SPB's High School Football

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

It’s that time of week again. Put your kiddies to bed, or get your homework done. Grab a cup of coffee. Settle in and watch the show.

Dave Ruden and I will discuss the upcoming games for week 6 and take your questions. Remember, this is a moderated discussion and not a chat room. Submit your questions, but only the best questions/comments will be published. Be patient, we will attempt to get to as many as possible in an hour.

See you then.

Highlights and postgame commentary on St. Joseph’s 54-19 win over Bassick and its first 5-0 start in 12 years (Christy Hayes‘ last year and a team that featured current assistant Jim Chaves. St. Joseph started the year 5-0 and then got hammered by then-upstart Staples and QB Mac DeVito, 34-7. Incidentally, those 1997 Hogs beat Bassick the week before 43-6.

But more on that later this week.

Back in 2009, it was a rather festive homecoming Saturday at St. Joseph, which honored some of its past state championship teams during a small ceremony at halftime. In attendance were Vito Montell’s 1975 boys basketball state champions (his first of nine) and two Christy Hayes’ four state championship teams–1984 and 1989. Both Montelli and Hayes were in the house, as you’ll see. St. Joseph’s senior boys basketball guard Greg Langston served as homecoming King, as you’ll also see.

On the field, it was a wipeout. Bassick, fresh off its shocking 34-7 victory over McMahon, committed two turnovers in the game’s opening minutes and were down 14-0 before anybody could blink. The Cadets just poured it on from there, taking a 52-6 halftime lead in a variety of ways. Bassick’s lone touchdown came on a nifty long pass by Rodney Lanham to Jacquii Tuck toward the end of the first quarter. By then, however, St. Joseph was already in control 28-6.

Anyway, here are the highlights, plus postgame interviews with coach Joe Della Vecchia and Tyler Matakevich, who are both looking forward to Saturday’s latest FCIAC mega match with 5-0 New Canaan.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, your polls for Week 6.

We’ll get more as they come in and we get them formatted (I’m out of the office watching the Yankees, so it’ll be slow going for a spell).

Already getting complaints via text that 2-3 Maloney has received votes in the CSWA Poll. I’ll be posting that soon, but, really CSWA voters? Can you delegitimize that poll any more? Maloney? Grrr.

Top 10 Media poll

Dropped out: None.
Also receiving votes:
11. Simsbury (5-0), 252
12. St. Joseph (5-0), 214
13. Cheshire (4-1), 195
14. Holy Cross (5-0), 191
15. Xavier (4-1), 76
16. Ansonia (4-1), 70
17. Avon (5-0), 59
18. Cromwell (4-1), 35
19. Ridgefield (4-1), 24
20. Berlin (4-1), 22
21. Trumbull (4-1), 14
22. East Lyme (4-1), 9
23. Bloomfield (4-0), 8
T24. Conard (5-0), 7
T24. Wolcott (4-1), 7
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; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; 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.

Day of New London Top 10 Coaches Poll

Also receiving votes:
11. Holy Cross-Waterbury (5-0), 149 points
12. St. Joseph-Trumbull (5-0), 114
13. Notre Dame-WH (4-1), 101
14. Cheshire (4-1), 83
15. Xavier (4-1), 77
16. Ansonia (4-1), 57
17. Conard (5-0), 45
18. Avon (5-0), 41
19. Bloomfield (4-0), 39
20. Ridgefield (4-1), 18
21. Berlin (4-1), 17
22. East Lyme (4-1), 9
T23 Ledyard (3-1), 8
T23 Newtown (4-1) 8
The following coaches voted:
Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; John DeCaprio, Notre Dame-West Haven; 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 Sports Writers Alliance Poll

Week #5
Released October 19, 2009

Also Receiving Votes:
11. Notre Dame-West Haven 4-1 164
12. St. Joseph 5-0 133
13. Holy Cross 5-0 114
14. Cheshire 4-1 77
15. Xavier 4-1 65
16. Avon 5-0 41
T17. Ansonia 4-1 24
T17. Conard 5-0 24
19. Berlin 4-1 20
20. Bloomfield 4-0 14
21. Cromwell 4-1 13
22. Maloney 2-3 6
23. Northwest Catholic 4-1 6
24. Windsor 3-2 5
T25. East Lyme 4-1 3
T25. Ellington/Somers 4-1 3
T27. Coventry/Windham Tech 4-1 2
T27. Ridgefield 4-1 2
T27. Trumbull 4-1 2
T30. Bridgeport Central 4-1 1
T30. Southington 3-2 1
T30. St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills 4-1 1
T30. Vinal Tech/Coginchaug 5-0 1
T30. Wolcott 4-1 1

Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), 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), 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), 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), 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)

I’m going to try something new here in an attempt to have a foundation upon which to base the weekly discussion. It is poll day and we’re going to post every statewide poll out there at 8 p.m. today.

But, to kick off, why not publish the Elite 8 on Monday? For years, well before my time, we published it Fridays. But now, it makes more sense to do it now, get it out of the way and then compare/contrast/debate the merits of the teams at or above its Mendoza line for the days leading up to the next round of games.

So here it is. The Elite 8.

Not many changes at all, outside of the records. This week’s schedule is pretty tame with the exception of two big ones: Xavier at Hamden (a game slightly out of our range, coverage-wise) and St. Joseph at New Canaan on Saturday afternoon… which should be everything a high school football fan could want: A festive, fall afternoon, meeting between two undefeated FCIAC teams.

St. Joseph has been on our radar ever since its 37-0 rout of Crosby in Week 1. It’s dominated some games, muddled through a few others. The Hogs, however, are now 5-0 for the first time since Christy Hayes last roamed the sidelines back in the 1990s.

New Canaan. What to make of New Canaan? Everybody knows I haven’t shared the poll voters’ high praise of the Rams. I maintain their No. 1 ranking is only indicative of what last year’s team accomplished, not what this team is all about.

I heard conflicting reports out of Seymour. Turner Baty was superb in his first start. Willie Ouellette appears to have accepted a receiver role for the time being. Be sure to look for him in a pinch. Nice option to have.  But were there a few weaknesses exposed by the Wildcats? Took some time for NC to get rolling in that one. It was on the road in a typically tough place but, hmmm. Look, no disrespect on my end (they are, after all, No. 3 in my rankings). But like Trumbull last week, I just have some questions before I anoint them No. 1.

Greenwich, on the other hand, pretty much showed Trumbull who has the best defense in the FCIAC. It didn’t help Trumbull’s D that the offense struggled to move the ball against an aggressive front seven led by junior lineman Jim Barrett. Just 30 total yards in the first half. Impressive. Most impressive. Trumbull’s defense did its best, but field position, that Colin Dunster punt return and then Greenwich’s opening drive of the second half ultimately wore them out.

Yes, it is not a vintage Greenwich team. But, compared to most teams this season, it’s legit. Very close to pushing Hamden for that No. 1 spot.

In the SCC, the Division II teams decided to show up and most of them actually held leads early or at halftime in their games. Xavier trailed Guilford 3-0 at the half, Foran was only down 7-3 to West Haven, Sheehan led Cheshire for much of that game, the Jordan Teague-less Hamden Green Dragons had their hands full early with Mike Tracy‘s Branford Hornets. As did Nick Merullo and Hand against North Haven.

Again, I love that the SCC Division II teams showed they can play ball. But the results were the same. The SCC Division I teams went 9-1 vs. Division I, bringing the total to 111-23 all-time.

By themselves, the SCC II teams are just as good as many, if not most like-sized schools across Connecticut. We’d like to see that put into context without these crossover games. Have them play for a “small” school championship, while the Division I’s play each other for a large SCC championship. If one small program believes they can compete up, have a promotion/demotion system. No reason this should be static. (Just ask Hand).

In the NVL, Ansonia proved it’s still boss in its leage despite an earlier setback. The Chargers are a little banged up, Christian Sobin got a majority of the carries typically reserved for Bobby Kinnebrew and did a great job. And then quarterback Nick O’Connor earned his stripes by tossing the winning TD to Tim Troy in a game many felt would spell the end of the Chargers in 2009.

Not so fast. They’re still Ansonia.

Now they’ll begin to take aim at a Holy Cross rematch in the NVL title game. I don’t see any big-time hurdles for Holy Cross the rest of the way (Naugatuck? Sacred Heart?) Ansonia has a slightly tougher road with Watertown, Derby and then St. Paul. Right now, I’d say Ansonia is favored in all three.

In the SWC, we’re all just counting down the 30 days left before the SWC championship game. Pomperaug eventually roasted Newtown. Masuk rolled Barlow. Other than a Masuk-Bunnell tiff on Nov. 13, are there any hurdles for these two squads?

We’ll have much, much more later. Polls, polls, polls upcoming tonight. Live chat later this week. Plus videos of St. Joseph’s win over Bassick.

And, finally, the MIDSEASON REPORT will be up later this week.

Make sure you vote for the best performance of Week 5 on the main Connecticut Post high school football page.

And if you liked Colin Dunster‘s punt return, you’re going to love the full highlight reel of Greenwich’s 37-7 Friday night FCIAC victory over Trumbull.

It includes interviews with Dunster, lineman Jim Barrett (who was all over the field in this one, disrupting every key moment for Mike Romano and the rest of the Trumbull’s offense), plus coaches Rich Albonizio of Greenwich and Bob Maffei of Trumbull.

As mentioned in a previous post before game night, Greenwich’s defense (and, perhaps, the whole team) was not getting the credit it believed it deserved. The Cardinals let everybody know how dissatisfied they were. (Can’t blame me, guys, I’ve had you at No. 2 all season long).

Anyhoo, the Cards exposed the weak links in Trumbull’s offense, which had a mere 30 yards rushing and one passing at halftime. It’s not a vintage Greenwich team, for sure. It’s still a well coached, smart, disciplined and — of course — talented team.

(Make sure you check out Barrett during quite a few defensive plays. Woah.)

Trumbull’s still a pretty good team by FCIAC standards. But in this league, there’s lower tier, middle tier, upper tier … and then there’s Greenwich. This is a program that hasn’t lost more than three games in a season in eons.

Games against New Canaan, St. Joseph and Staples loom, but the Cardinals are on the fast track.

Next few weeks oughta be entertaining.

You asked for it, you got it: The raw footage of Colin Dunster‘s 70-yard punt return touchdown vs. Trumbull.

This view was from the field on the Greenwich sideline. The best part of the whole run was Colin Bawol‘s (No. 3) block on Trumbull’s Will Melvin at about midfield. Had the guys here in the sports office all go “Ohhhhh!” when they saw it.

Hopefully, you know the drill by now.

For the uninitiated, here’s how it works:

Our correspondents and staff writers will be at quite a few high school football games. Armed with our mobile phones, we will text or Twitter (Tweet) updates from our games as they happen live. Those updates will appear on the live feed below in real time.

Of course, we can’t be at all the games. So we ask you, Joe or Jane Fan, to help us out.

If you have a Twitter account, you can send updates from your game to all of those who, for some reason or another, are stuck at home. Just remember to add #ctfb at the end of your updates. Internet access is good, but you can also set up Twitter to send updates via text message.

Already, we have quite a few people getting their games onto the live blog. ItsMeKGill, Spartans97, 548mjs, WWhippets, pjr14… But we can always use more (Especially from Masuk and the rest of the upper SWC teams).

Afterwards, the CIAC’s high school football Twitter feed will give us the official, final scores here on the blog. We will also do our best to respond to comments, if you have any.

SATURDAY’S RADIO

McMahon (2-2) at Staples (4-0), 1:30 — WSTC/WNLK.com (1400 or 1350 AM)