Tonight is Week 1 of the Connecticut high school football season.
Really.
Tonight (and maybe some of the days surrounding) typically mark the first full-real, full-contact, full-rules, full-go scrimmages for our high school teams.
No more of this 10-on-10-off stuff. They bring refs, keep a clock and everything.
It’s the most intense football preseason games of the year. The most intense games you’ll see until, oh… 6 p.m. Wednesday night. (Btw, where you going? Stamford-Ridgefield, or Weston-New Fairfield?)
But, this being backwards Connecticut, none of it counts.
I’ve said it a gazillion times: Like the rest of civilization, we should be starting our football tonight. Connecticut is the only state starting next week. We’re the last state to start playing football. Were all sick of waiting around, Let’s Go Already!!!
(SMH). Silliness.
I can bellyache about this all I want, but it’s doubtful they’ll be changing anytime soon. (Then again, they did take my state playoff idea, so who knows? Maybe one day we’ll start this week and play a guaranteed 11-game schedule every year, too. Maybe we can repeal the 50-point policy while we’re at it. I can dream…)
Anyway, over the last few days I saw full-game scrimmages between Bunnell and Wilton, Newtown and Norwalk, Oxford and Seymour. Today, I’ll see Hamden-Greenwich, Shelton-Ansonia. (Plenty of footage from those games, we’ll post all of it this weekend.)
None of those tickle your fancy? There are a bunch of other statewide scrimmages on the docket:
FRIDAY (Tonight)
Amity at Notre Dame-West Haven, Veteran’s Stadium, 3:30 p.m.
Killingly at E.O. Smith, E.O. Smith HS, 3:30 p.m.
Fairfield Prep at Staples, Staples HS, 4 p.m.
Windsor at Cheshire, Cheshire High Main Game field, 4 p.m.
Hamden at Greenwich, Cardinal Stadium, 4 p.m.
Woodland at Bristol Eastern, Bristol Eastern High School, 4 p.m.
Torrington at Wolcott, Wolcott High School, Monroe Field, 6 p.m.
Jamboree at Fitch, Dorr Field, 5:30 p.m.
Mount St. Michael at New Canaan, Dunning Stadium, 6 p.m.
Conard at Daniel Hand, DHHS Turf Field, 6 p.m.
Platt Tech at Fairfield Warde, Tetreau/Davis Field, 6 p.m.
Shelton at Ansonia, Nolan Field, Ansonia, 6 p.m.
Prince Tech at St. Bernard/Norwich Tech, Delaporta Field, 6:30 p.m.
Ellington/Somers at Rockville, RHS football field, 6:30 p.m.
Cheney Tech at Tolland, Old Tolland High School, 6:30 p.m.
Coginchaug at Lyman Hall, Lyman Hall Fitzgerald Field, 7 p.m.
East Lyme at North Haven, Vanacore Field, 7 p.m.
Rocky Hill at Pomperaug, Sports Complex & Track, 7 p.m.
Abbott Tech at Brookfield, , 7 p.m.
Stonington at Fitch Jamboree, Fitch High School, TBA
SATURDAY
East Catholic at Coventry/Windham Tech, Coventry High School, 10 a.m.
East Hartford at Plainville, Alumni Field, 10 a.m.
Bulkeley at Windsor Locks/Suffield, Windsor Locks High School, 10 a.m.
Lewis Mills at Farmington, Westwoods School, 10 a.m.
Bristol Central at Newington, Alumni Field on Alumni Rd. behind NHS, 10 a.m.
Hyde Leadership at Norwich Free Academy, NFA Turf Field, 11 a.m.
Waterbury Jamboree at Sacred Heart, Municipal Stadium, 11 a.m.
Bullard Havens Tech at Old Saybrook/Westbrook, Old Saybrook High School, 1 p.m.
Wilby at City Jamboree, 1 p.m.
St. Paul Catholic at Haddam-Killingworth, Haddam Killingworth HS, 1:30 p.m.
Pomfret at Putnam/Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech, St. Marie Greenhalgh Sports Complex, 1:30 p.m.
Rye (NY) at Trinity Catholic, Trinity Catholic Alumni Field, 3 p.m.
Now, yes, some of these may not be full-go scrimmages. It depends on the arrangement between the schools. But most of them are.
So pick a game, get back and give us your thoughts.
Then we can start to seriously talk football.
I’ve been asked about the rankings a lot lately, we’ll start counting down with a couple per day until Wednesday. So stay tuned.
Until then, getchergameon
Already mired in the state’s longest active losing streak at 31 games, there has been rampant talk this past week that East Haven might not be able to field a football team this year if participation doesn’t improve soon.
Typically you get a lot of offensive fireworks at the annual Masuk at Shelton scrimmage.
About two years ago, I apparently wrote a column on how Clear Channel Radio’s move of ‘The Coach’ George DeMaio’s Friday Night Football Extravaganza show from its home station WELI to sister station WAVZ was going to be the death knell for the long-running local program.
