NEW CANAAN – The defense of the New Canaan football team has looked so unbreakable through the first two games of the 2026 season it begs the question: Are the Rams ever going to give up a point?
“Obviously the goal is not to,” New Canaan senior linebacker Jack Crowell said with a smile. “No, we’re not planning on it.”
All kidding aside, the New Canaan defense is living up to its billing, delivering a second straight shutout with a 27-0 victory over No. 10 Fairfield Prep in a Connecticut High School Football Alliance game Friday at Dunning Field.
The Rams led by 17 at halftime when Matt Reed opened the second half with a 95-yard kickoff return, essentially icing the game.
New Canaan’s winning streak is now 25, the longest current streak in the state, and the Rams have six shutouts during that span. They’ve also won four straight CIAC Class L championships and have opened the season with two straight shutouts for the first time since 2021.
New Canaan senior Charlie Cuesta had two interceptions, the second of which ended the Jesuits’ final drive. He said there is pressure that comes with maintaining the Rams’ high level of play, but they don’t really feel it.
“It’s every week in practice, coach getting us right with the game plan and we just stick to it,” Cuesta said. “It showed tonight again. We don’t talk about (shutouts), but everyone’s thinking about it.”
The Rams (2-0) and Jesuits (0-2) were meeting for just the third time in the last 20 years. New Canaan won 14-7 during another Alliance game in 2021, and 38-7 in the 2018 Class LL semifinals.
Neither offense was able to maintain much momentum, but the Rams cashed in for the opening score with the help of a flubbed punt by Fairfield Prep, followed by a pass interference penalty on the Jesuits a few plays later.
New Canaan quarterback Maddox Hoffman cashed in for a 4-yard run for the 7-0 lead. The Rams’ other touchdowns came on Reed’s kickoff return and a 28-yard pass from Hoffman to Reed. Kicker Neel Arora was 3-for-3 on PATs and nailed field goals of 43 and 42 yards.
Fairfield Prep, which lost at Scranton Prep (Pa.) last week, did move the ball at times with some runs from Chad James and Jackson Gaspar, but made some mistakes, while New Canaan’s defense came up with big plays.
“We’re a little inexperienced and there’s no excuses when there’s a lack of execution,” Fairfield Prep coach Keith Hellstern said. “We made too many mistakes against a very good team. This game would be a lot tighter than (it was) and it would’ve been down to the wire based on how we played physically and some of the good things that we did. We have to clean things up and execute at a higher level. That’s winning football.”
For New Canaan, the train keeps rolling.
“We started the week off with a little bit of a lackluster practice, but then we turned it up and stuck to the game plan and it showed tonight,” Cuesta said.
Player of the game
Charlie Cuesta, New Canaan: There was plenty to go around on the defensive side of the ball for the Rams, but Cuesta gets the spotlight with a terrific game highlighted by a pair of interceptions.
Quotable
“There’s a lot of pride. New Canaan defense, we want to be ferocious, we want to be dangerous. We definitely want to be known as one of the top defenses in the state.” – New Canaan linebacker Jack Crowell
No. 1 New Canaan 27, No. 10 Fairfield Prep 0
FAIRFIELD PREP 0 0 0 0 – 0
NEW CANAAN 7 10 7 3 – 27
NC-Maddox Hoffman 4 run (Neel Arora kick)
NC-Arora 43 field goal
NC-Matt Reed 28 pass from Hoffman (Arora kick)
NC-Reed 95 kickoff return (Arora Kick)
NC-Arora 42 field goal
Records: Fairfield Prep 0-2, New Canaan 2-0
This article originally published at No. 1 New Canaan football blanks No. 10 Fairfield Prep for 25th straight win and 2nd straight shutout.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
