Updated: 8:20 p.m. 9/4
And the countdown continues.
Our staffers and photographers continue to run all over Fairfield and New Haven counties, collecting images, videos and (most important) information on our 50 regional high school football teams.
Over the next week, we’ll be molding all of these tidbits into one mighty 2011 preview package to be unveiled the week of Sept. 11 (Gave me chills to write that date, actually, considering its significance. Can’t believe it’s been 10 years since.)
Here are some of the latest stories from Hearst CT, in case you missed any of them:
Lewis likes new path as Bassick head coach
Columnist Chris Elsberry speaks with new Bassick coach Derrick Lewis, the former All-American lineman at Southern Connecticut State and All-State lineman from West Haven. Now a minister on the East End, Lewis sounds like he’s entrenching himself in the job.
Greenwich High School football home games in jeopardy because of contamination
Greenwich Time’s Neil Vigdor details the frustrating saga of the GHS field issues. Scrimmages are being moved and, with just a week and change to go before the opener vs. Ridgefield, it doesn’t look like Cardinal Stadium will be ready, much to the chagrin of coach Rich Albonizio and others in the school system.
Your cheatsheet for SWC fantasy football
In a fun column, News-Times writer Kevin Duffy gives us a mock draft of the top SWC football players if you were ever to run a fantasy football league. (I wouldn’t recommend it.)
Point-Counterpoint: Five area high school football topics for 2011
Another entry from the News-Times staff, writers Kevin Duffy and Chris Brodeur examine the SWC and Danbury-area schools.
Pomperaug in search of a quarterback
Duffy took a visit to Southbury to see how new coach Dave Roach and Panthers were getting along without Chuck Drury and Kellen Croce.
All’s fair in love and turf war: Jess and Dave Roach share the field at Pomperaug
More from Duffy’s visit to Pomperaug.
Five questions facing Brunswick as they open camp
Jumping over to prep schools, writer David Fierro takes a look at Brunswick of Greenwich as it begins its second year in the Erickson League.
Now, on to the scrimmages:
We’ve visited seven scrimmages so far and seen 19 regional teams. Saturday was the biggest football day so far and the rumors and reports have been flying fast and furious from other sites. Ansonia beat West Haven 27-15… North Haven impressed in a scrimmage with Guilford and Woodland… Warde and Oxford impressed in a scrimmage with Hillhouse and Cromwell… Torrington beat Farmington 24-20 in a game scrimmage.
Then there were the reports that Masuk blitzed both Berlin and Southington, something like 18 TDs to one or two or three (depending on who you heard from). Video from Berlin surfaced on YouTube, so we’ll start with that:
WATCH
Meanwhile, We took a trip to a pair of quad scrimmages at New Canaan and McMahon. It was mostly to get preseason video interviews. We did manage to pick up some highlights.
Here’s the scene at the New Canaan Jamboree featuring Bethel (maroon), Trinity Catholic (yellow), Arch Bishop Stepinac or White Plains (blue jerseys) and the legendary Cardinal Hayes of the Bronx (white with maroon trim).
Really not much to see here, especially since it was many of these schools’ first scrimmage of the year. Bethel looked pretty good with QB Brandon Schmidt and RB Brian Birdsell. New Canaan and Trinity looked slightly off on offense but, realistically, you couldn’t take much from this.
WATCH
Finally, we finally publish video from the Ridgefield-Barlow scrimmage. Played August 26 — before Ridgefield was hammered by Tropical Storm Irene — this was the first official scrimmage of the 2011 season.
Again, not much to take from this aside from a couple highlights. Ridgefield QB Connor Rowe’s long TD pass to Sam Gravitte and a couple touchdown runs from Barlow, including one from sophomore QB Jack Shaban (No. 1). He’s been battling Cooper Brown (No. 5) for the gig.
WATCH
Finally, we ran over to McMahon High School in Norwalk and caught up with some of the city schools, Central and Bassick; McMahon and Norwalk.
I got here almost an hour late and only caught some of the first-team squads going head-to-head. So this video isn’t anything stellar. You’ll recognize new Bassick coach Derrick Lewis, Central coach Dave Cadelina, McMahon coach A.J. Albano and new Norwalk coach Sean Ireland and some of the returning stars for all the teams.
Masuk looks great. They are the #1 team in state.
Masuk does look great but Xavier is number one in the state until they lose a game. Just the way the polls work. it’s a shame masuk can’t play xavier. I have to look at the football packet on the CIAC website to see how many kids masuk is short from being in LL. I think they had more kids a few years back before oxford high opened. Once Casey graduates they will fit the bill of an L team. While he is there they are really a LL team in my mind.
I hate that argument “They were No. 1 at the end of last year, they should be No. 1 until they lose a game.”
Gotta pick a No. 1 in preseason by looking at who’s got what from last season, trying to assess who’ll be the best team at the end of the year.
I think that Masuk could beat Xavier but if the both go undefeated Xavier should be ranked # 1.They have a very tough schedule.I know its not Masuks fault but the first 7 games on their slate are routs.Then they play Pompy and Newtown at Masuk who are quality teams but they have all year to prep for those to teams.X-Men have 7 tough battles including Nov 11 game at West Haven who usually gets better as year goes on.Why doesnt Masuk play Brookfield or Bunnell.Also I heard that Masuk transfer from NL has Jack Cochran as a legal guardian
SPB,
I agree, I was just stating how it most likely will work when the top 10 comes out. Also, Xavier finished last season #1 and its not like the shelves are empty over there. They have a great team coming back as well. Schedule wise, I don’t think xavier goes undefeated again so that will make u and masukrules very happy!! LOL. The masuk schedule is terrible so they will not be tested going 14-0. Maybe NC will give them a game for a half like last year in December.
I agree with Brian the Masuk/New London co-op team should be ranked #2 …
New Canaan won’t be good this year…
@ Brian, this isn’t NCAA football bro, just because Xavier won last year doesn’t mean that they go out and recruit new talent like Masuk, oops excuse major college programs, the Panthers have certainly earned the preseason number one ranking based on scrimmages/ returning/ incoming talent. Its a shame many people don’t realize that that when you take the FCIAC AND SCC (D II) included, the gulf in class between the elite teams isn’t as much as the proponents of the mega leagues care to realize
Additionally, peruse the highlights of the B
bethel v. nc scrimmage, bethel , a middle of the pack SWC team more than held their own against one of the FCIAC’s and the state of CT’s for that matter, standard bearers
WILL THE JACK COCHRANE HALFWAY – HOUSE REMAIN OPEN WHEN HIS SON GRADS,
WHO WILL TAKE OVER AS “RECRUITER,GUARDIAN,OFF COORDINATOR” WHEN HE LEAVES? FOLLOW MASUK FOOTBALL ON”EGO-DADDY.COM.THE MONTHS ARE WINDING DOWN.
halfway house?isnt that for convicts…this young man is a 1st honor student that plays wide receiver
@ Moses, don’t mind Ray Brown, he kinda forgets that a long line of Ansonia stars didn’t hail from the town, including, but not limited to, Arkell Newsome and Montrell Dobbs, but hey all is fair in love and war, and we are all on here blogging because we love hs football. But Ray, you gotta watch throwing those stones from glass houses
Ray is just upset because Ansonia has not completed a pass since Sandy Osieski was at the helm.
So, What’s new ? Did anyone doubt that Cochran was recruited to Masuk by Murphy ? As far as bringing in more New London players, surprised it took so long. It was supposed to happen 2 years ago, when Cochran first came to Masuk. No one cares that this recruiting is done at the expense of the kids who are at Masuk, live and raised there ? Winning is everything ? That program should be ashamed for recruiting, and not supportive of their local players. This is’nt college. Use your homegrown players.
Funny….I recall David Reed commuting back and forth from New Britian to New London for his Senior year.
cochrane wishes he was half the qb oscieki was.be careful your going into dangerous territory.moses i didnt call the kid a convict.However
id have to question new londons curriculum which includes “agriculture”.that course enabled cochrane to recruit when he weas at new london.anybody know what im talking about?
The whole cochrane situation is a joke,but the gutless ciac lets him get away with it ,so be it.Thats why when ansonia kicked his ass, it was that much sweeter.
It’s not just the CIAC letting Cochran get away with it. What about the resposibility of the Masuk head coach, he’s as responsible as Cochran, and Athletic Director ? Knowing the rules, and being able to manipulate the system is one thing, having some integrity, and moral character is another. I guess those things take a back seat to winning by any means, at Masuk. It’s not like Cochran and his ways, snuck up on Masuk, and their Coach. We are all well aware of how Cochran operates up in this part of the state.
Relax Girls. Masuk would have won a state championship last year without Cochran. Not as good – but had a great D and lot’s of players with a super O line.
Coach Murphy, the Masuk Administration or the AD has no control on what Jack Cochran does. Cochran got legal guardianship and the school must allow this boy to attend school and participate in sports. No one should question the Masuk coaching staff or anyone affiliated with the school. Jack Cochran has been a thorn in everyone side since he arrived 3 years ago. The reason Cochran recruited this New London player was for selfish reasons. He wants Casey to look as good as possible. Murphy has never recruited before, he doesn’t need to recruit. He has been doing this long enough to know how to work with what he has. It is Cochran that has made this towns reputation tarnish. We all can’t wait for him to leave.
What ! Masuk coach recruited Cochran, welcomed him in, wanted him, from the beginning. I remember reading all these posts from 3 years ago about how it came to be. New London at Masuk passing league, Masuk’s Murphy and Cochran in it together,. Plus Cochran did a lot of coaching with the Masuk team, and coaches, in the beginning. Murphy knew exactly what he was getting into when he brought Cochran in. Murphy can’t complain about Jack Cochran now, he brought him in. You people are a joke to think Murphy did’nt do what he could to bring Cochran to Masuk.
It’s not like he transferred in from out of state for his senior year, then left right after football season. Something like THAT might raise some eyebrows.
The thing is Casey is only at Masuk another semester, he is leaving in January, this whole thing was clearly a move to make him better by his Father. Wait until he gets hit for real, he is not battle tested in my opinion and he is NOT 6’0″ tall, 5’10-11″ at best. Jack coaches year round, he is a second head coach and they get away with year round practicing – call it 7v7, but the whole team is there – Spring, Summer and Winter. Beyond lifting or film sessions. It may not technically be illegal, but it should be and Murphy is there 90% of the time anyway watching, yelling or coaching…CIAC needs to lift the rule so every school can do the same to compete or crack down on this (all be it too late now). They turn a blind eye on their most notorious rule breaker…they do call it the “Cochran Rule” correct, yet no one is monitoring his actions in Monroe? Now he, out of the graciousness of his heart takes in a top student, top WR to be his guardian and just happen to play for his former coach’s son who is now the QB? How this happens and no one cares except for bloggers and the victims of the Masuk routes is beyond me. I agree Masuk might have won without Casey, but even more agree they literally chased off three of more good Monroe players who were talented but left to go play somewhere they would see time on the field or are sitting out. There has also been questions beyond the illegal practicing of extra supplements for training, I will not say the “S” word, but certainly something more then just go to the gym to lift.
Is that all the best interest of the Masuk kids and players? What about those Monroe kids who played through the civil war of AYF vs Pop Warner and then came together, they earned the right to be legit and play together, not have their skill players recruited and bused in! Casey did not play as a Monroe Youth Football Player, so to me he does not really represent the school or town very well at all, yet he has become the face of Masuk/Monroe, that stinks for the kids that did live there their whole life!
Anybody know if anyone will be respectable in the CCC? How does Windsor look? How has Glastonbury handled their coaching change, and will they again be a playoff contender? Just wondering
Iget the do whats best for your kid thing—imight be wrong but if he was looking for a throwing program to better his kids skills,i would think that southington or Hand would have been more logical choices.new london to bloomfield to new britain back to newlondon and then Monroe is a sham.
SPB – Great site, but you need to do a better job of monitoring these posts.
Unsubstantiated accusations of illegal practices and steroids against an entire team of student athletes, from a disgruntled parent that may or may not be from Monroe???? If someone has a valid concern, there are proper avenues to pursue their concerns… and a poorly written anonymous post is not a correct avenue.
I also disagree with singling out and criticizing a high school athlete for anything but his/her play on the field… regardless of the father. I thought that was your policy.
While I am not a coach, I can tell you that MasukFan had the most accurate post that I have read on this subject.
@Football — You’re absolutely right. I haven’t been paying attention this preseason and that’s my fault.
HEAR ME NOW: NO MORE CHEAP SHOTS, UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS AND ACCUSATIONS OR TRASH TALK.
Those will NOT be posted henceforth.
Remember, you’re talking about kids, all of whom deserve your respect and cannot be blamed for the things adults do. Let’s ease back. Calm down. It’s a long season. This isn’t the NFL or NCAA. While there are serious issues that must be addressed sometimes, this is about fun. Let’s have some fun.
….People aren’t listening to me.
Yo Lion Parent,
Your kid did not earn the right to be on our field by paying money to play pop warner and having friends that play. You earn your way onto the field by training year round and competing. And yeah there is more going on in the weightroom than ‘just go to the gym and lift’. There is a strength coach that works like crazy and a belief in hard work bringing in championships.
On the topic of the Greenwich coach telling his fans to stop yelling at the refs and that he was trying to teach his kids sportsmanship.Didnt one of his asst. coaches smash the runner up trophy on the ground when West Haven beat them at Kennedy Stadium in the LL championship game a few years back.It doesnt get much worse than that.Was that coach fired?I would hope so.
I don’t think anyone is talking about the kid ( Casey ). Yes, talking about Masuk/Monroe players who lose out when out of town kids recruited in. The talk has been about what Murphy / J.Cochran have done, continue to do, and get away with it. Cochran had a big coaching influence on that team since he’s been there. That’s a fact. I agree with everything Lion Parent posted, that person has knowledge of Monroe situation, and have heard same things from other Masuk parents who have witnessed what’s gone on at Masuk. Turn a blind eye if you want to, but don’t try to deny it.
MasukFan is spot on
It’s the same for New Canaan when Batty came into town
Both Murphy and Marinelli have a LONG track record of putting together solid squad after solid squad. There is no need to recruit b/c the town will provide all the coaches need.
And please don’t bring up “pressure” to win. This is CT football. Short of Marinelli and Murphy doing something inappropriate, they are not getting fired for a few non-championship seasons
Unless someone has some real solid evidence on any of these accusations, it’s needs to be squashed
Sounds like the Masuk’s parents are P O’ed because their kids don’t play. Please Pop warner is over – the best play. Daddy can’t coach anymore…..
I think my point was clear, it is not appropriate in what and how the coaches and special helper coach conduct themselves at Masuk. How and why CIAC and Masuk A.D. turn a blind eye is beyond me. There are plenty of Private Schools and Prep/PG Schools who recruit, but they are allowed to do it, CIAC public schools are not suppossed to be doing this. Look at Xavier, they draw and recuit kids from all over their area, it is an unfair advantage for them…It is why most powerhouse football states have seperate Catholic or Private School leagues so it stays balanced, as someone wrote earlier this is NOT college, it is high school football. As for Pop Warner we are way passed that, my point there was that the kids who grew up together and expected and DID earn through year round appropriate prep work (i.e., lifting, going to camps, running and passing without coaches) would have been all together playing/winning, but by moving in an outsider looking simply to USE the town and team for his own gain killed that and to me was/is wrong. My son is a starter, no not clearly as good as the QB they now have, but with HIS line and being they grew up all togehter, he would have taken them just as far! I am ashamed of my town for allowing this to happen, I am proud of the winning and kids who work hard, for a Championship…but not under these means, not with a Father-Coach calling the plays, over-coaching/scouting/yelling and doing it during off-season, as well,inapropriately and from the stands during the games. Ask any parent on the team how they really feel…I am not alone!
Nicely said by DC Rider.
Yep, Murphy and Cochran never dicussed it beforhand, Cochran just happened to go all the way to Monroe from New London, football had nothing to do with it. Are you all that naive ? And the new transfer, who Cochran has Guardianship of, and who just happens to be a reciever, is just at Masuk by mere coincidence ? Nothing to do with football. And of course, Murphy knew nothing of this either. But no Recruiting being done. Yeah, okay.
@DC Rider – It is our tax dollars that pay for the school, the programs. Jack Cochran rents, he never paid taxes in town, give me a break already. It is NOT about Pop Warner, but thanks for insulting us with that. But it was through those good and bad years where the kids learned, grew, bonded and paid the price in preparing and earned their turn to be the players on the field…leave that out, it still is NOT right to move a kid in just because two coaches get together as @CCC pointed out exactly, to help a kid look good. He is good, no question, why did he leave New London? He helped them win a State Championship then. The family has minimal school spirit, cannot wait to get out and leave here in January…used us, pushed good kids to the side, has run the program since 2009, behind the scenes…ridiculous. How anyone tries to defend that behavior is strange. Enough already, subject has been beaten to death…rule breakers win, people of good character, heart and respect lose….in a few years the kids will reflect back and realize…It was wrong, it taught them improper values. You cannot win at all costs, life does not work that way! Again I hope for the best for the boys of Monroe, especially those who were Lions, they are all good boys…good luck!
Poor Pomperaug High School. Masuk recruits a QB and WR and will win two State Championships. Pomperaug blows the States two years ago, loses to Brookfield at home to get knocked out of the States last year and loses their QB to some private school this year. No Clements, no Crick, no Maxen, no Croce, no wins. Who does Pomperaug have anyway? I here they got speed and talent but who are they. Who will throw the ball to them? They are the 5th rated team in the weak SWC. Lucky to win 5 games this year.
Enough. Enough. Enough already. This is waaaaaaaaay out of hand. I’m done with anonymous Monroe posters slinging mud around here. None of them are getting published from here on.
Thank you, drive through.
Lion Parent, let it go. Your son is lucky to be on the line. Your envy and jealousy is clear.
Sorry Lion Parent you are right.
@poor pomperaug, wow what an unsubstantiated, uninformed, ignorant and aimless comment, firstly, why the hard feelings? Perhaps you can elaborate, maybe i am wrong, but are you a resident of region fifteen? Are you currently or formerly involved with pompy’s programs either as coach, parent or player? I think its been made pretty clear that Pomperaug has been attempting to reconfigure their team and coaching staff on the fly, yet thay do return andy reel, and matt paola, both three year starters as well as most of their recievers, secondary and linebacking corps., thus as SPB has astutely noted they are far from finished, they are a program mind you, I guess 8-2, regardless of the magnitude of defeat to masuk or the strength of schedule, is a sign of decline, then I guess theyve succeded in setting the bar pretty high. Wek SWC this year? dumbest thing you said, Masuk speaks for themselves, Bunnell is a top ten team in the state as is Brookfield, but we know those who vote cannot fathom that three of the best teams in the state could be from the SWC. Add to that, the league’s middle tier teams such as Bethel Barlow and Oxford have accquited themselves well in scrimmages against solid programs from other leagues. Please
@39- Are you kidding?-Pomp lucky to win 5 games?
“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”
Vince Lomardi
hey i think its crazy that everyone is talking about masuk how about maybe it being whats good for the tranfer know one knows his deal and family life so lets just let the kids play and just to let you know he yells down but the plays are called by murphy
@Poor Pomp – MaxPreps has Pomperaug rated 6th and they have a lot of talent, you are correct on your statement, but any given Friday Night, so don’t throw in the towel yet. Tough team to open with, Brookfield looks to be pretty good. Pomperaug is always good,never can forget the 2009 SWC game, what a great game, not sure post Chuck Drury if it will be a year of new traditions and fresh starts or same-old, same-old that’s how we always did it…but we will see in a week!
Lion Parent does not have a child on Masuk right now. It is a case of another disgruntled parent trying to knock the success of a real program where his son couldnt hack it. Anyone know Masuk’s record over the last 12 years?
because my life is boring,i took in oxford and pomp practices.might be wrong but oxford has some atheletes and pomp was big but looked slow.saw shelton-ansonia scrimmage,which should be a game.Poor defense
by shelton,ANSONIA could have put three or four more tds on board if game went 4 quaters.ANSONIAS D did not play well either.SHELTON BROKE A KR and a couple long runs, but they cant throw,and their defense was giving up 10 yards a play.
To Masuk Sports guy, What is good for the 2 New London transfers, and J. Cochran, was not good for Monroe boys. Who lost their positions, playing time with their long time teamates, high school football experience, just to help out Cochran. Those players who lose out because of Cochran’s transfers don’t deserve to be treated like that. Murphy should be ashamed of how he recruited, and endorsed this, and how he betrays his local players. The A.D. is powerless I guess in this matter. Maybe SPB can do a little investigating to what REALLY happened in Monroe 2 years ago. I think you might be surprised to know the truth.
everyone is getting way to overworked about this whole thing. everyone knows what jack Cochran is. what did you expect from him. as far as the kids transferring in, well, everything they did was technically in the guidelines and by the book. if you don’t like it have them change the rules. lets be honest here…no one is honest here. we are all posting under false pretenses. If you feel that strongly about this situation start a petition or write a letter or something, but do it as your self. Hey and by the way the kids that left their old schools did not have to leave by the way. Jack did not force it upon them, they chose to leave. so lay some of the blame on them as well.
@CCC – I agree with you %100 on what you just posted. I hate Masuk but do feel sorry for those kids and parents. This is not College, It’s High School. Ray Brown, if you think Pomperaug is big and slow, you were probably at the wrong practice. You probably saw the freshman team. Pomperaug is on the smaller side but has speed. We love the fact the Pomperaug is getting no love. We might not be as good as Masuk but if we stay healthy, we can be as good as everyone else in the SWC. We scrimmage tonight against Rocky Hill so I’ll send out an update after the game. Pomperaug plays Brookfield, Bethel, Bunnell and Newtown in the first 5 weeks. We’ll find out how good they are after these games.
Ansonia is going to win the M and be one of the top teams in the state. The looked big, fast, and athletic last night. A little sloppy with the ball and loose on D, but now they know what to work on this week. Go Chargers.
Girls -Girls
It is a shame you feel this way.
Masuk would have won despite JC and the New London Crew.
@ray brown-I was at the Shelton/Ansonia game last night too.I thought that the first teams were very evenly matched. I agree that Ansonia would have scored more if they stayed on the field, but I think that Shelton would have scored more too. No one was stopping #30 O’Brien. What did have. Maybe 150 yards rushing and a 95 yard touchdown return on that kick off. All in the first half. Talk about coming out of nowhere. I go to almost every Shelton game and I have never even heard his name mentioned. One of the dads said that he is a lacrosse player that didn’t even play football the last couple of seasons. If Shelton can get any passing game going they could have an interesting year. Lots of Seniors. They could surprise.
@53 THAT’S SOME ASSUMPTION. WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN THE QB??
If you mean 54 – They could have just run the ball every Play. Or Chacho would have been on the team or Thomas Milone.
@56-Was Chacho the kid that got screwed when you guys recruited Cochrane? Average at best. and no you would not have won a state championship running the ball every play.
that kid is definitely quick axe and a pretty good back but his 150 yds came on three runs.he had trouble running between tackles.sheltons defense was bad.ansonia didnt play much better.let the season begin.
I’ve seen West Haven, Notre Dame WH and Shelton this preseason. If I had to say who was the better team, I couldn’t. There will be some battles this year in the SCC. I follow the NVL, but let me say your in for some great football this season!
To # 55. Masuk defense shut down everyone last year. They would have won, running the ball, or with another QB. Would not have mattered. Maybe starters would have played longer, but still win by 30 most games, without Cochran.