SPB's High School Football

Since we can’t be everywhere and I’ve been busy gathering preview information, we’ve scouring the internet for videos of our regional teams covered in other outlets.

We’ll have our video coverage of the Staples-Xavier semifinal game game up tomorrow evening.

Here is The Day of New London’s video on Bethel’s shocking 34-12 victory over New London in the Class M semifinals.

(more…)

For those of you who don’t know, Bassick’s football team has entered a video of its wild Harding finish in State Farm’s Friday Night Feats contest.

The video made it through the preliminary rounds and has reached the competition’s Top 10 this week. A panel of judges — including Hall of Fame lineman Anthony Munoz – selected the top 10 finalists from 51 videos entered.

Now, Friday Night Feats has turned the competition over to we, the fans of high school football.

Viewers will choose the grand prize winner by voting for their favorite video on YouTube between Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.

The winners will be announced on Dec. 14. The grand prize is $15,000 with $10,000 for first place and $5,000 for second place.

Bassick, as you can probably guess, could use the money for its football program.

All they need is your vote.

(more…)

I’m off to the state football luncheon, which you can watch live on sportingnewsct.com. It all kicks off at around noon.

You can also get a bead on where your team will be playing on State Championship Saturday by visiting the CIAC football playoff page here. They won’t be up until about 11 a.m.

The Sites are as follows (and, honestly, we are playing our state finals in back yards. What, my parking lot wasn’t available?)
Cheshire vs. Staples, at Ken Strong Stadium, WH; 7 p.m.
Pomperaug vs. Notre Dame-WH, at Shelton, 2 p.m.
New Canaan vs. East Lyme, at Bunnell, 2 p.m. …(Bunnell?)
Bethel vs. Berlin, at Muncipal, Waterbury, 7 p.m.
St. Joseph vs. Montville, Ken Strong Stadium, 2 p.m.
Northwest Catholic vs. Hyde at Municipal, Waterbury; 2 p.m.

At the Ralph DeSantis Football Foundation Chapter meeting last month, I was invited to the podium to speak in front all of the proud football coaches of the Fairfield County football leagues. It wasn’t the greatest of speeches, I’ll admit. I had something prepared, but flubbed it like a freshman punt returner and they jumped all over me.

I eventually regained my composure and my thoughts in time to stumble across the finish line. But of all the things I said, I think I managed to get one crucial point across. “The best football in Connecticut,” I said, “is played right here in Fairfield County. We have the best players, the best coaches and — clearly — the best high school football programs in the state”

A week later — after hearing how well I did — I got a joke invite to speak at the New Haven meeting. Had I actually gone, I probably would have said the same thing about that county.

So let me sum up now: The best football is played in Southwest Connecticut.

Particularly the SCC, the FCIAC and, yes, the SWC.

That sentiment was only reinforced during Tuesday night’s semifinals.

Here’s the scorecard: FCIAC, SCC, SWC: 7-1. Everybody else? 5-11.

The southern/southwest football schools pretty much dominated the CIAC state semifinals Tuesday night.

(more…)

Welcome back to the live high school football scoring blog. Can’t make it to one of the games, look nowhere else but here where the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers’ cadre of staff and correspondents will be providing live scoring updates from all of the games on tap tonight.

Below is the schedule for all of the games tonight. We’ll be covering eight of them, but we expect to see updates from all 12 of the games. While you’re watching, you can also listen to one of the few broadcasts of the games.

For a preview of the state semifinal games, be sure to check out Friday Night Football “FNF Overtime” with John Holt and Joe Zone here. We’ve also added their class-by-class video breakdown with Ned “Bright Lights Big City” Griffen from The Day of New London, who’s one of the few guys who sees more teams than anyone else (with former Register editor Bob Barton being at the top of the list).

CIAC STATE PLAYOFF PAIRINGS (all games Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.)
Get all the game information here on the CIAC State Football Scoreboard

Get all of our state semifinal preview capsules and predictions here

CLASS LL (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 Xavier (9-1) vs. No. 1 Staples (11-0*) at Wilton — Sportingnewsct.com; Wreckers Radio WWPT 90.3-FM
No. 3 Cheshire (9-1) at No. 2 Glastonbury (9-1)

CLASS L (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 Simsbury (9-1) at No. 1 Pomperaug (11-0*)
No. 3 Notre Dame-WH (9-1) at No. 2 Conard (10-0) – (live video) Sportingnewsct.com; GoGreenKnights.com

CLASS MM (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 St. Paul Co-Op (8-2) at No. 1 New Canaan (9-1)
No. 3 Vinal Tech/Coginchaug (9-1) at No. 2 East Lyme (9-1)

CLASS M (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 Bethel (8-2) at No. 1 New London (10-0)
No. 3 Berlin (8-2) at No. 2 Avon (10-0), Muzzy Field, Bristol

CLASS SS (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 St. Joseph (8-2) at No. 1 Holy Cross (9-1), Municipal Stadium, Waterbury
No. 3 Bullard-Havens (9-1) at No. 2 Montville (9-1)

CLASS S (WFSB Preview)
No. 4 Ansonia (8-2) at No. 1 Northwest Catholic (10-0)
No. 3 Bloomfield (9-1) at No. 2 Hyde (9-1), West Haven High School — ESPNRadio1300.com, (WAVZ 1300-AM)

CLICK THE WINDOW BELOW FOR THE LIVE SCORING BLOG

We’ve been plenty busy here at the home offices in Fairfield County. Lots of news to deliver, previews to sift through, polls to discuss before we get to the action tonight. So let’s get down to it

First, the Hearst Connecticut State Semifinal Previews (which you can see in their entirety on our high school football page):

CONNECTICUT POST

• Bullard-Havens wants to win, not just compete
• State Semifinal Capsules — complete with our predictions on all the winners. Not to be missed.
• Also, news on our first head coaching casualty of the offseason: Pinto out as Fairfield Prep coach

THE ADVOCATE

• Staples must rise for yet another challenge
• New Canaan begins quest for fourth straight title

THE NEWS-TIMES

• Bethel returns to its roots
• Pomperaug set to battle Simsbury

The live scoring blog will be up some time in the afternoon. We’re hoping to get as many games as possible from our friends and colleagues in the Twitterverse, but I know this much in advance: We’re going to need help at Pomperaug-Simsbury; Notre Dame-Conard; St. Joseph-Holy Cross. I know we’ll have Staples-Xavier; New London-Bethel; Ansonia-Northwest Catholic. We may even get lucky and get Cheshire-Glastonbury. So if you’re out there and want to help, get on Twitter and send updates from your phone.

We’ll also post all the radio and internet broadcasts. So, for those of you listening at home, if you don’t see the score on the live blog feel free to come aboard and post via. Twitter. The CIAC will be following along and will attempt to update on its football scoreboard page here.

Now, your final regular season polls:

Here’s my synopsis on all three, and it’s going to make Ned “Bright Lights Big City” Griffen of The Day happy (anyone catch his playoff preview on WFSB? Magnificent):

Ahem. I’d like to start voting in the coaches poll. They seem to have their act together. I’ll quibble with a few of their top picks (I like Pomperaug over Xavier, for example), but only on minor points. Otherwise, their ability to know and understand these teams shines right through.

Meanwhile, the writers and broadcasters continue to show that they either A> don’t pay attention. B> Are missing a synapse or 12. C> Don’t actually cover high school football. I know it’s subjective and you can’t conceivably see all of these teams (I’ve seen seven of the Top 10 Media poll live), so there has to be some logic involved.

I know, I know. They’re polls. Who cares? After  I publish this, I certainly won’t. It’s just weird to see the disparity between my profession and the coaches, who really know more than any of us.

Ahem. Enough, SP, enough with the salty curmudgeon rant.  On with the polls:

TOP 10 STATE MEDIA

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Last
1.	Staples (22)	11-0	688	1
2.	Pomperaug	11-0	630	2
3.	New London (1)	10-0	559	3
4.	Xavier	9-1	526	4
5.	Notre Dame-West Haven	9-1	488	5
6.	Glastonbury	9-1	403	6
7.	New Canaan	9-1	386	7
8.	Conard	10-0	342	NR
9.	Simsbury	9-1	336	8
10.	Bridgeport Central	9-2	303	10

Dropped Out: Masuk (9)
Others receiving votes: Cheshire (9-1), 293; Montville (9-1), 211; Avon (10-0), 111; Bloomfield (9-1), 104; Holy Cross (9-1), 102; East Lyme (9-1), 76; Greenwich (7-3), 75; St. Joseph (8-2), 64; Ridgefield (9-1), 48; Masuk (9-2), 38; Hyde (9-1), 24; Ansonia (8-2), 19; Hamden (7-3), 9; Bullard-Havens (9-1) and Shelton (7-3), 8; Newtown (8-2) and 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, 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.

TOP 10 COACHES (By the Day)

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	rec	Pts	Last
1.	Staples (31)	11-0	390	1
2.	Xavier	9-1	312	3
3.	Pomperaug	11-0	308	2
T4.	New London	10-0	290	4
T4.	Notre Dame-West Haven	9-1	290	5
6.	Bridgeport Central	9-2	215	6
7.	Conard	10-0	209	8
8.	Simsbury	9-1	208	9
9.	New Canaan	9-1	200	7
10.	Cheshire	9-1	192	NR

Also Receiving Votes: Glastonbury (9-1), 165; Montville (9-1), 89; Avon (10-0), 77; Greenwich (7-3), 73; East Lyme (9-1), 49; Bloomfield (9-1), 48; Ridgefield (9-1), 36; Tie, Masuk(9-2) and St. Joseph (8-2), 34; Northwest Catholic (9-1), 25; Holy Cross (9-1), 24; Hamden (7-3), 16; Ansonia (8-2), 14; Hyde-New Haven (9-1), 10; Vinal Tech/Coginchaug (9-1), 7.
Voters: 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 SPORTS WRITERS ALLIANCE TOP 10

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Rec	Pts	Last
1.	Staples (31)	10-0	479	1
2.	Pomperaug	10-0	434	2
3.	New London (1)	10-0	389	3
4.	Xavier	9-1	352	4
5.	Notre Dame-West Haven	9-1	324	6
6.	New Canaan	9-1	279	8
7.	Glastonbury	9-1	265	5
8.	Conard	10-0	244	10
9.	Cheshire	9-1	209	NR
10.	Bridgeport Central	9-1	202	9

Also Receiving Votes: Simsbury 9-1 183; Montville 9-1 103; Avon 10-0 82; Masuk 9-1 71; East Lyme 9-1 46; Bloomfield 9-1 36; Holy Cross 9-1 34; Greenwich 7-3 25; Ridgefield 9-1 25; St. Joseph 8-2 24; Ansonia 8-2 8; Northwest Catholic 9-1 8; Hyde Leadership 9-1 6; Bethel 8-2 4; Bullard Havens Tech 9-1 3; Berlin 8-2 2; Newtown 8-2 1; Vinal Tech/Coginchaug 9-1 1; Wolcott 8-2 1
Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Bryant Carpenter (Meriden Record-Journal), Henry Chisholm (Connecticut Post), 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), 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), Matt Norlander (Darien/New Canaan News-Review), 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)

Bill Pinto is no longer the head football coach at Fairfield Prep.

Athletic Director Steve Donahue confirmed Monday the school has dismissed the 40-year old coach, who went 0-10 one season. After a weekend meeting with the school’s administrators, Donahue said he informed Pinto of the school’s decision by phone Sunday evening. Fairfield Prep posted an advertisement seeking head coaching applicants at 11 a.m. Monday morning.

“It was a difficult season, both on the field and off, so we have decided to go in a different direction with the program,” said Donahue, who is in his first year as the school’s AD. “We want to get some new, fresh faces and get back to the strong tradition of football at Fairfield Prep.”

Pinto, a Trumbull graduate who spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Fairfield Prep, was hired to replace former coach Rich Magdon in February.

The Jesuits, which featured six seniors and two returning starters from a 3-7 team, went 0-10 and were outscored 83-398 in 10 SCC games. It was the second winless season in school history and the first in 66 years.

Two of Magdon’s former staff members had resigned just before the start of the season in what Donahue called a case of “the old guard and new guard not really meshing.” But the tipping point, Donahue said, came when three assistant coaches Pinto had brought to the program resigned just two weeks before the end of the season.

“That certainly was not a good thing and school was not happy with that,” Donahue said. “They didn’t like the fact these coaches would quit on the kids.

“Needless to say that left Billy in a bad spot. To Billy’s credit, he did a good job in the final weeks keeping it together. I don’t think it was handled correctly. So we decided to say was a tough year and we decided to go in a different direction.”

Update: “I’m disappointed in their decision, I wish I had more time to turn the program around, but I am sure there was a lot of pressure on the school to do with they did,” Pinto said. “Who evertakes over wlll inherit a great group of experienced kids who will also have a favorable schedule. They should be successful, I wish the the school and the kids the best of luck with the mission academics and the football program.”

Donahue said the school has some internal candidates, but would be opening the job to anyone. The deadline for applications is December 18. Applicants should send their resumes and “a plan for assistants and JV staff” to sdonahue@fairfieldprep.org.

“We want to get the best possible fit for Fairfield Prep,” Donahue said. “We hope to have a coach and staff in place by January 15, so we can waste no time getting the program back and going strong.”

Just fielded a call from one of our regional playoff coaches, who’s all fired up about this year’s CIAC playoffs. Not just for his team, but the entire field. “Outside of one or two games, it’s almost impossible to pick who’s gonna win Tuesday night.”

He’s not the only one. Ned Griffen, from the Day of New London, has told me he’s been scratching his head trying to figure out all of our matchups. Simsbury vs. Pomperaug? Cheshire vs. Glastonbury? Xavier vs. Staples? Bloomfield vs. Hyde? …Taking a cursory glance, I’m inclined to agree with both of them.

Yeah, there’s maybe one or two slam dunks, but not the usual six, seven or eight games — which lends credence to the notion that there’s not one true No. 1 team out there.

Pomperaug? Should have its hands full with Simsbury in a crammed Class L field. Staples vs. Xavier looks like one of the best matchups, but what do the Wreckers have left after two grueling games in one week?

Cheshire-Glastonbury? Good offensive stars, short on big defensive stoppers, that’s a game that should produce plenty of fireworks and come down to the wire.

Bethel got any chance against New London? St. Paul have any chance vs. New Canaan? Vinal Tech/East Lyme? St. Joseph-Holy Cross?

Ansonia’s playing better, can they beat Northwest Catholic? Berlin-Avon? Notre Dame-West Haven at Conard?

Seeing as many of you are already casting your two cents (or, for some of you, a dollar’s worth) on the make believe playoff post, I figured we kick this week off to see what you think of our 2009 CIAC state playoffs.

Who will we be seeing Saturday in the finals?

Click here for the CIAC Football Playoff Scoreboard Page

Add: To help, we’ve linked to all the MaxPreps preview pages for each of these games. Quite a few teams haven’t updated their stats, so shame on them. But, whatever, still some information contained therein.

Class LL: Glastonbury vs. Cheshire; Xavier vs. Staples
Class L: Notre Dame vs. Conard; Simsbury vs. Pomperaug
Class MM: Vinal Tech/Coginchaug vs. East Lyme; St. Paul Co-Op vs. New Canaan
Class M: Bethel vs. New London; Berlin vs. Avon
Class SS: Holy Cross vs. St. Joseph; Bullard-Havens vs. Montville
Class S: Ansonia vs. Northwest Catholic; Bloomfield vs. Hyde

Here we go: