St. Joseph beats New Canaan 21-14
The Hogs survived a late rally to claim their first win over the Rams since 2022.
By Samuel Hayes ·
High school football standings in Connecticut shifted after second-ranked St. Joseph defeated third-ranked New Canaan 21-14 on Friday night at Dunning Field. The result ended a recent run of dominance for the Rams and handed the Hogs their first victory over their rivals since the 2022 regular season.
New Canaan had entered the game with a long history of success against St. Joseph. The Rams won eight straight meetings between 2008 and 2014. St. Joseph then took five straight from 2017 to 2022. New Canaan won the previous two matchups in 2023 and 2025. The Hogs came within a few points last year but lost 7-3.
St. Joseph built a 21-0 lead by halftime. Justin Daniel ran for 47 yards for a touchdown, and Michael Charland and Jack Mooney added scores. Jake Rios kicked three extra points. The Rams scored no points in the first half.
New Canaan responded in the second half. Cole Esposito caught a 52-yard pass from quarterback Maddox Hoffman for a touchdown. With 1:07 left, Hoffman threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jack Crowell to cut the deficit to seven points. The Rams recovered the ensuing onside kick at midfield.
New Canaan drove down to the St. Joseph 15-yard line but could not score. A sack and an incomplete pass ended the drive and the game. The Rams have now lost two straight games for the first time in eight years. Their 29-game winning streak ended in a 34-31 loss to Ludlowe on October 30.
Ludlowe jumped from No. 6 to No. 1 in the GametimeCT Top 10 Poll this week. The last time New Canaan lost back-to-back games in-season was in 2005 to Staples and Trumbull. At that time, Curt Casali played junior quarterback. Casali is now a retired Major League Baseball catcher. The Rams’ previous consecutive defeats came against Masuk in the 2017 Class M semifinals and St. Joseph in the 2018 opener.
