       3-4-0               13       1

2012 Avon High results

Points: 326 Pts. allowed 96
Sat. Sept. 15   Avon 27, Stafford/East Windsor 0
Sat. Sept. 22   Avon 35, Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton 15
Mon. Oct. 1     Avon 47, SMSA/University 19
Sat. Oct. 6      Avon 28, Canton 6
Sat. Oct. 13    Avon 41, Gilbert/Northwestern 10
Sat. Oct. 20    Avon 42, Granby 7
Sat. Oct. 27    Avon 37, Housatonic/Wamogo 7
Fri. Nov. 2       Avon 26, Enfield 6
Sat. Nov. 10    Avon 14, Ellington/Somers 7
Sat. Nov. 17    Avon 34, Windsor Locks/Suffield/EG 20

More statistics and information at Avon Football Online

Collinsville Press, Oct. 1: Avon gets the job done in win over Tigerhawks

Collinsville Press, Sept. 22: Moore, Falcons prove a point in win over Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton