By Craig Boland
NEFJ Correspondent

NEW CANAAN – With 1:07 remaining in the fourth quarter and the St. Joseph Cadets leading the New Canaan Rams 21-14 on Friday night, Neel Arora of New Canaan executed a beautiful onside kick to give the Rams a final shot.

New Canaan proceeded to drive into the St. Joseph’s red zone with 10 seconds remaining before a Kyle Wicker sack stopped them in their tracks. Safety Jake Rios broke up the following pass in the end zone, which would be the last play of the game, giving the Hogs a thrilling seven-point win.

The onside kick came after a 24-yard touchdown pass from Maddox Hoffman to Ben Crowell, following a huge Rams fumble recovery forced by Dartmouth-bound Henry Reagan. The fumble recovery was the last of many turnovers on the night, including two interceptions from cornerback John Mercier of St. Joseph’s earlier in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we played pretty well everywhere on defense. That’s a tough team to defend when they play fast especially, and they have so many formations, it can be hard to adjust to that,” said St. Joe’s head coach Joe Della Vecchia.

Despite the nail-biter finish, St. Joseph – who scored all its points in the first half – largely controlled a physical, turnover-laden matchup. They were up 21-0 and driving deep into New Canaan territory going into the half, but were stopped cold by a Henry Reagan fumble recovery. The Rams’ first score of the game came with 3:44 to go in the third quarter, when quarterback Maddox Hoffman hit wideout Cole Esposito for a 52-yard touchdown.

“Solid first half, shaky second half offensively,” said Della Vecchia. “With that said, our kids are fast and physical. We preach fast, and physical, and play with passion. That’s what we do every week, and our kids have this burning desire to get after it and win each game.”

Though defense was the theme of the night for the Cadets, the offense made some big plays in the first half, including a ridiculous 45-yard catch-and-run from two-way athlete Justin Daniel, a 10-yard read option keeper from quarterback Jack Moody and a goal-line touchdown run from running back Michael Charland.

On the defensive side, Paul Karafa of St. Joe’s also had two interceptions in the first half, and Wisconsin commit Will Zaccagnino had multiple batted passes to go with a blocked punt. Jake Rios, who also plays both sides of the ball, was 3-3 on extra points.

“We were pretty confident coming in,” said Daniel. “We knew that we were a good team, but we knew coming into it that it was gonna be a hard-fought game. We knew going into practice this week that nothing was gonna be given. But we came out ready to play four straight quarters.”

Next week New Canaan (5-2) looks to bounce back against Wilton, while St. Joseph (7-0) will host Greenwich.