NEW CANAAN — Miles Chishom smiled while talking about the latest defensive gem for the New Canaan football team. He glanced back at the Dunning Field scoreboard and although by that point the final score had been taken down, the feeling remained the same.
“Nothing makes me smile more than that scoreboard at the end of the day,” Chisholm said.
Second-seeded New Canaan had plenty to smile about while delivering a dominating performance on both sides of the ball and defeating No. 7 Killingly 49-14 in the CIAC Class L quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
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New Canaan (10-1) will face No. 3 Maloney (10-1) in the semifinals at 12:30 p.m., Sunday, at Dunning Field. The game is a rematch of last year's Class L final, won by the Rams 16-13.
With its win on Tuesday, New Canaan is now 12-0 in the state quarterfinals since 2010 and has reached the semifinals in 18 consecutive years.
The Rams started Tuesday’s game with a near replay of their Turkey Bowl win against Darien. Alex Benevento began that game by returning the opening kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. Against Killingly, it was 81 yards and a 7-0 lead just 14 seconds in.
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While the offense found the end zone seven times, including on the Rams first six possessions, the defense was the key, with New Canaan slowing down Killingly senior running back Soren Rief, who was averaging 236 rushing yards per game. He had 119 yards in the quarterfinal, but was held to 30 on 19 carries in the first half while the Rams took a 42-7 lead.
"We had to work as a unit which is what we’ve been doing so well all year," Chisholm said. "We were getting hats on the ball every play, at least two or three guys on him. That’s what we knew we had to do coming into this one. He’s a hell of a player, hard runner, strong kid and a good football player. We had a lot of respect for him and we knew we had to stop him. That was the core of our game plan."
For Killingly, it was a tough ending to a season which started slow with a 3-3 record through six games, but included a four-game win streak and a state tournament bid.
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“I just think we were a little overmatched.” Killingly coach Chad Neal said. “Especially with the speed, but also with the physicality. We were just overmatched today. That’s what it comes down to today.”
New Canaan picked up big chunks of yards to keep the offense motoring in the first half, with Benevento in the middle of it all.
After the opening kickoff return, Benevento had a 56-yard run to set up a four-yard touchdown run by Luke Reed. He then returned a punt 40 yards to the Killingly 20, and two plays later, quarterback Luke Robinson hit Alex Russey for a seven-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead less than six minutes in.
Benevento also had a 65-yard pick six in the second half to finish New Canaan’s scoring.
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“The offensive line played amazing today,” Benevento said. “Same with our perimeter blocking as well. Our receivers did a really good job linking up on their defensive backs. But really, those big plays are really helpful and they boost the confidence. The offensive line played absolutely amazing today.”
For Killingly, Rief finished a storied career with unofficial rushing numbers of 5,563 career yards and 2,481 yards this season.
“He’s a legend,” Neal said. “He has given everything to this program on and off the field. He is the standard of what we look for in a football player.”
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Player of the game
Alex Benevento, New Canaan: The senior continues to be the key cog in the Rams’ engine and kicked off the postseason with two TDs on a kickoff return and a pick six, while also setting up two other scores.
Quotable
“It was just like Darien. It feels really good to go up early and eases the nerves for everybody. We knew we could have a tough time defensively running a new defense against a new type of defense we were going to face., So it was good to settle the nerves early.” - Alex Benevento on New Canaan’s early touchdowns
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New Canaan 49, Killingly 14