NEW CANAAN – With roughly one minute remaining in the fourth quarter, New Canaan safety Blake Schwartz intercepted a pass from Greenwich QB Phil Tarantino in the end zone intended for Jack Kelly, to cap a physical and competitive 14-7 win for the Rams.

The interception from Schwartz was not the first consequential turnover of the game, or even the quarter. Earlier in the fourth, Greenwich was driving deep into the New Canaan red zone on arguably their strongest drive of the night, when Linebacker Michael Hiraman stripped Tarantino as he was trying to scramble, and recovered the fumble himself.

“It was just the coaches putting me in the best position to make a play. I saw number eight coming, and just ripped for the ball like we’re taught, and ultimately made the play. It was really fun,” said Hiraman of his fumble recovery.

The fumble recovery truly was a turning point as Greenwich – which struggled offensively in the first half – was finally having some success moving the football. Greenwich running back Hector Lopez broke off a 49-yard touchdown run to kick off the fourth quarter, resulting in the Cardinals’ first points. Michael Galano hit his only XP attempt of the night to put Greenwich within a touchdown.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third quarter, where two-way star Andrew Esposito of New Canaan unfortunately left the game with an injury. New Canaan was driving to potentially go up 21-0, but lost a fumble deep in Greenwich territory going into the fourth.

“I’m proud of the way our defense looked tonight, but I want to see less mistakes offensively. We had a handful of false start penalties and should have gone up 21-0 in the third quarter. Greenwich is a great team, but championship teams can’t continue to win making mistakes like that,” said Coach Lou Marinelli of New Canaan.

Though Marinelli called out offensive mistakes, the Rams offense showed some major bright spots, especially in the first half. Quarterback Max Hoffman threw two touchdowns on the night. One of which was a beautiful 49-yarder to Charlie Koch towards the end of the first half, and the other was an 11-yarder to Ryan Brooks to kick off the second quarter. Neel Arora was 2-2 on extra points.

Despite a multitude of turnovers, penalties, and big plays, it is hard to tell the story of the game without recognizing the physicality of both defenses. Linebacker Jack Kelly and defensive linemen Jacob Mobley and Isaiah McDonald of Greenwich consistently made plays in the New Canaan backfield. On the flip side, the entire back seven of the New Canaan defense was relentless, with Schwartz, Dante Marsili, Ryan Brooks, Hiraman, and more consistently laying massive hits.

“Our program and their program are probably the best offseason weight training programs in the state. I certainly felt it today, getting put on my butt a couple times, but I thought we held up well, and showed we were the more physically dominant team,” said Hiraman.

New Canaan moves to 6-0 and will host winless Stamford next Saturday. Greenwich moves to 5-1 on the loss, and is looking forward to two tough matchups ahead with 5-1 Fairfield Ludlowe and 6-0 Wilton up next.