No. 6 Ludlowe, quarterback Ryan Love stun No. 1 New Canaan to end the Rams' 29-game win streak

Ludlowe's Jackson Danylko (7) gets a lift from Alex Adwin (72) after scoring a touchdown against New Canaan in a football game on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Dave Stewart/Hearst Connecticut Media) NEW CANAAN - Following a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Ludlowe football team, Falcons lineman Carlo Noecker raised a finger, looked at a camera and shouted, "We're No. 1!"As the saying goes, to be No. 1 you have to beat No. 1. Well, the Falcons have now taken care of one half of that equation.Riding the arm of senior quarterback Ryan Love, sixth-ranked Ludlowe scored on five of its final six possessions and ended No. 1 New Canaan's 29-game winning streak with a wild 34-31 victory Friday night at Dunning Field.It's the Falcons' first win in 13 tries against New Canaan (6-1), and kept the Falcons' record clean at 7-0.Asked if Ludlowe is the best team in the state, Love provided a very diplomatic response."We are just a well-prepared team each week and we give our best each week," Love said. "Depending on our performance in the game, we could beat anyone. It just depends if we're in our groove or not."To New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli, Love was absolutely in a groove in this game."We knew he was good, but I didn't know he was that good," Marinelli said. "He played the game of his life and their coaching staff did a tremendous job, too. There was no quit from either team and it was a great high school game. We just came up a little bit short tonight."Ludlowe has had a terrific run the past four years, putting together a 28-10 record which includes the program's first two CIAC tournament bids the past two seasons.Now, the Falcons have what far and away qualifies as their signature win. Ludlowe had lost all 12 of its previous games with the Rams since the Fairfield schools split in 2004.The Rams and Falcons last faced each other on Oct. 5, 2024, with New Canaan winning 30-14, a game that started New Canaan's 29-game win streak.Love racked up 382 passing yards and threw three touchdown passes, including a back-breaking 76-yard strike to Jackson Danylko to put the Falcons up by 10 with 2:20 to play. Love threw his first interception of the season, an end zone pick by New Canaan's Stone Milligan, but never slowed down as he surpassed 4,000 yards for his career."Words can't describe him, honestly," Noecker said when asked about Love. "The way he played today, I know he had his first pick of the season, but that didn't matter. He threw three touchdowns and his grit is just incredible."New Canaan started well and built a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter while busting into the Falcons' backfield to disrupt the offense.But a fumble, recovered by Noecker, gave the Falcons a lift and they cashed in with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Love to Timmy O'Neill. Love then connected on a 28-yard scoring strike with Danylko, who had five catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns, to cut the deficit to 17-13 at halftime.Ludlowe opened the second half with a 68-yard drive, capped by an 18-yard run by Love to take the lead at 20-17.In all, the Falcons scored 27 unanswered points and although two late touchdowns by New Canaan twice cut the deficit to three, Ludlowe never surrendered the lead."It was just a matter of time when we got it going," Love said. "I really got in my zone, driving our team down the field and everything felt good. I had so much time in the pocket, They're bringing a heavy blitz and our line was calling it out for me. I knew exactly what hole they were shooting through."It was unbelievable what my guys up front were doing tonight."Player of the GameRyan Love, Ludlowe: Who else? The senior quarterback had an unreal night with 382 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown while leading the Falcons past the state's No. 1 team.Quotable"We know that we had a lot of doubters around us and not a lot of people believed in us. But Fairfield Ludlowe is just one big community. I had people I haven't talked to in years or months, texting me before the game. Everyone in that locker room, everyone on the team, all my friends, and everyone who goes to Ludlowe believed in us." - Ludlowe senior Carlo NoeckerNo. 6 Ludlowe 34 No. 1 New Canaan 31LUDLOWE 0 13 7 14-34NEW CANAAN 10 7 0 14-31NC-Neel Arora 28 field goalNC-Matt Reed 35 pass from Maddox Hoffman (Arora kick)NC-Dallas George 6 run (Arora kick)L-Timmy O'Neill 13 pass from Ryan Love (kick failed)L-Jackson Danylko 28 pass from Love (Fin Roeper kick)L-Love 18 run (Roeper kick)L-Gabe Lesizza (Roeper kick)NC-David Zwick 13 run (Arora kick)L-Danylko 76 pass from Love (Roeper kick)NC-Cole Esposito 3 pass from Hoffman (Arora kick)Records: Ludlowe 7-0; New Canaan 6-1Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at No. 6 Ludlowe, quarterback Ryan Love stun No. 1 New Canaan to end the Rams' 29-game win streak.