SPB's High School Sports

You know the drill, kids. Get your homework done, your chores completed. If you’re my age or older, put your kids to bed and kiss your wife (or husband… I know you ladies are out there, too) and hop on for a little high school football chat with me and The Advocate’s Dave Ruden.

We’ve done two of these so far and, in lieu of my weekly podcast (discontinued temporarily as I tend to new responsibilities), I think it’s a good way for us to recap and look ahead to the next big week of games.

We kick off a 8:30 and will go until 9:30. We’ll field as many questions as possible, but since the comments come faster than we can respond, it may take a few minutes or more before we get to yours. So be patient.

See ya then.

Boy I was impressed when I heard Wilbur Cross torched Xavier up at Palmer Field in Week 1. A few of voters upward and outward told me they really liked Xavier as a sleeper in the SCC Division I.

So what chance did Amity have? The Spartans were not being talked up by anyone, especially their coach Mike DeVito, after losing stars like QB Bill Choiniere and Jay Binkowski from last year’s high-flying offense. Was a trip to the Wilbur Cross Athletic Complex in scenic East Rock, New Haven even worth the trip?

Well, if you’re me… yes. It’s just down the street. Amity is my high school alma mater. And, of course, who can pass up a 3:30 football game, especially if you’re a state poll voter?

When I got there (late, may I add), boy was I impressed when I saw Amity take a 14-0 halftime lead on the Governors, who are loaded with returning stars James Ward, Arthur Tucker, Dontay Long and Tito Slaughter (what a football name).

Of course, Amity has itself a bona fide star in senior back Tom Scanlon, who was all over the field in this game, and a hard runner in Kyle Kalanta. The Spartans were game.

Alas for the BOW area, Amity couldn’t make the lead stick against this bunch. Cross came out fired up in the second half  exploded for three second-half touchdowns. What’s more, they stopped Amity on three consecutive trips inside the 20-yard line in the fourth quarter.

See how it all went down Friday afternoon in the second of our two Week 2 videos…

Amity apparently has some issues at quarterback, where two underclassmen are attempting to spell Choiniere in the spread/option offense hybrid – Tyler Vallie, a sophomore, took the majority of the snaps — especially late in the game. Brian Speer, a junior, appears to be the thrower of the two. Looks like a season of growing pains for the two of them.

Regardless, I was a little perplexed when Amity didn’t try for a third score when it took over at its own 20 with 2:50 left in the first half, especially since the Spartans were getting the ball to start the second. A friend of mine, though, said he would have sat on the ball two up two TDs on the road, too.  …OK. We’re all different. I woulda taken a few shots.

Cross, on the other hand, got manhandled in the first half. They were denied from in close by Amity’s defense and just kinda lollygagged they way through the first 24 minutes. Whatever coach John Acquavita said at halftime worked. They were more confident, poised and perfect. Ward showed his explosiveness, the defense looked tough.

Still, the Govs couldn’t get out of their own way until Amity was banging on the goal line, when they awoke again. Cross is 2-0, but still a little iffy in my book. I had ‘em in my top 15 last week, now I’m not so sure…

They’ll find out this week. Cheshire comes to town at 4 p.m.

Amity, now 0-2, is rewarded with No. 2-ranked Hamden. Thanks a lot SCC.

Before the season started, we had a pretty good idea about Shelton. With Ray Pendagast, Paul Piccirillo, Mike Georgalas, Ryan DeAngelis and Co., the new spread offense was going to score some points.

After a warmup against West Haven, it certainly did in this week two clash with Cheshire. But we also thought the defense  was going to have trouble, especially against good running teams.

And it did in this game.

Cheshire ran roughshod over our Elite 8 No. 3 for gobs and gobs of real estate on Friday night. Cheshire quarterback Greg Palmer did something even his predecessor, the great Billy Ragone, never did at Cheshire, and that’s score five rushing touchdowns.

Heck, the only other Cheshire player to score five TDs in a game was assistant coach (and one of my Syracuse classmates) Kyle McIntosh when he was bulling over the Housatonic League back in the early ’90s.

(Another aside, Palmer used this phrase when talking about the Big Apple: “They tell me he was pretty good.”   Really? Palmer was–what?–2 or 3 back then? God I’m getting old.)

Anyway… Shelton had no answer for Palmer, or his fellow QB Max Slade. The Gaels got hammered on the ground, which can’t be a good sign just two weeks into the season.

Georgalas’ TD late in the third quarter made it 28-25. But that’s when things finally fell apart for the Gaels. Cheshire scored on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it a 10-point game, and, when Shelton pressed to keep up, they made some errors that ultimately cost them the game.

Watch how it all went down Friday night (and disregard a couple of my dumb editing mistakes while you’re at it. We’re swapping this video out with a new one tomorrow).

So Shelton falls and gets another huge game next week vs. Xavier (at home this time, gentlemen).

While we still hold Shelton in relatively high regard in the rough-and-tumble SCC Division I. We’ll see what they’re made of.

Meanwhile, Cheshire looks like it’s no fluke. If we slotted the Rams into our coverage area, they’d be right around 4 or 5 right now in the Elite 8 (gotta work on that defense and those low snaps, fellas. Though I understand center Connor Hepler had some kind of an injury).

We’ll get a chance to look at them again Friday afternoon at Cross, which will be highlighted vs. Amity in our next video.

The polls have been released. Take a gander and tell us what you think…

 

The Top Ten Media Poll
Compiled by New Haven Register 

Team	Point	Last	Class
1. New Canaan(2-0)(16)	642	1	MM
2. Hamden(2-0)(5)	612	2	LL
3. Greenwich(2-0)	508	6	LL
4. Masuk(2-0)	477	3	L
5. Ansonia(2-0)	404	7	S
6. Cheshire(2-0)	394	NR	LL
7. Glastonbury(2-0)(1)	377	NR	LL
8. Montville (2-0)	358	8	SS
9. Staples(2-0)	310	NR	L
10. Cromwell(2-0)	286	10	S

 First-place votes in parentheses after record.

Dropped out: New Britain (4), Shelton (5) and Notre Dame-West Haven (9).

Others receiving votes: Pomperaug (2-0), 220; New London (2-0), 188; St. Joseph (2-0), 108; Wilbur Cross (2-0), 94; Berlin (2-0), 92; Ridgefield (2-0), 90; New Britain (1-1), 87; Naugatuck (2-0), 64; Ledyard (1-0), 62; Southington (1-1), 40; Shelton (1-1), 39; Simsbury (2-0), 37; Notre Dame-West Haven (1-1), 30; Holy Cross (2-0), 23; Trumbull (2-0), 16; East Lyme (2-0), 14; Bridgeport Central (2-0), 11; Wolcott (2-0), 10; Watertown (2-0), 9; Windsor (1-1), 8.

The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, SportingNewsCT.com; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; Henry Chisholm, Connecticut Post; Garrett Dale, Register Citizen; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, The Herald of New Britain; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Paul Nichols, Middletown Press; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.

 

The Top 10 Coaches Poll
Compiled by The Day of New London

Team	Points	Last
1. New Canaan 2-0 (9)	372	1
2. Hamden 2-0 (4)	354	2
3. Staples 2-0	273	5
4. Greenwich 2-0	262	3
5. Glastonbury 2-0	240	9
6. Cheshire 2-0	225	NR
7. Ansonia 2-0	204	4
8. Masuk 2-0	191	8
9. Cromwell 2-0	148	NR
10. Montville 2-0	141	NR

Dropped out: Shelton (6), Notre Dame-West Haven (7) and New Britain (10).

Also receiving votes: Ridgefield (2-0), 128; New London (2-0), 107; Pomperaug-Southbury (2-0), 106; Wilbur Cross-New Haven (2-0), 101; St. Joseph-Trumbull (2-0), 96; Simsbury (2-0), 48; Ledyard (2-0), 45; Bridgeport Central (2-0), 39; Berlin (2-0), 33; Notre Dame-West Haven (1-1), 22; Southington (1-1), 21; Trumbull (2-0), 18; Windsor (1-1), 16; Tie, Bloomfield (2-0) and Shelton (1-1), 11; Watertown (2-0), 10; Naugatuck (2-0), 9; Tie, Windham (1-0) and Xavier-Middletown (1-1), 8; East Lyme (2-0), 7.

The following coaches voted: Scott Benoit, Hamden; Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; Chuck Drury, Pomperaug-Southbury; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Bill Mella, Southington; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.

 

Connecticut Sportswriters Alliance Poll

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Prev. Rank
1.	New Canaan (24)	2-0	554	1
2.	Hamden (12)	2-0	533	2
3.	Masuk	2-0	433	3
4.	Greenwich	2-0	417	5
5.	Glastonbury (2)	2-0	373	7
6.	Ansonia	2-0	352	4
7.	Cheshire	2-0	274	NR
8.	Montville	2-0	273	10
9.	Cromwell	2-0	245	8
10.	Staples	2-0	170	NR

Also Receiving Votes: New London 2-0 133; Pomperaug 2-0 102; Berlin 2-0 89; St. Joseph 2-0 78; New Britain 1-1 68; Southington 1-1 63; Wilbur Cross 2-0 60; Naugatuck 2-0 48; Shelton 1-1 31; Ridgefield 2-0 29; Trumbull 2-0 28; Ledyard 1-0 27; Notre Dame-West Haven 1-1 27; Simsbury 2-0 26; Bridgeport Central 2-0 22; Daniel Hand 1-1 11; Branford 2-0 9; Manchester 2-0 9; New Milford 1-1 8; Windsor 1-1 8; East Lyme 2-0 7; Xavier 1-1 7; East Catholic 2-0 6; Hyde Leadership 1-1 6; Watertown 2-0 6; Holy Cross 2-0 5; Newtown 2-0 5; Sheehan 2-0 5; Wolcott 2-0 3; Bethel 2-0 2; Bloomfield 2-0 2; Bristol Eastern 2-0 2; Avon 2-0 1; Fairfield Warde 2-0 1; Fitch 2-0 1; Windham 1-0 1

Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Don Boyle (Sporting News CT), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Johnny Burnham (Bristol Press), Bryant Carpenter (Meriden Record-Journal), Henry Chisholm (Connecticut Post), Matt Conyers (Hartford Courant), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), Garrett Dale (Torrington Register Citizen), Anthony Della Calce (Central CT weeklies), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 104.7 FM), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Mark Jaffee (Waterbury Republican), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Robert Mayer (Berlin/Plainville/Southington Citizen), Tim Parry (FCIAC Football Blog), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Ryan Pipke (New Britain Herald), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Steve Sellers (Shore Publishing Newspapers), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)

Impressions:

The fall was pretty hard for teams like Shelton, Notre Dame-WH, Southington and New Britain despite competitive losses… unfairly, I think.  …The coaches pretty much dumped those teams right out of the equation… Ansonia makes a big jump in the Media Poll, too. Though the Chargers dropped in the Coaches. …Glastonbury made a big jump from not ranked (writers) and No. 9 (coaches) as does Cheshire, as they should.  …St. Joseph and Pomperaug are making big moves, and rightly so. But the gap seems a little too wide between Pomperaug and Masuk in the coaches poll. …I like Masuk, but probably about the same as the Coaches like Masuk at No. 8. …The writers are still loving the Panthers (No. 3). …The coaches are loving Staples right now at No. 3 (writers No. 9).

There’s little deviation from the CSWA poll, though the others receiving votes says it’s a free-for-all among the weekly guys for their favorite team at the bottom of the poll. I actually like the rankings 11-21 in this poll slightly more than the others. But whatever…

Overall, though, it seems like we’re settling in. …Our Week 3 videos are upcoming and we’ll get to other pursuits in the coming days.

For now, your thoughts on the polls?

Full disclosure: I’m no mathematician. I never considered joining the debate team. …When it comes to math and logic, I’m more James T. Kirk than Mister Spock (right).

But here’s a concept we can all understand because we do it all the time while trying to judge our fair high school football teams, especially early in the season.

In logic, it’s called the Transitive Law. It goes something like this:

If A=B, and B=C, then A=C.

For our purposes, the formula goes like this. If A > B, and B > C, then A > C.

I’ve been doing it all week as the scores started coming in Friday and Saturday. Here’s how it works:

• Danbury defeated McMahon, 31-8 in Week 1.
• Darien defeated Danbury 31-0, 31-0 in Week 2.
• Fairfield Warde defeated Darien 14-0 in Week 1.
• Therefore, Fairfield Warde is better than Darien, Danbury and McMahon.

I’m sure few would argue with that right now.

But, of course, there are far too many variables to make this logic valid. As the high school football season plays out, we’ll begin to understand this equation is far too simple and things certainly don’t work out this way.

Without getting too technical on y’all, this is more of an example of an intransitive relation. A may be greater than B, and B may be greater than C, but that doesn’t necessarily make A greater than C.

Yet we use the Transitive Law anyway, especially us sports writers trying to rank the state’s football teams because, really, it’s all we have to go on until the rest of the games are played.

The reason I bring this up is because of last week’s barnburner at Jarvis Field.

Ansonia, which thoroughly destroyed Hillhouse in Week 1, struggled to beat Crosby in Week 2. The week before, Crosby got buried (at home) by St. Joseph, 37-0.

So here’s what’s been goin’ round and round my head as I submitted my polls for Week 3 when trying to figure out where St. Joseph fits among the top teams in the state.

• In Week 1, St. Joseph beat Crosby 37-0.
• In Week 2, Ansonia beat Crosby 16-13 on a late field goal.
• Therefore St. Joseph is better than Ansonia.

So, if St. Joseph is better than Ansonia, doesn’t that mean the Cadets should be ranked higher than the Chargers?

Right?

It’s all a part of the who-beat-who-beat-who game. Since everybody can’t play everybody, this is the next best thing.

This is just a roundabout way of asking: Week 2, what did we learn? I’m curious to hear some of your thoughts/arguments.

If you have any good Transitive Law logical examples for me, I’d love to hear them.

Live Long and Prosper.

Man, these last seven or so days felt like an eternity.

Can we start playing football again?

Why, yes. Yes we can.

Tonight as a matter of fact, we fully integrate ourselves into the 2009 season. Week 1 is in the books, plenty of intriguing results and news to chew on — Ansonia crushing Hillhouse, Wilbur Cross beating up on Xavier, St. Joseph’s Tyler Matakevich going buck-wild vs. Crosby of the NVL, Pomperaug looking like it invented football vs. Stratford, Brookfield going down to New Milford, Khairi Fortt going down vs. Ridgefield and deciding to skip this week’s Greenwich game, Norwalk’s Pete Tucci getting tossed against Greenwich, Oxford winning its first varsity game.

Beyond our fair region, lights  Nonnewaug bowing out of varsity competition just days before it was supposed to play defending Class S champ Cromwell (now 2-0), East Haven football players getting the boot for the season, and then getting a reprieve from the school board.

Catch your breath now because it’s on to Week 2.

So let’s hop to it.

Lot’s going on tonight, and today if you happen to be in the New Haven area (my alma mater’s at Wilbur Cross). Not a ton of really great matchups, but a few intriguing ones.

Our featured game is, of course Cheshire at Shelton. Check out William S. Paxton’s feature on the Gaels here.

Dave Ruden has the skinny on “dueling” New Canaan quarterbacks, Willie Ouelette and Turner Baty.

We have comprehensive SCC/NVL and SWC notebooks. Plus all of the extra curricular stuff like scoring leaders, standings, games to watch, my Guide to the Games, and, of course, the updated Elite 8 rankings.

Peruse it all for yourself at any of our four papers’ High School Football pages. The Connecticut Post, The Advocate of Stamford, the Danbury News-Times and the Greenwich Time. You can find all kinds of stuff there, including Week 1 videos and previews, historical links, etc. etc. and find links to our live scoring update blog.

OF COURSE, we are taking your predictions here. So have at it in the space below.

Just remember: be nice… or, at least, reasonably civil. This is football, after all.

That’s all we ask.

Until tonight…

PS> Oh, before I forget. If you’re going out to a game, have a mobile phone and a Twitter account, send us your scoring updates! Just add #ctfb to your tweets and every Twittering football fan can see how your game is going. Your tweet will wind up in our live scoring blog. We’re happy to say Joe Palladino of the Waterbury Rep-Am has agreed to help further this fledgling cause along. So expect lots of NVL stuff from him and regular twitterers like NVLFOOTBALL and the rest of his crew. We also have our usual compliment of reporters who will be twittering away from their games.

That is all. Carry on.

It used to be that high school athletics were covered by their local newspapers and local television, and that’s it. Then, maybe 15 or so years ago, came the rare high school TV highlight show, which eventually dipped its toes into the odd game broadcast.

Then came the internet, MaxPreps.com, which dedicated itself to being the ESPN of high school sports across the nation–with its streaming video shows and national game coverage to go along with its revolutionary statistical database. As interest spiked, copycat sites followed and the big media executives suddenly realized there was good ol’ fashioned money to be made — and lots of it — at the high school level.

Nowadays, you can watch a high school football game on every Fox Sports regional channel in the country. CBS threw its weight behind MaxPreps. Local cable TV quickly upped its coverage last year, in our case, WTNH’s affiliate “MyTV9″ started broadcasting a football game of the week. CPTV and WFSB’s joint venture Connecticut Sports Network started broadcasting all the CIAC championships and recently debuted “Game Time” a weekly high school football show.

Perhaps no one, to my knowledge anyway, has done high school sports broadcasting better than the Madison Square Garden network during the last 15 years or so. Mike Quick and his crew have been scouring the Tri-Date area, covering games and broadcasting highlight shows forever — and doing them well.

So the powers that be over at Cablevision/MSG finally decided to get into the game full time. Using the power of the internet, MSG is attempting to tap the high school market deeper than ever before.

POINT (and there is one): Today is the official Launch of MSG Varsity, a multiplatform high school network covering the entire tri-state, from New Jersey all the way up into Westchester, Long Island and Fairfield County.

MSG Varsity will broadcast at least three, maybe four high school games (not just football) on tape delay for every region, every week (Fairfield County is lumped in with the Westchester group). it will also feature high school roundtables, highlight shows… you name it.

Not only will it be a 24-hour television network, filled with everything sports network should feature, it will also broadcast additional content from its website and provide an interactive service to all of the high schools of the region.

What that means is while the network’s focus will be on sports, part of it will appeal to all extracurricular activities — debate, band, drama and dance… you name it. MSG will attempt to work with high schools to provide content as broadcasters, technicians, camera operators, producers… How many AV departments (do they even call them that anymore?) would love to get their hands on MSG’s technology to broadcast their events?

“There’s always been an interest in high school sports and activities,” said Theresa Chillianis, general manager of MSG Varsity in a recent AP story. “I think you’d agree that, today, kids are already using everything from a cell phone to a video camera to capture their own stories. MSG Varsity is simply providing them with a greater platform to tell those stories. And we can do this more cost effectively than others because we already have the technological and operational infrastructure in place.”

It’s a bold venture for MSG, especially in this economy. But it’s smart. Over the last decade, the network has seen its programming undercut by the likes of YES and SNY for New York pro coverage. So why not try to make some coin by going local, like every every other big news conglomerate? It’s only a matter of time before ESPN and its ultra-local push gets here, anyway… if they’re not already.

What should make this work is this: nobody knows the tri-state better than Quick and the rest of his high school crew, including the guys at Cablevision-owned News12 (Damien Andrew, et. al.) MSG Varsity’s brass have even met with the local newspapers (i.e. Cablevision-owned Newsday and the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers — that’s us) to see how we can contribute to the venture.

The only rub is that this network is available only to the 3 million Cablevision subscribers, which reaches deep into Fairfield County’s coast, but no further — the same way the Connecticut Sports Newtork is only available to Comcast and Cox cable subscribers. The MSG Varsity debut is today, but I can’t watch at home or online in New Haven county, nor can I even attempt to get it.

Cable TV is a pain in the you-know-what, always has been. Just ask UConn fans.

Update:YOU CAN, however, still watch Quick’s High School Weekly show online and on MSG’s regular channel. It’s back after a year spent on satellite channel MSGPlus. Watch High School Weekly here. Or just watch the video below for this week’s episode.

Regardless, this has the potential to be a wonderful outlet and opportunity for the region’s high schools. I’m anxious to see how the first few weeks of programming go. MSG Varsity already has a feature on Kolbe Cathedral’s Chris Smith. We’ve heard the Varsity crew paid a visit to Trinity Catholic’s volleyball team. Among the venture’s many new hires is Connecticut Post intern Brian Fitzsimmons, who took in Central’s 53-28 football win over Fairfield Ludlowe, looking for a feature on Central QB Christon Gill.

So it’s here, it’s here, it’s here. Check it out…and then tell me what it’s like.

Not much needs to be said about this game.

Since the two schools agreed to play each other earlier this year, perhaps no season-opener gathered as much interest or intrigue as this battle between one of the best programs in the SCC and, arguably, the best program in the NVL.

What the thousand-or-so fans were treated to was a dominating effort from last year’s Class S runners-up. Montrel Dobbs and newcomer Bobby Kinnebrew lit up the scoreboard in the second half en route to a 41-12 beating at neutral Veterans Field in West Haven.

Dobbs did the most damage behind a typically dominant effort from his linemen. But it was Kinnebrew, who transferred from Arkansas two years ago and hardly played a snap during 2008, who created the most buzz.

The hulking senior (No. 40), whose uncle had starred for the Chargers 20 or so years ago, scored three touchdowns and was a terror on the defensive line, riding out blocks and making bone-crushing tackles–one of which on a kickoff that led to Nick O’Connor’s short touchdown run and a 34-6 lead after three quarters.

Ansonia, which plays host to Crosby (the only hang a regular-season loss on the Chargers last year) at Jarvis Stadium Friday, was sure to have instilled fear into the rest of the NVL. Watch the video below and see what the Bulldogs, and the rest of the league, have in store for them in the coming weeks.