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New Canaan makes a point in shutout win over Farmington

Helmet FarmingtonNEW CANAAN, Dec. 3 – Coming on the heels of a stunning loss to rival Darien on Thanksgiving that snapped an 11-game winning streak, the New Canaan High football team was focused and ready to deliver on Tuesday night in the Class L quarterfinals.
 
The Rams, who were the No. 1 team in the state coaches poll before the four-point loss to Darien, had 583 yards of offense and scored seven touchdowns in a dominating 46-0 win over Farmington.
“We wanted to make a statement and get back to where we were at the beginning of the season when we were blowing some teams out,” New Canaan wide receiver Cole Turpin told the New Canaan Advertiser. “We want everyone to know that we can be close to perfect.”
 
New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli told Hearst Newspapers, “You never know how your kids are going to react after a devastating loss like that,” Marinelli said. “I think our kids wanted to make a statement and 46-0 says a lot.”
 
It was the first shutout of the season by the Rams (12-1). Farmington, making its first playoff appearance since 1999, hasn’t been shutout since September 2010. The Rams limited Farmington just 115 yards of offense – 59 yards rushing and 56 yards through the air. Farmington QB Jeremy Buck was intercepted three times.
 
Ivan Guadalupe led the Indians (9-3) with 56 yards rushing on 14 carries. He caught one pass for 11 yards and had an interception.
 
“They are a very, very good team and there is a reason why they are ranked so high. Our guys competed but we just didn’t have enough to compete with a team that is as good and well coached as New Canaan,” Farmington coach Chris Machol told Hearst Newspapers.
 
The Rams put the hammer down early. Michael Root intercepted a Buck pass on the third play of the game. New Canaan took a 12-0 lead after one quarter on a Frank Cognetta run and a seven-yard run from Nick Cascione.
 
In the second quarter, a nice punt from Guadalupe put the Rams on their own one-yard line. How did New Canaan respond? With a 99-yard touchdown drive on 15 plays. New Canaan converted twice on third down to keep the drive alive. On third down and five from the Ram five-yard line, Cascione ran 10 yards for the first down. Later, on the New Canaan 45-yard line, Cascione completed a 28-yard pass to Frank Cognetta on a third down and five situation.
 
Cognetta capped off the drive with a 12-yard run to increase the Rams lead to 19-0.
 
New Canaan will now face No. 7 North Haven in the semifinals on Saturday at Jonathan Law in Milford. North Haven stunned undefeated Platt High, 35-0. 
 
New Canaan 46, Farmington 0
At New Canaan
Farmington (9-3)          0 0   0 0— 0
New Canaan (12-1)    12 7 27 0–46
First quarter
NC: Frank Cognetta 1 run (run failed), 8:11
NC: Nick Cascione 7 run (pass failed), 5:07
Second quarter
NC: Cognetta 13 run (Peter Swindell kick), 8:11
Third quarter
NC: Cole Turpin 46 pass from Cascione (kick failed), 10:25
NC: Morgan Carson 1 run (Swindell kick), 7:15
NC: Alex LaPolice 8 pass Cascione (Swindell kick), 2:50
NC: Graham Wagner 26 pass from Mike Collins (Swindell kick), 1:39
Individual statistics
RUSHING: New Canaan – Michael Root 1-1, Nick Cascione 6-54, Cole Harris 2-6, Teagan Saitta 6-19, Jack Gulio 4-23, M. Cognetta 3-6, Frank Cognetta 8-70, Morgan Carlson 6-50, Cole Turpin 1-1; Farmingt0n – Ivan Guadalupe 14-56, Kenny Jones 1-4
PASSING: New Canaan – Nick Cascione 21-32-1, 329; Mike Collins 1-1-0, 26; Farmington – Jeremy Buck 8-25-3, 56
RECEIVING: New Canaan – Kyle Smith 2-39, Michael Kraus 2-24, Jack Gilio 2-20, Mike DiCosmo 1-29, Frank Cognetta 2-63, Graham Wagner 1-26, Teddy Bossidy 1-3, Alex LaPolice 3-25, Cole Turpin 8-126; Farmington – Ivan Guadalupe 1-11, Kenny Jones 2-9
RETURNS: Cole Turpin (NC) kickoff 1-20
INTERCEPTIONS: Michael Root (NC) 1-3, Mike DiCosmo (NC) 1-8, Trey Gesing (NC) 1-9; Ivan Guadalupe (F) 1

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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