With two losses already on its ledger, New Canaan knows that every contest from last week on out is a playoff game.
And the Rams are playing like it.
After coming out of its bye with a 42-7 win over Trinity Catholic last week, New Canaan traveled to New Jersey and took down Pascack Valley by the identical score Thursday.
“There’s definitely a sense of urgency,” New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli said. “And I think we’ve been practicing better and the last couple of games we’ve played better. We’re starting to come together, we’re late-starters, but hopefully we can continue this.”
WEEK 8 HS Football Schedule / Scoreboard
The Rams were quick-starters Thursday, scoring 28 points in the first quarter via an 18-yard touchdown run from J.R. Moore, a 31-yard strike from Drew Pyne to Quintin O’Connell, a Christian Sweeney one-yard plunge and a pick-six from Drew Guida.
“We were actually excited about the game being moved to Thursday (from Saturday, due to weather concerns),” O’Connell said.
“Saturday would have been a couple more days to think about it and we wanted to get going. It’s fun going on a road trip. People talk about it’s tough to get off the bus and play a game, for us we embraced it. And now we’ll enjoy the bus ride home; it was a business trip going down but now we’re able to enjoy the win.”
The Ram offense is at its best when it can effectively spread the ball around, evidenced by Thursday’s performance.
Each of the Rams six touchdowns came from different players, as Pyne (8-12, 239 yards, three touchdowns) hit Zach LaPolice for a 66-yard score and Stephen Wrosnki from 32-yards out in the second quarter to give New Canaan a 42-7 lead at the half.
“The weapons are always tough,” Marinelli said. “You never know where the ball is going to go and how (Pyne) reads it. It’s always good to have a strong running game, the offensive line played their best game to date. We’re coming along, it’s too bad that we’re seven games in already, but hopefully we continue.”
NEW CANAAN 42, PASCACK VALLEY-NJ 7
NEW CANAAN 28 14 0 0 — 42
PASCACK VALLEY 7 0 0 0 — 7
NC – J.R. Moore, 13-yard run (Nick Radman kick)
NC – Quintin O’Connell 32-yard pass from Drew Pyne (Radman kick)
PV – Jake Williams, 5-yard run (Jake Ciocca kick)
NC – Christian Sweeney, 1-yard run (Radman kick)
NC – Drew Guida, 39-yard interception return (Radman kick)
NC – Zach LaPolice, 66-yard pass from Pyne (Radman kick)|
NC – Stephen Wronski, 33-yard pass from Pyne (Radman kick)
