SPB's High School Football

Below are the All-SCC football teams selected by the league’s coaches. You may look at this team, plus all of the other fall all-league teams at www.southernconnecticutconference.org.

We’ll have the other teams published as I get them formatted. Most of them have been announced.

Division I Offense
OL: Brandon Maroney (Xavier), Luke Scinto (Cheshire), Frank Civitello (West Haven), Dom Diglio (Notre
Dame), Alex DeMarco (Hamden)
WR: Conor Keniry (Notre Dame), Maurice Morrison (Wilbur Cross), Alex Shaw (Hand), Paul
Piccirillo (Shelton)
RB: Julian Hayes (Xavier), Justin Willis (Notre Dame), James Ward (Wilbur Cross)
QB: Alex Pace (Xavier), Jason Lassiter (Hamden), Greg Palmer (Cheshire)
UTY: Nick Merullo (Hand)

Division I Defense
DL: Rob Bowman (Notre Dame), Connor Capasso (Amity), Jo-Von Ladson (Hamden), Haydon Stanton
(Xavier), Cameron Davis (Hamden)
LB: Dan Sweeney (Cheshire), Tito Slaughter (Wilbur Cross), Graham Stewart (Xavier), Joel Youd
(Shelton), Devante Creole (West Haven)
DB: Kyle Vignone (Fairfield Prep), Mike Georgalas (Shelton), Tom Scanlon (Amity), Paul Tuscano
(Cheshire)
P: Ray Pendagast (Shelton)

Division II Offense
OL: Anthony Chiaia (North Haven), Ben Urbasik (Lyman Hall), Mike Ficorilli (Guilford), Ryan Furlow
(Foran), Robert Goldstein (Lyman Hall)
WR: Matt Fallon (East Haven), Pedro Boskovic (Branford), Stepheon DeJourenett (Hillhouse)
RB: Kendrick Amaker (North Haven), Spencer Jones (Hillhouse), Joe Desandre (Lyman Hall)
QB: Tucker Schumitz (Foran), Andrew Luzzi (Branford)
UTY: Zach Prefontaine (Sheehan)
PK: Adam Dear (Guilford)

Division II Defense
DL: Jon Proto (North Haven), Stanley Bajerski (Jonathan Law), Kunimel Lomotey (Branford), Dashon Riley
(Hillhouse)
LB: Uqur Citlak (Lyman Hall), Jon Lytle (Sheehan), Reno Dunkley (Hillhouse), Brett Biestek (Sheehan),
Joe Williams (North Haven)
DB: Harrison Goodkind (Branford), Alex Mihalov (Jonathan Law), Will Stitilis (Guilford), Ricky Festa (Foran)
P: Cory Vienneau (Jonathan Law)
UTY: Doug Daniells (Foran)

We have another coaching vacancy: Andy Buchsbaum has stepped down at New Fairfield after five season. He said via email he announced his decision to the team on Thursday.

Buchsbaum was 19-32 in five seasons but was 16-16 in his final three seasons, including a 6-4 campaign in 2007 and again this year.

That brings the coaching vacancies to four in the region: Fairfield Prep, McMahon, Stratford, New Fairfield.

We’re just starting to sift through the 2009 season here at the Connecticut Post offices. We’re in the process of contacting coaches and getting feedback for our annual all-Connecticut Post team — which encompasses southwest Connecticut. (Coaches, check your email this evening, if not email me at sbowley@ctpost.com).

But before we do that, we’re looking to hear what you think.

Who is the Southwest Connecticut MVP for the 2009 High School Football Season?

We want an offensive MVP. We want a defensive MVP.

Players only from our coverage area are eligible. We cover the whole SWC, FCIAC and the following teams from the SCC: Amity, Fairfield Prep, Foran, Hamden, Hillhouse, Law, NDWH, Shelton, West Haven, Wilbur Cross; From the NVL: Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Woodland; From the CSC: Abbott Tech, Bullard-Havens, Platt Tech.

Ladies and gentlemen, the final Elite 8 of the 2009 season: Notre Dame is No. 1.

The Green Knights were the easy pick atop our southwest Connecticut rankings. They defeated an awesome, awesome team in Pomperaug; after the Xavier loss (in which they led 21-0), Notre Dame ripped through the rest of the SCC Division I fairly easily and tipped eventual Class LL champion Cheshire along the way. They had a great line, excellent linebackers and the offense was a machine with Sean Goldrich, Justin Willis and Connor Keniry. The resume speaks for itself. Beating a legit 12-0 Pomperaug team propels them to the top.

Staples is No. 2. The Wreckers’ resume included an FCIAC championship victory over Central, wins over Greenwich, Xavier and they were just yards away from sending the Class LL final to overtime after falling behind 21-7. Awesome defense all year. And the Wreckers proved no one man makes a team by slotting Keith Gelman in for injured Brandon Pacilio and not even missing a beat. This bunch didn’t have many superstars, but played great football the whole year.

Pomperaug is No. 3. The Panthers, too, were an awesome team. They ripped through the SWC, beat a good Masuk team in the SWC title game, took out a strong Simsbury team and gave Notre Dame-WH all it could handle in a classic Class L encounter. Say what you will about the pass interference call, but you have to play through it. ND had a touchdown called back, too. The turnovers are what killed Pomperaug in the final. And Notre Dame is the reason why. If they played again? Who knows? Like Staples, tough way to go out for a great senior class. But an awesome season, nonetheless. A team to watch next year.

Central is No. 4. Yes. This is a team everybody would have loved to see in the Class LL draw. The Hilltoppers more than made up for their showing at Trumbull by knocking off Greenwich with big plays, absolutely burying eventual Class MM champion New Canaan, and then came within a minute of beating a great Staples team. This team was born a year too early. If the new playoff format was implemented The Hilltoppers would have been in the eight-team field (and would have gone to Glastonbury for round 1).

New Canaan is No. 5. This group overcame a major plot twist at the start of the season when Turner Baty showed up to win a fourth straight Class MM championship — no small task. The kids pulled together with Baty, won big games and were No. 1 in the polls all year until getting crushed by Central at Kennedy. We like to compare that loss to Central’s 21-0 showing at Trumbull. Every team in this draw had its hiccup, but because of that loss, it’s tough to put NC ahead of Central — which was edged out of the stacked LL draw — even with the MM title. Still, this was an awesome team — one whose defense really came on in the season’s final weeks to propel the Rams to the top. It’ll be even more intriguing to see how the they fare next season when they’re bumped into the Class L draw alongside Masuk, Pomperaug and Notre Dame-WH.

Greenwich is No. 6. Yes, the Cardinals finished 7-3. But lost to Central, New Canaan and Staples by 1, 1 and 2 points respectively. The Cardinals were an excellent team, but seemed to self-destruct in tight situations. That’s something to take into the offseason where there’s some rebuilding to do. But they’ll be back.

St. Joseph is No. 7. The Cadets had a tremendous year — their best season in 19 years, navigating a rough FCIAC schedule (losses to Greenwich and New Canaan) to finish 8-2, getting into the playoffs and then rode defense and junior Tyler Matakevich to their first state championship since 1990 and ninth overall. Many are pegging this to be a contender next year. Lots of seniors graduate, but Matakevich and QB Joe Della Vecchia return. Winning a title next year will be tough either way. The Cadets would have been in Class S alongside Northwest, Hyde, Bloomfield and Ansonia. …they would have still gone to Holy Cross in the quarterfinals, and we know how that turned out.

Masuk is No. 8. The Panthers, too, overcame a plot twist before the season when Casey Cochran showed up and still managed a tremendous year. But this was still a very young group and it showed at times, especially late in the season. They had Pomperaug sweating in the SWC title game, but stumbled at the finish line against Newtown. Like Central, we never got to really see how this team would have responded in the playoffs. Make no mistake, this is the team to beat next year, and maybe the year after that in the SWC. They’re going to be around for a long, long time.

Here’s our highlight reel from the thrilling Class LL championship game at Ken Strong Stadium. Again, I did not have a the angle on Brian Havilcek and Luke Scinto‘s winning play. You’ll have to watch CTSN for that beauty.

We do have everything else, Staples first TD drive, Cheshire’s three-TD explosion, Staples’ fourth-quarter comeback and, of course, all the overtime action and interviews.

(We thought we had it, but I’m told the video is process. You may have to wait for a spell before it shows up. When it does, enjoy).

Notre Dame West Haven QB Sean Goldrich is driven out of bounds during Class L high school football state championship against Pomperaug on Saturday. The Green Knights are No. 1 for the first time since 1962

The voters in the traditional state media poll have spoken.

For the third time in school history and the first time since 1962…

NOTRE DAME IS NO. 1

The Green Knights beat out other state champions, Cheshire (11-1) and New Canaan (11-1) for the coveted trophy.

Sources have confirmed that the good people at the New Haven Register have already gone to the school for the No. 1 photo. They’ll be publishing the poll very shortly and we’ll get all the details for you then. Update and yes, our sources were correct. The Register released the poll today at 5:30, confirming ND as your state No. 1.

Here’s a hearty congratulations to the coach Tom Marcucci and the rest of the Class L champion Green Knights. After a crushing loss to Xavier in Week 2, the Green Knights earned it by winning their next 10 games, toppling eventual Class LL champion Cheshire and a host of good SCC teams along the way. They dominated Conard and then outlasted an awesome Pomperaug team in the championship.

They were my No. 1 team. I’m glad my colleagues agree.

UPDATED 8 p.m…. My colleagues and I do not agree on anything else, apparently. Here are your polls.

STATE MEDIA POLL

Dropped Out: New London (3), Glastonbury (6), Conard (8), Simsbury (9).
Other teams receiving votes: Glastonbury (9-2), 244; New London (10-1), 179; Simsbury (9-2), 175; Conard (10-1), 165; Montville (10-2), 132; Greenwich (7-3), 103; Masuk (9-2), 63; Bethel (9-3) and East Lyme (10-2), 50; Ridgefield (9-1), 34; Avon (10-1), 30; Northwest Catholic (10-2), 20; Holy Cross (9-2) and St. Paul (8-3), 19; Shelton (7-3), 18; Bloomfield (9-2), 15; Hamden (7-3), 10; Ansonia (8-3) and Windsor (8-2), 8; Wolcott (8-2). 7

The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, Sporting- NewsCT.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.

STATE COACHES POLL

Dropped out: New London (T4), Conard-West Hartford (7) and Simsbury (8).

Also receiving votes: Greenwich (7-3), 113 points; Glastonbury (9-2), 104; Simsbury (9-2), 102; New London (10-1), 84; Conard (10-1), 75; Montville (10-2), 51; East Lyme (10-2), 38; Masuk-Monroe (9-2), 30; Bethel (9-3), 26; Northwest Catholic-West Hartford (10-2), 25; Avon (10-1), 14; Holy Cross-Waterbury (9-2), 10; Bloomfield (9-2), 9; Ridgefield (9-1), 8.

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.

CSWA POLL

Also Receiving Votes: Glastonbury 9-2 162; Simsbury 9-2 103; New London 10-1 97; Conard 10-1 75; Montville 10-2 46; Greenwich 7-3 39; Bethel 9-3 33; East Lyme 10-2 29; Northwest Catholic 10-2 27; Masuk 9-2 21; St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills 18; Avon 10-1 16; Ridgefield 9-1 15; Bloomfield 9-2 8; Windsor 8-2 6; Ansonia 8-3 2; Shelton 2

Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Johnny Burnham (Bristol Press), Bryant Carpenter (Meriden Record-Journal), 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.), Ted Glanzer (The Valley Press), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), 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), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Elliott Schickler (Westport News), 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)

SP’S SYNOPSIS

Ugh. Lots of teams have crashed the party by winning state championships. It is voting philosophy with which I adamantly disagree — right up there with voting the previous season’s No. 1 as the preseason No. 1.

With six state championship games, there are plenty of teams we wouldn’t have even sniffed in the regular season, teams that lost to other worthy teams. All of the sudden they win two games and a championship within their class of 24 or 25 teams, and we’re supposed to rank them. I take into account the whole season. Winning a state title is large factor, but just because you win one, doesn’t mean you’re one of the top 10 teams in the state. That said, I have lots of problems with all of these polls. Sorry.

Luckily for everyone, looks like I’m in the minority on this.

But let’s not dwell on what many of the voters got wrong. Let’s take a look at what they got right:

Notre Dame ranked No. 1 — A superb pick. They were ahead of Xavier in Week 2 but lost in the final minute. If ND’s defense stops Julian Hayes on one TD, or if Conor Keniry hangs onto a hail mary pass, we’re not debating this pick. Their victory over Pomperaug — a superb team which stood right up there with Staples — only cements this.

 Cheshire is No. 2 — Lost to Notre Dame, but beat everybody else, including a top team in Glastonbury and, of course, the voted No. 1: Staples in overtime. That loss to ND is what keeps them from No. 1. They also didn’t play Xavier. Sorry, the degrees of separation between Staples–>Xavier–>Notre Dame are too far.

By the way, in the two toughest playoff divisions, the SCC reigns supreme this year.

Bridgeport Central is ranked — They whupped up on New Canaan, 42-7, which evens out the loss to Trumbull. They were a minute from winning the FCIAC title. Points kept them out of the playoffs. The Hilltoppers didn’t get to show off in Class LL. Not saying they should have won it, but it would have been nice to see. (Someone in the CSWA poll giving them a No. 1 vote is a stretch. I’m not crazy about their placement… I would have put them higher. But I’m not quibbling.

Staples ahead of New Canaan — The Wreckers won 12-in-a-row, the FCIAC championship, they beat Xavier and came within an eyelash of winning one of the top two state divisions. They should be ranked ahead of New Canaaan.

Anyway, that’s where I stand. The Elite 8, which will give you a better window into my thoughts, will be out later this evening.

We’ll also take votes on your regional MVPs  and your top players tomorrow. (Don’t post it here, please)

Finally, we’re starting to get the videos from this weekend together. The Class LL will have to wait until tomorrow. We’ll get it in as we wait for the final polls.

But first, highlights from St. Joseph’s first state championship game in 19 years.

Staples' Ryan Burke walks slowly off the field as Cheshire players celebrate their overtime victory in the Class LL state championship game at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven on Sunday. Cheshire won the game 28-21 in overtime.

Celtics basketball legend John Havilcek was known for his clutch performances in big games.

Apparently his genes travel well.

On Saturday, grandnephew Brian Havilcek made one of the biggest plays in Cheshire football history — in much the same way Hondo ended Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers.

With Staples mere yards away from sending today’s crazy Class LL championship game into double overtime, Havilcek punched the ball from Staples’ tailback Matt Kelly‘s hands inside the 5-yard line. Luke Scinto recovered to knock off the state’s last unbeaten team, 28-21 in front of a crowd of approximately 3,500 at Ken Strong Stadium.

As the Cheshire sidelines erupted onto the field to celebrate their first title in over 10 years, you could almost hear Johnny Most screaming from the press box: “Havilcek steals it! …Havilcek stole the ball! It’s all over! It’s all over!

Brian Havilcek also caught a touchdown pass and had an interception to set up another.

Hondo should be proud.

Funny thing about this play (which can be seen in the video at right): Nobody knew who caused the Kelly fumble — not us (my footage, unfortunately, was shot from the other side of the play), not the Hartford Courant, not the Waterbury Republican-American… not Cheshire…heck, not even Havilcek himself.

Scinto, who had been in on the tackle with a few others, seemed to think he did it when asked by reporters. Made sense, he was right there. There was so much going on, who the heck knew who did what?

But a quick look at the replays, presented to us by Ben Talbott of Birdseye Sports and CTSN, showed that, while Scinto had a hand on the play, it was most definitely Havilcek whose hand caused the fumble.

Regardless of who did it, Cheshire is your Class LL state champion. Staples’ amazing year — including a wild second-half comeback in this game — falls just few a few yards short.

This was amazing game, one that saw Staples strike first and then Cheshire turn a pair of second-quarter turnovers into points. Havilcek’s interception of Keith Gelman late in the half led to a Greg Palmer touchdown and a 21-7 lead at halftime.

It stayed that way until the fourth when Staples finally awoke behind Kelly and receiver Brendan Rankowitz.

His’s catch and run into the end zone cut it to 21-14 with five minutes left. A defensive stop and Kelly’s running made it 21-21 with approximately two minutes remaining.

That sent the game to overtime. Cheshire won the toss and scored first. Staples couldn’t respond.

Great game and another banner win for the SCC, which saw both Notre Dame and Cheshire knock off the last undefeated teams in the state and heard its name chanted all across Ken Strong Stadium by the Cheshire players following the trophy ceremony “SCC! SCC! SCC!”

So who’s No. 1 now?

Notre Dame, which beat Cheshire (but lost to Xavier in Week 2), knocked off Pomperaug for the Class L title and finished 11-1.

Or is it Cheshire, which had Notre Dame beat until late, but rebounded to knock off Glastonbury and No. 1 Staples to finish 11-1.

“Notre Dame is a tremendous football team, and they beat us in Week 4, a long time ago,” Cheshire coach Mark Ecke said. “I don’t care where we were in the polls before, We beat number one on the field today, we beat number six (Glastonbury) on Tuesday night. We deserve to be number one.”

Personally? I think it’s a no-brainer. But since there are a lot of empty heads running around, I’ll leave that up to debate

Elsewhere, rough, rough, rough ending for Bethel which saw its Cinderella run come to a crashing halt at the hands of Berlin. Tough way to go after all they’ve accomplished, but awesome season for the Wildcats.

We’ll have much more later. We’ll have the Cheshire video (unfortunately, I do not have a shot of the crucial play. You’ll have to check out CTSN in a week or whenever they broadcast the games), we’re working on our Notre Dame-Pomperaug and St. Joseph videos and we’ll start reflecting on the season, figuring out our all-Connecticut Post team, and looking ahead to next year.

Anyway, fire away.

UPDATE: The videos are done for Class LL and Class SS, but I’m having tons of trouble getting them uploaded. Can’t figure out why. I’ll get back to you on this.