Good evening and yes! it’s Poll Day here on the High School Football Blogs.
And — heaaaaaaayyyy — lookit this:
I’ve been counted!
It’s a happy week when the “Longest Running High School Football Poll in Connecticut History” accepts your votes (sent multiple times through multiple accounts and internet venues, just to be on the safe side).
Of course, it didn’t seem to help much. The NHR’s poll, in my humble opinion, is the worst of the bunch. Coaches were the most in-tune with my selections. The CSWA gets a No. 2 vote from me.
Yes, I’m ranking the polls. Yes I’m know-it-all.
(ahem)
Here we go…
The MEDIA (NHR) TOP 10
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (14) | 2-0 | 668 | 1 |
| 2. | New Canaan (2) | 2-0 | 608 | 2 |
| 3. | Staples (2) | 2-0 | 578 | 3 |
| 4. | Masuk (4) | 2-0 | 572 | 5 |
| 5. | Cheshire (1) | 2-0 | 495 | 6 |
| 6. | Bridgeport Central | 2-0 | 402 | 8 |
| 7. | Notre Dame-West Haven | 1-1 | 393 | 7 |
| 8. | Berlin | 2-0 | 375 | 9 |
| 9. | Montville | 2-0 | 278 | 10 |
| 10. | Conard | 2-0 | 215 | NR |
Dropped out: St. Joseph (4).
Others receiving votes: Ridgefield (2-0), 200; Windsor (2-0), 186; Hyde (2-0), 174; Wilbur Cross (2-0), 153; Darien (2-0), 111; St. Joseph (1-1), 98; Wolcott (2-0), 68; Bunnell (2-0), 66; Southington (2-0), 45; Ansonia (2-0), 42; Holy Cross (2-0), 34; New London (1-1), 29; Trumbull (2-0), 26; Naugatuck (2-0), 19; Hillhouse (1-1) and Valley Regional/Old Lyme (2-0), 8; Hall (2-0) and Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 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 News CT; Jim Bransfield, Middletown Press; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Kevin Duffy, Danbury News-Times; Noah Finz, WTNH-News 8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, New Britain Herald; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shoreline Times; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.
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THE CONNECTICUT SPORTS WRITERS ALLIANCE
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (22) | 2-0 | 480 | 1 |
| 2. | New Canaan (1) | 2-0 | 435 | 2 |
| 3. | Masuk (7) | 2-0 | 430 | 4 |
| 4. | Staples (2) | 2-0 | 406 | 3 |
| 5. | Cheshire (1) | 2-0 | 364 | 5 |
| 6. | Berlin | 2-0 | 274 | 8 |
| 7. | Notre Dame-West Haven | 1-1 | 270 | 7 |
| 8. | Bridgeport Central | 2-0 | 261 | 9 |
| 9. | Montville | 2-0 | 205 | 10 |
| 10. | Windsor | 2-0 | 152 | NR |
Also Receiving Votes: Hyde Leadership 2-0 112; Ridgefield 2-0 111; Conard 2-0 104; Wilbur Cross 2-0 70; Darien 2-0 40; St. Joseph 1-1 39; Southington 2-0 30; Ansonia 2-0 27; Holy Cross 2-0 21; Wolcott 2-0 17; Daniel Hand 2-0 16; New London 1-1 16; Trumbull 2-0 15; Norwich Free Academy 2-0 11; Bunnell 2-0 8; Naugatuck 2-0 8; Avon 1-1 5; Northwest Catholic 0-2 5; Bethel 1-1 4; Cromwell 0-1 4; Valley Regional/Old Lyme 2-0 4; Hillhouse 1-1 3; Pomperaug 1-1 3; Platt 2-0 2; Stratford 2-0 2; Weston 2-0 2; Bristol Eastern 2-0 1; Hall 2-0 1; RHAM 2-0 1; Wilton 1-1 1
Voters: Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Don Boyle (Sporting News CT), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 104.7 FM), Mark Fijalkowski (CT Sports Network), Tim Gaffney (Litchfield County Sports), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Bob Lazzari (Valley Times), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Eric Montgomery (Minuteman Newspapers), Tim Parry (FCIAC Football Blog), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Times), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Patrick Tiscia (Litchfield County Sports), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)
———————-
THE DAY OF NEW LONDON COACHES
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | Xavier (11) | 2-0 | 382 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (1) | 2-0 | 352 | 2 |
| 3. | New Canaan | 2-0 | 318 | 3 |
| 4. | Staples (1) | 2-0 | 296 | 4 |
| 5. | Cheshire | 2-0 | 250 | 6 |
| 6. | Notre Dame-WH | 1-1 | 250 | 5 |
| 7. | Berlin | 2-0 | 202 | 7 |
| 8. | Bridgeport Central | 2-0 | 184 | 8 |
| 9. | Windsor | 2-0 | 178 | 10 |
| 10. | Montville | 2-0 | 118 | NR |
Dropped out: St. Joseph-Trumbull (9).
Also receiving votes: Wilbur Cross-New Haven (2-0), 98 points; Naugatuck (2-0), 86; Ansonia (2-0), 76; Darien (2-0), 75; Conard-West Hartford (2-0), 66; Tie, Southington (2-0) and Trumbull (2-0), 63; Hyde-New Haven (2-0), 39; Hand-Madison (2-0), 38; Ridgefield (2-0), 33; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 31; Bunnell-Stratford (2-0), 29; St. Joseph-Trumbull (1-1), 27; Wolcott (2-0), 18; Holy Cross-Waterbury (2-0), 16; Norwalk (1-1), 10; Bristol Eastern (2-0), 9; New London (1-1), 8.
The following coaches voted: 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; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; Sal Morello, Middletown; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.
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Of course, many of you out there may think we’re all nuts.
So, let us all have it:
Maybe I’m counting wrong, but 13 coaches voted in the coaches’ poll, and there were 22 first-place votes cast? Are you sure this poll isn’t done in Waterbury?
No, I screwed it up.
then fix it
You folks seem like nice people so I’m going to help you out. I learned this week that if you can run the ball a lick you will beat New Canaan. Trinity was going inside and out on the rams without much resistence. The New Canaan passing and running game wore the Crusaders down in the second half
The public schools in Waterbury can lose a total of 26 games this year. Crosby can compete but Kennedy and Wilby have very little talent.
Let’s stop patting the SCC on the back. The league is way down though they do have the two best teams in the state in NDWH and Xavier.
The Fciac is not as strong as in past years. Staples has a good team but they were much better last year. DITTO New Canaan. Central does not have the talent or the depth to win a state title but they could sneak in and win a depleted Fciac crown. As SPB mentioned in an earlier post they should do away with conference championship games once and for all.
Masuk and a very improved Bunnell team should make the SWC interesting
but two good teams does not make a good league.
Blow up the NVL once and for all. Sorry Ray but lets call it as it is. Outside of Ansonia and maybe Holy Cross the rest of the teams would have a hard time playing some of the Tech school teams.
Would love to see a semi-final in the Class L involving NDWH-Masuk-Bunnell and New Canaan. Darien and Windsor will also be tough outs.
XAVIER is the class of the LL.
Spb–thanks for letting us fans vent. This blog is by far the best around.
@Joe It was fixed before you chimed in.
Hey Costanza it was George who said that line not his father.
Staples will run roughshod over Ridgefield on Friday night.
ST. Joes will lose to Darien. If Greenwich only beat Stamford 7-0 then things are not good in Cardinal territory.
Frank – how points did trinity put up against that weak NC defense? 1st half the NC defense is what kept it tight.
Ok… Consistently the FCIAC has the best talent as a league. The amount of great teams is closely followed by the amount of very good teams. The problem is that each team beats up on each other. Injuries, fatigue and ultimately, the league championship game seems to always add to the league’s frustrations at times in the State championship games.
The final weeks around Thanksgiving include far too many games in a short period of time. This is after a grueling regular season schedule.
I disagree with the Seinfeld character. He ought to stick to hanging with Jerry at the local coffee shop.
Let’s see if his assessment of “running” on NC will yield victories for their opponents. I believe someone said the same thing last year. Remind me, what was the end result?
Chopstick–The Trinity offensive line was blowing NC off the ball in the first half. On trinity’s first three carries they had three first downs. Rivas sustained an ankle injury a short time after that and was ineffective the rest of the game. Trinity scored in the second quarter on an end around. He went untouched for thirty yards into the endzone. Several people from NC were shocked that Trinity had so little trouble running against NC. Maybe it was a fluke and maybe it wasn’t. Trinty put up 8 points on NC in the first half-running for a two point conversion after a NC penaalty moved the football to the one and a half yd. line. .
apparently costanza you dont know too much———-ask east lyme,new caanan and hillhouse how good the nvl can be.
New Canaan got destroyed by Bridgeport Central…that was the result Elaine Bennis. Bjpt Central ran all over New Canaan…hence franks point. but in your defense that was new canaan one loss in 30 games, and it happend to be played in 45mph winds and a downpour…so who knows. oh the end result is new canaan won a state title..again.
We’ll have the NC-Trinity video up for your viewing pleasure later today.
ray how does nc know all about how good the nvl is…didnt they smoke seymour 35-0 last year?
its really a moot issue with new canaan. yes we all know they can be run on but again they dont often lose. i just looked and they have lost 3 games in the last 48. so argueing about them is juvenial. they will continue to win becuase they are a bend but dont break team. enough about new canaan lets discuss ray brown some more.
I really do hate to repeat myself on multiple articles but NVL = the non-violent league. NC beat Seymour in the 2001 State Championship by a lot, last year by a lot, in a game in which New Canaan had to travel to Seymour, this year Seymour comes down here… So we will see, but the bottom line is that, the Staples, Greenwich, Ridgefield, New Canaan, Darien, St. Joe’s, Central… These teams are just in another class when it comes to comparing them to NVL teams. And imagine having to play some of these teams on a year in year out basis. I know I am leaving schools out too. But don’t compare the NVL to the FCIAC, or any other league for that matter.
My point is that you may have 1 or 2 teams that might be able to compete in the FCIAC yearly, but the FCIAC usually has 5-6 teams that compete year in and year out, more often than not it’s the big 3, Staples, Greenwich and New Canaan followed by a mixture of other up and comers.
Can’t stand ya!! Costanza.
Hey Ray, You are a good football man and you follow many of the teams in this area-we all know how good Ansonia has been over the years but lets be fair here. As a league the NVL does not stack up with many of the other leagues in the state. Is it Ansonia fault? NO.
It will always be much easier for Ansonia to qualify for a state championship because at their worst they will lose two games in the NVL. Like the Waterbury schools help pad the records of the other Nvl teams –the Bridgeport and Stamford schools help pad the Fciac teams. That won’t changed for years to come. The point Pat Mcgroin was making is that the Fciac has many more top-flight teams that they have to beat in order get through their schedules.
Please help Bristol Eastern and Platt by voting for them in the “Game of the week” which will air on the news. THANKS!
http://bit.ly/c2Ku2H
@ Hope. Those are some truly uninspiring reasons given by Channel 30 to vote for any of those games. Why wouldn’t they go to Xavier-Cheshire?
yeah they smoked seymour fitzidiot because the cats lost half theyre school to oxford-however st.pauls kicked ncs butt in playoffs
no kidding jeb—–theyre in a league wth 20 schools and most of them are LL AND L SCHOOLS-THEY SHOULD HAVE A TOUGHER TIME.
Can’t argue with you on that RAY. NC was lucky to beat ST.Pauls.
Oh no back to enrollment theory.Poor Ansonia a small S school should never have a slim chance to defeat Naugatuck a big LL school.
How many years in a row has the Chargers defeated the Greyhounds ?
The score of the games have not even been close the last 2-3 years.
Frank- Good teams find a way to win, lesser teams find a way not to win.
i would hardly call what st. pauls did last year to NC kicking their butt. it was actually a really good game i thought. bottom line ray is that ansonia is garbage this year and your bitter. NVL is the worst league in the state.
St. Joseph is out of every top ten poll. Will they get back in?
im not bitter truth because ive enjoyed 40 years of unbridled success that no other program even comes close to———-st.paul finished 5th in the nvl last year and they played nc dead even.
Really? St. paul’s played NC dead even? Were you even at that game ray? Probably not, because you were too busy crying over how horrible the NVL was. (35-0 vs. pre-season #2 Seymour anyone? Yea I know about all the injuries,but maybe they shouldn’t play in a puddle of mud) NC had two touchdowns called back, one was a catch that was clearly completed and the other was on a questionable ineligible man down the field call (apparently the NC center blew the D-lineman so far off the line of scrimmage, he was downfield). That would have put NC up 28-0 in the first half, and they were lucky? Stop wasting your time here buddy. Go chill with Frank over there back in Seinfeld.
Nc was very fortunate to win that game against ST. Pauls. A low throw on a two point conversion saved New Canaan.
Ray Ray-Ansonia has the bragging rights as the best football program in state history-you can look it up. However, the NVL stinks pure and simple.
You can hate on the N.V.L. all you want to…you’re right it’s pretty weak. But, Ansonia’s program has been amazing for years and up until recently so has Seymour and Derby. Naugy was a power until @ 7 years ago, too. Look up the playoff appearances and wins over the years compared to the other league’s top teams. When Derby and Seymour were in their heydays winning championships,they played in the Housy with all those mighty LL future S.C.C. teams. LL Shelton lost regularly to Ansonia and Derby with twice the enrollment. When Ansonia loses 2 games, they’re very beatable. When they go undefeated they’re usually untouchable. Save your breath, Ray… they won’t get it.
Hey Jimmy Blanton,
Why are you upset with me for. I only stated the obvious that Trinity was about to run the ball easily against New Canaan.
I hope NC wins ten state tittles in a row but I just don’t think they are as good as last years team. YET
NDWH-MASUK-BUNNELL-and WINDSOR have better talent than the RAMS.
The fciac is like da SEC in college football there the best!!!! andthen there’s everybody else!!!
I believe central is da best n da fciac and will go through undeafeated!
kareem for your sake i hope you play for central. and for your sake i hope you do go undefeated. and for your sake i how you get a full college scholarship somewhere. because with your grammer you will be lucky if you get into DA norwalk community college. do you know what DA heck i mean homie. dont insult yourself with poor grammer. your better then that. as a student athlete it is your responsibilty to represent your team in an educated and articulate fashion. show everyone here how bridgeport central is an institution for high education.
norwalk
central@
greenwich@
stamford
danbury@
ridgefield@
staples@
st. joe’s
trumbull’s remaining schedule. not 1 team in the state goes through that unbeaten. nuff said
Frank – your comments of Trinity “was about to running the ball easy against New Canaan”…so what are you saying Trinity changed their minds and laid down?..the score was 48-8..NC..are you confused, the guys in White and Red were New Canaan not Trinity…you sound like Trinity actually had some offense going…they had a nice run for the TD…and an opening drive which I believe ended with the Trinity QB face down in the dirt…
@Fitzwell …fyi, it’s spelled “grammar”
@SPB – Correcting spelling? Come on Sean, you’re better than that.
@Dr. Von Nostran – Yes, because he specifically ripped on whomever it was for his grammar, and he didn’t spell grammar correctly. …Not trying to be mean, but the point is this: I’d prefer it if everybody refrained from attacking others on a personal level, it only ruins the discourse. That’s all. Carry on.
Lame attempt at humor….Sarcastically correcting a phrase from the same post….
From now on I will keep “on topic”.
Just defending the other guy. Everybody’s input is valuable and welcomed, no matter how they get it across. Just don’t get too personal, is all.
….back to football boys!
jeb -a few years back the nvl had 3 state champions in one year,that hardly defines stink
The Buzzard, I typed the wrong word-I meant to say able to run the ball instead of about to run the ball.
im not going to lie…im at a loss for words. i did speel grammar incorrectly. that is ridiculous. shame on me. i will take my time out like a man. humbled.
@Fitzwell ;) It’s all good.
SPB__ In your opinnion, not the polls, Who do you think are the three best teams in the state?
It looks like the rain should stop between around 3:30pm tomorrow. The forecast is calling for a LOT of rain in between. Will any of the fields have problems with that much water?
Awfully quiet in Greenwich these days. Whatever happened to the MAILMAN? Hope Ansonia doesn’t lose or we will lose Ray.
@Jeb I can only tell you how I’m voting: 1. Xavier, 2. Masuk, 3. Staples. That’s based on what I’ve seen and what I know.
Gecco,
I know the mailman very well and his hours changed at work and living in white plains does not allow him to get to CT much anymore due to those new hours. We both root for GHS each year and yes they are little down in talent and have some injuries that took a toll on some good kids. No excuses though, I have been saying 2011 and 2012 will be there years. I will stick to that espeecially with all these underclassman getting playing time now by default. Get them now why u can and even now teams better respect and prepare for them cuz if not they may just leave with an “L”. “Fear the Bird” !
“Outside of Ansonia and maybe Holy Cross the rest of the teams (in the NVL) would have a hard time playing some of the Tech school teams.”
Possibly this comment was made as a comedic exaggeration. But I have seen comments like this in the past on here, and I think at least some of them are made at face value.
Comments like this lower the level of discourse and expose the ignorance of those who make them. First of all, it is simply not true. The three worst teams in the NVL in any given year are still leaps bounds better than the best Tech teams. Talk to coaches around the state for confirmation.
But the larger point is worth discussing: the strength of the NVL as compared to the FCIAC and the SCC. This topic came up regularly in 2006 and 2007 when Ansonia was ranked #1 in the state and people on here were starting to lose their minds and spout off all kinds of things because they were so frustrated and egged on by Ray Brown (he gets you every time.
If I can paraphrase the immortal SPB himself on the state of the leagues at that time: while it is probably true that the depth of the elite teams in the FCIAC and SCC is deeper than the NVL, the leagues are not as different as their public perception would have you believe. All leagues have good teams, and all have weak teams. You cannot simply ignore the bottom 2/3 of the FCIAC and the entire SCC Div II and focus only the elite programs.
All teams north of Naugatuck and Seymour are not covered by the CT Post and so they may as well not exist to the good people of this blog. This leads to ridiculous comparisons to Tech school teams that are ridiculous.