Beat the Rams, Blue Wave: The Eyes of Darien Are upon You

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The annual Thanksgiving Day clash between Darien and New Canaan arguably is the FCIAC's best football rivalry. It certainly is the oldest, dating to 1928.

The FCIAC championship game between the rivals three years ago drew a crowd in excess of 9,000 at Stamford's Boyle Stadium.

Thursday's game at New Canaan (10:30 a.m.) won't attact that large of a turnout, but there is still plenty at stake in addition to the local bragging rights.

Since each team has a loss, the contest essentially will serve as play-in game for the Class L state playoffs: the winner gets in, the loser goes home.

Darien, which is 10th in the Class L rankings, actually could win and still be left out if things don't break right for the Blue Wave in other games around the state. But the loser definitely will be eliminated, meaning that unlike last season, both the Rams (8-1) and Blue Wave (8-1) will not be in the postseason.

New Canaan (sixth in the Class L rankings) leads the all-time series 47-33-2, including a 12-4-1 mark since the game was moved to Thanksgiving in 1994.

The Rams have won the last eight meetings, including two victories in 2008 -- 28-20 in the FCIAC championship and 26-7 in the  Class MM state finals. New Canaan is 9-0-1 in the previous 10 contests with Darien's last win coming in 2001 (24-21)

Last year, New Canaan posted a 42-14 victory in a game that was marred by the unfortunate incident in which a number of Darien players vandalized the New Canaan campus by spray painting the school.

Entering the final week of the season, Darien (1,040 points) trails Notre Dame-West Haven (1,080), North Haven (1,070) and Farmington (1,050) in the Class L rankings.

However, the Blue Wave would gain 180 points by beating an eight-win New Canaan team and also have another 30 guaranteed bonus points in their back pocket, so a win would take Darien to 1,250. Darien would pick up an additional 20 points if Bassick beats Bullard-Havens and Danbury upsets Ridgefield.

Here are the potential max-out totals for the other teams: Notre Dame-West Haven (50 bonus points available, 1,260), North Haven (40, 1,280) and Farmington (60, 1,270). And all three have winnable games: Notre Dame (7-2) takes on Hamden (1-8), North Haven (8-1) plays Amity (4-5) and Farmington (8-1) has Plainville (5-4).

Of course, first the Blue Wave have to find a way to beat their archrivals for the first time in a decade.

New Canaan, which has been in five consecutive state championship games, boasts a potent offense led by senior quarterback Matt Milano, who has passed for 2,064 yards and 26 touchdowns while throwing only three interceptions.

Patrick Newton (44 receptions for 634 yards), Connor Kilbane (41-457) and Peter Kraus (33-383) each have seven touchdown receptions for the Rams, who like to spread it around.

New Canaan's only loss came on Nov. 5, when the Rams were upset by Stamford, 36-29, their first defeat to the Black Knights since the 1970s. Milano was knocked out of that game with a migrane headache but returned the next week to throw three TD passes in a 49-13 victory over Trumbull.

While he doesn't get as much attention as Milano, Darien junior signal-caller Henry Baldwin also is having a fine season in his first year as the Blue Wave's starter, passing for 1,634 yards and 24 TDs. Darien has two runners who have rushed for more than 400 yards - Christian Bognar (410 yards, 3 TDs) and Peter Gesualdi 404 yards and nine TDs.)

Darien's only blip came in a 42-23 loss at Staples on Oct. 29, a game in which the Blue Wave surrendered 28 points in the third quarter after holding a 17-7 lead at the half.

However, Darien rebounded to defeat Trinity Catholic (49-21) and Bassick (35-8).

TUESDAY'S RESULTS

No games scheduled

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE

No games scheduled

STANDINGS

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