Football News

FAIRFIELD — In the Class LL standings, state powerhouse New Canaan and upstart Ludlowe were only separated by a few points heading into Friday’s showdown.

After watching the game, it is clear the gap is still fairly wide between the two on the field.

In a driving rain storm, Ludlowe hung in the game for most of the first half before New Canaan pulled away for a 41-7 win at Taft Field.

The win means New Canaan (7-2) is still alive in Class LL, though it will likely have to beat No. 1 Darien on Thanksgiving to get in.

The loss eliminates Ludlowe (6-3) from playoff contention but does not diminish the turnaround of the program this fall with a game against town rival Warde looming on Thanksgiving.

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To say Ludlowe football was at a low point in 2016 is kind of underselling it.

The team went 0-10 , playing in front of mostly empty bleachers with a roster that resembled that of a Class S school rather than the LL school Ludlowe is.

In fact, when Mitchell Ross took over as coach in 2017, he inherited a roster of 22 players.

Total.

He was able to add a few players through in-school recruitment and the team won a game in his first season though they still finished as the last-place team in Class LL at 1-9.

This preseason, the roster is topping out at close to 100 players.

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STAMFORD—At this point in the season a win is a win and the Stamford High football team will take them anyway they can.

Saturday at Boyle Stadium the Black Knights escaped a defensive struggle against Bridgeport Central with a 7-0 victory.

It was Stamford’s second win on the season while Central remains the only team in the FCIAC without a victory.

While neither offense was able to get going, it was the defenses for both teams shining.

“Getting the shutout feels good,” Stamford defensive back Daniel Simms said. “We were getting put in bad situations by our offense but (the defense) executed the whole time. We had a good shutout. We tried to stop the run first because they every time they threw the ball it was basically a 50/50 ball, so, we tried to stop them from running.”

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Trumbull High football coach Marce Petrocchio said that the first quarter Friday against Westhill “took 10 years off my life.” Fortunately for Marce, the rest of the game probably restored those 10 years.

With Adam Tolk having a great all-around game, quarterback Colton Nicholas passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns and running back Corey Osborne rushing for 130 yards and a score, Trumbull reached .500 with a 35-15 victory.

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FAIRFIELD — Another game, another heart-pounding win for the Fairfield Ludlowe football team.

The Falcons, who came into this season with three wins combined over their previous three seasons, has now doubled that mark this season and, like it has in four of their six victories, it came down to the wire with Danbury before they emerged with a 44-39 FCIAC win over the Hatters on Thursday night at Taft Field.

On the strength of Colin Wilson’s five touchdown passes, three to Brian Howell, and an interception in the final seconds by Howell, the Falcons made sure they’ll have a winning record in 2018.

“Even though they haven’t had success in the past three seasons, they know how to win because they don’t blame each other when things go bad,” Ludlowe head coach Mitch Ross said. “They kept going and going and played a fantastic clutch game.”

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STAMFORD—Thinking he was going to be leading his team into a game Saturday smack dab in the middle of a nor’easter Saturday, Trinity Catholic coach Donny Panapada dusted off some old playbooks when game planning for Westhill.

The contest was moved to Friday afternoon to avoid playing in the storm but Panapada stuck with the new, old, game plan, busting out the Wing-T offense at J. Walter Kennedy Stadium.

The plan worked to perfection as Trinity got two touchdowns on the ground, pounding the ball all afternoon en route to a 22-7 win over rival Westhill.

It was Trinity’s first win of the season and Panapada could barely contain himself after the final whistle as he spoke about what it meant for his seniors.

“I get emotional because of my seniors. They fought like hell today. We fought all year but we have been overmatched and today we fought and…I just feel so good for these kids,” Panapada said. “We switched up the offense and went back to my old days with some Wing-T. It was some old-school football we played.”

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