Something’s not right here.
We’re about to begin Week 3 of the 2011 Connecticut high school football season, but, I’ve gotta be honest with you, it still has that 2010 taste to it.
Don’t get me wrong. 2010 was fun. Plenty exciting. But I’ve already seen that movie. We’ve already lived that day.
Paraphrasing Phil Connors: “Once again the eyes of the nation have turned here to this … TI-ny village in [southwestern Connecticut]… blah blah blah blah blah.”
A couple upstarts aside, New Canaan is still king of the FCIAC, Masuk still rules the SWC, Xavier is still bludgeoning the SCC, Ansonia the NVL.
Both Masuk and Xavier remain embroiled in a never-ending battle of public opinion for the top spot in the polls, which, by the way, haven’t significantly differed much from last year, either.
Pomperaug’s good. Bunnell’s good. Staples is good. Darien is good. Newtown is good. Hand is good. West Haven is good. We’re still wondering about Trumbull. Hillhouse is down, but not out. Greenwich is on the fence, as are a number of others. OK, yeah, St. Joseph isn’t in the picture, then again they were 1-2 around this time last year anyway.
What, pray tell, is really different? I’ll tell you: nothing.
Is this all you have to offer, 2011? 2010 II? Didn’t we do this last year? Have you run out of ideas?
Many of our preseason dark horses have already “been taken to the glue factory,” as Bay so succinctly put it in our comments section. We’re running out of trendy picks. The usual suspects are still standing.
So who’s left?
Weston takes on Newtown tonight in an intriguing SWC matchup that could tip the scales if the Trojans somehow pull it out. …Seymour? The ‘Cats are 2-0, but they haven’t really played anyone yet. TBA. …Norwalk? TBA until they host New Canaan as an undefeated football team. …How about you, Wilton? Looking good so far, but let’s see you take on New Canaan or someone.
What about the boys from Cheshire? They’re gearing up to take on jilted No. 2 Xavier tonight at Palmer Field. Taking out the defending No. 1 team in the state? Yes, that would be the significant switch we’re looking for. (OK, it would be a switch back to 2009, but a switch nonetheless.)
Shelton? The Gaels are 2-0, take on Notre Dame-West Haven. They haven’t been boss in the SCC since at least 2007. Football’s not the same around here without a strong Shelton club. We’ll keep an eye on them. …What about Derby? The Red Raiders had us excited for a spell, but then lost to Naugatuck. They won’t help our cause without beating Ansonia. …New Fairfield? Bethel? That’s a big game up there. Let’s see something. …Oxford? …McMahon? …Ridgefield? …Greenwich? (actually, I’ve gotten used to Greenwich being out of the mix.)
If I wanted 2010, I would just post all of last year’s videos and call it a day.
Somebody. Do something.
And fast, before we actually relive yesterday today.
WEEK 3 FEATURES/NOTEBOOKS
- NVL: Rivals Ansonia, Derby renew acquaintances tonight
- SCC: Shelton (2-0) ready for some home cooking
- FCIAC Notebook: New coach, new QB have Norwalk winning
- FCIAC: Darien growing up fast
- SWC Notebook: Newtown hosts Weston in marquee conference clash
WEEK 3 GOODIES
ON THE AIR
- North Haven at Branford, 7 p.m. — Sportingnewsct.com
- Ansonia at Derby, 7 p.m. — WELI 960-AM (Weli.com)
- Notre Dame at Shelton, 7 p.m. — Gogreenknights.com
- New London at Greenwich, 7 p.m. — WGCH 1490-AM (wgch.com)
- Torrington at Holy Cross, 7 p.m. — WATR 1320-AM (watr.com)
SPB, if you want to compare with 2010, then compare each team with last year’s team. For example:
NC: Still a potent passing attack, but not as big-play without Macari and Armstrong. Defense not as good… yet. A notch down from last year, but still a great team.
Greenwich: They have a QB this year and a better defense. Two notches up from last year.
Staples: Still a great D, but not as stifling. O way faster, beating teams in the air in pre-season but on the ground these days which is interesting. Currently even with last year, but if they continue to make big plays, especially in the air, could be scary good.
Darien: For sure a couple notches down on both sides of the ball so far, but if they start believing, they could be back in contention.
Trumbull: They look a couple of notches down, but it wasn’t until late last season when they started to gel. We’ll see.
Verdict: In Class L, both Masuk and Bunnell have top QBs who can slice you apart and go long. Masuk has the better defense so here’s hoping for a rematch as revenge is a powerful motivator! In Class LL, Xavier is not going to let a team grind out an 80 yard drive. To beat them you need big play ability. Staples with its speedsters on offense has that potential. I still expect Cheshire to beat Xavier tonight, but think Xavier will have more success in the playoffs.
BTW, it should go without saying that Wilton is several notches up from last year. Ridgefield once again has stifling defense but an offense that never gets it done in the one big game they just have to win. Ironically, for Wilton to not be another Ridgefield, they have to start by beating Ridgefield next week.
I I don’t see Cheshire upsetting the X-Men, it could be a close one but that depends on the Cheshire offensive line. They need to make a stand and and try to hold off the biggest defensive line and one of the best at stopping the run.
It doesnt matter who wins Cheshire_XMen game .West Haven better than both of them anyway
West Haven better than Cheshire and Xavier!! That is pretty funny. They haven’t had an opponent of that caliber yet.
spb—-now you know why greenwich was calling sacred heart.no.4 you gotta have head checked.
@RayRay – You and I both know if one of us needs a CAT scan or a psychoanalysis, it ain’t me.
I love this year, the FCIAC is somewhat down and not a lot of fathers on here bashing Ansonia, cause you know what, this team is for real and Newsome is going to be a legit D-1 prospect. Ask people around the valley about this kid, lighting fast. I remember getting told on this blog last year that Ansonia never beat anyone in the playoffs and what not, then I made a remark about New London and I was told that in 2007 they were overrated. I guess they were cause we beat them 35-0 and their quarterback plays for the #12 Florida Gators right now and one of their recievers went to Iowa. Now to a lesser degree, New London who is not even close to as good as that overrated 2007 team goes down to Greenwich and whoops up on the pretty boys. Class S at its finest. I love it! Arkeel Newsome, see you on primetime saturdays somewhere, and can someone tell me how tall Cochran is, the kid is a shrimp
Is that the same Sacred Heart that Ansonia filled their 11th game with a few years back when they had another one of their greatest teams ?
Not many teams like to step up and play outside their conference.Big fish in a little sea.
New London 51 Greenwich 33, so much for those class ‘S’ schools being weak and ‘LL’ being the strongest. Hogwash
#4) You are talking about the same West Haven team that struggled with Amity and is currently struggling with Hamden right? Yeah they are a whole lot better than Xavier.
Titletown, I agree that Ansonia has a very good team this year. I would rank them #3 in the state behind Masuk and Xavier. Way distant though.
Arkeel is the real deal
and will be a great player but I did see him get caught from behind by the safety/running back from Torrington. His name eludes me. The FCIAC is the worse I’ve seen in years. No stick out team but many middle of the road teams. New Canaan is a shell of what they once were and will not advance beyond the first round in the states-If they qualify.
Norwalk has a good defense but zero offense and Staples will improve on both sides of the ball at seasons end. A weak Greenwich
team could qualify for the FCIACS. OUCH!!
Please do away with the 50 point rule once and for all. The coaches always appeal the decision and no suspension is given. The only coach who was suspended did not appeal.
Look for a hugh coaching change next year at one of the FCIACS headline programs. Fans and alumni are getting restless.
Love the Daniel Hand program. Each year they play one of the toughest schedules in the state and do it with class. This team could make Masuk sweat a little-but just a little.
spb—-i was referring to entry 4—read the blog
you still might be right—ill waive the apology.
@RayRay – Maybe I will get that CAT scan
IVE HAD A FEW THEYRE NOT FUN
@Titletown. New London is a Class L school this year. Look it up.
Which reminds me of something I read by the Hand coach before the season started. There could be a lot of undefeated teams in the regular season in L this year, making it difficult to qualify with one or two losses: Masuk, Bunnell, Hand (he didn’t put his own team on the lsit) New Canaan, North Haven and Windsor could all conceivably go undefeated this year.
Nice,read thruogh all of these and I got what I wanted : 13 -16 .Both a class act.
I meant to include New London on the list of L teams that could go undefeated.
Jen, these teams played against each other during the summer on more than a few occasions. Ansonia is right there with X and Masuk. Ansonia and Masuk were able to take care of X. Newsome was and is on another level. Not one kid on their teams was able to stay with Newsome or the other Ansonia WR Matos. Milone, from Masuk, ran all over the field too. My point is these three teams are very close and would produce the best games if they played each other. Don’t be so fast to exclude Ansonia. They are huge up front, like X, and very fast. Their WR’s and secondary are faster, as a unit, than both X and Masuk. X and Masuk brought momentum into this season, deservingly so. Again, Ansonia is very strong this year and would be a problem for anyone. They are the real deal this year and will be amazing next year with what is coming back. Don’t see any upsets at the top of the heap this year.
At the end of the year two SCC teams will be state champs.Hand and West Haven.Write this down with the date!! Westies are way to fast for Xavier and Hand is best team in CT.
Bernie——-you gotta be kidding right? or are you roto under different screen name? wow
Stapes has mcmahons #-i remember years back when they had jimmy hughs and won on a last second field goal 17-14. Mcmahon will learn from this,their going in the rite direction.
@ #21 and Shelton defeated Ansonia in the varsity portion of their scrimmage and were soundly defeated by Notre Dame Friday night.Preseason and Summer ball can be very misleading and like everyone else I sometimes buy into the results.Masuk is Very,very good,Ansonia is a good team a few steps behind them.The high ONLY ranked team that actually goes out and proves their ranking a good portion of the year on the field of play is Xavier.
22. Bernie:
I have seen Hand play “first hand” and well they are certainly a great team, not sure if they are the best. They do not play Xavier this year, but I would love to see them play Masuk in the state playoffs. Their offense is very good, D is very good up front as well. If they would have beaten NC last year in the playoffs they would have had their chance in 2010 to play Masuk…..
@25yes not much on pre season as I used to be but I was at the shelton Ansonia scrimage and Ansonia was driving down field with under 2 mins ,Shelton could do little to stop them and the ball was fumbled inside of the 5 yard line of Shelton as Ansonia was munching clock ,also Arkeel did not play defence which had a freshman in his place the whole 1st half.Ansonia beat ND pre season which had me confused as to why Shelton got beat so bad Friday(ah… pre-season metrix)
…Any one know why Shelton got shut out?
I would be suspect to say Ansonia was equal to X and M. I will need to see rest of the season to determine if they are even close… so far I can’t see it.Ansonia could run the table (if Brookfield does not sandbag) and it still may be hard to compare those 3 teams and not to forget NC plays with an enormous sence of tradition so I would place them up there too with a couple other FCIAC teams as well as 1 OR 2 SCC teams as far as tradition and lion-heartedness goes this year.I believe it was that(tradition) which cost Ward it’s game , NC will find a way to win like few teams can year in and year out.
I must add to #27 I only mentioned the two leagues that I always have to here which one is better than the other,and both better than the rest of Ct.which may or may not be true ,not to say that there isn’t tradition and /or lionheartedness (is that a word?) in every league across the football world of high school football in Connecticut because there certainly is.
Sorry not to mention the other teams/leagues in Ct. there is a lot of teams with a great tradition and lionheartedness (is that a word?).Credit should be given where credit is due.
@21 Ansonia can be the best team in the state next year easily .The second string quarterback is just as good maybe better than Chudwick and Arkeel has 2 more years but , the game is won/lost in the trenches ,Seymore can tell you that from the team that boasted a good quarterback a few years ago(could have been a great quarterback… Depula,had it been for a decent “O” line)in his senior year went flat.Not much a running game either that year,but the year before they were very good.
“best team in the state next year” is about as silly as “best CT high school football team ever”. Can we stop with the chestpounding, nonsense..please?
I said , can be the best team not will be the best team , not nonsence in my opinion . Aren’t we all entitled to our own opinions ? If it’s we that is chest pounding then have you said something that is nonsense ?