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Joey Zelkowitz dances through the snow and Darien's defense in the second half of Staples dominant 42-23 victory Saturday. Photo by Autumn Driscoll

Marce Petroccio walked off the Staples Field turf at halftime, his brow furrowed, his lips pursed, fists clenched.

Crazy things were happening. And, for the football coach, his team and the hundreds of homecoming fans packed into the stands Saturday, they weren’t good.

Start with Darien’s ease in moving the football up and down the field. Add the blocked field goal that one of the Wreckers mistakenly touched and was recovered by Darien at the goal line. Then there was that goal line stand, the endzone-to-redzone drive that followed, and the field goal that gave the Wave a 17-7 halftime lead.

“There must have been holes punched in the walls,” MSG’s Mike Quick said on the sidelines.

It was a good guess, but incorrect.

While Petroccio had some choice words, it was a relatively calm halftime. All business.

The explosive bit came in the second half. From the kickoff to the final horn.

Just as a nor’easter swept into town, bringing gobs of snow that made the field a sheet of white, Wreckers buried Darien and it’s league title hopes. Staples forced turnovers, blocked a punt and scored touchdowns — Lotsa, lotsa touchdowns — from Nick Kelly, Rob Wolf and, of course, Joey Zelkowitz, who scored three straight to put Darien away.

“In the first half everything that could have went wrong, did,” Petroccio said. “I give my kids a heck of a lot of credit. They showed a lot of resolve and a lot of heart today. We came out in the second half and played the type of football I thought we were capable of playing.

“That could have been the greatest third quarter in Staples history right there. I mean that was phenomenal.”

Dave Ruden’s got all the goods on what went down in Wrecker wonderland Saturday afternoon: Staples crushes Darien in snowy FCIAC showdown.

In the midst of Staples’ 28-point third-quarter outburst, my trusty HD camera shorted in the snow. I missed the final three touchdowns of the game — including both of Zelkowitz’s 60-yard TDs. So those will be noticeably absent on the film.

One camera down, I (stupidly) used my iPhone in an attempt at postgame interviews. And, in addition to some pretty lousy clips, I got a case of frostbite from the snow caked all over my hands. (Thanks to the Staples trainers for nursing me back to health in the postgame.)

ELSEWHERE: Snow wreaked havoc all across the state, damaging trees, downing power lines and causing meteorologists who’d predicted a later start to hide beneath their desks.

All of the games that began at 10:30 were completed, albeit in a driving snowstorm late. A others that started at their regularly-scheduled noon and 1 p.m. times were played almost entirely in snow. Greenwich-Westhill, Harding-Norwalk never started. They’ll be played Monday.

• Trinity Catholic defeated Bassick 28-0 in a whiteout.
• Weston held off New Fairfield in a thriller
• Barlow defeated Oxford 31-20
• Bullard-Havens stayed alive in Class M with a 40-6 win over new rival O’Brien Tech
• Platt Tech lost to Prince Tech 12-2
• Statewide: Hall bolted to an early lead, waited out a delay, then mopped up Southington in a game with Class LL implications. …Hartford Public beat Fermi 13-6 …Coventry/Windham Tech stayed unbeaten with a 48-8 win over Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby in the battle of the slashes.

We’ll wrap it all up Monday.

The Full Hearst CT Wrap

SWC

• Birdsall scores 6 TDs as Bethel stuns Bunnell
• Fenaroli scores three TDs as Newtown buries Brookfield

FCIAC

• Seniors Harrington, Calitro lead Danbury over Trumbull
• Warde forces six turnovers, rips St. Joseph
• Ridgefield serves another heartbreaker to McMahon
• New Canaan stays the course, handles Wilton
• Boderick brothers lead Stamford rout of Ludlowe

SCC

• Ryan, Fairfield Prep subdue Hamden

All

• Friday’s High School Football Roundup

I’ve received a few emails from fans all over the state asking me to extend our coverage umbrella north and eastward. While I appreciate the praise for our fair space, I believe many of our media friends do a find job themselves. Just promise, when you’re finished reading all of these fine pieces of journalism, to come back here to discuss.

Beyond Shangri-La: The Week 7 state roundup

Ray Curren’s SCC Notebook: An SCC look at the CIAC playoff race – Elm City Newspapers

SCC

• Guilford runs by Lyman Hall – Record-Journal
• Xavier crushes Hillhouse – Middletown Press
• Hand stays unbeaten with 28-14 win over West Haven – Shoreline Times
• Gannon brothers lead Sheehan over East Haven – Record-Journal
• Pascale, Ecke lead Cheshire over Foran – Record-Journal

Pequot

• East Hampton/Vinal Tech defeats Lewis Mills - Middletown Press
• Avon nips Housatonic/Wamogo in OT thriller — Torrington Register-Citizen
• Gilbert/Northwestern routs Canton – Torrington Register-Citizen
• North Branford edges Cromwell in Sassaucus thriller - New Haven Register
• Valley Regional routs Coginchaug – ShoreLine Times

CCC

• Carillo, Highsmith lead Middletown over Bristol Central – Middletown Press
• Berlin closes out Plainville - Bristol Press
• Maloney defeats Bristol Eastern – Bristol Press
• Windsor stays unbeaten, knocks off Farmington – Hartford Courant
• Bloomfield wipes out Platt - Bristol Press

NVL

• Kennedy defeats St. Paul – Bristol Press
• Lytton, Torrington outshoot Derby – Republican-American
• Scirpo runs wild for Woodland over Naugatuck – Republican-American
• Minus DiGiorgi, Holy Cross edges Sacred Heart – Republican-American
• Nicol, Wolcott defeat Watertown – Republican-American

CSC
Putnam/Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech defeats Wolcott Tech in snow – Register-Citizen

ECC

• Dream becomes reality for Fitch, beats New London – The Day [For you pups out there, Ned sure knows how to write a good game story]
• The Day Friday roundup: Stonington shocks NFA
• Waterford routs Killingly – The Day
• Ledyard crushes Montville - The Day

General Roundups

• Hartford Courant Friday night roundup | Courant Saturday roundup
• New Haven Register Friday roundup

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Good morning.

I hope you’re reading this somewhere in a coffee shop in Westport. If you’re not, get your rears in gear.

There’s no time to spare before FCIAC Mega Death Match: 2011 Edition commences this on this soon-to-be snowy day.

If you are hanging in a Starbucks, or at Village Bagels or Westport Pancake House or wherever they chow on breakfast goodies in Westport, you have some time to spare for a quick recap of Friday night in Week 7.

It began like any other this season: Everybody was on the edge of their seats enjoying a thriller at some stadium.

Everyone… except for me. I was in Brookfield, watching Lou Fenaroli bulldoze the reeling Brookfield front lines in the third quarter of what would become a 41-0 route. For me, it was typical. I’ve missed the good ones all year. Maybe, I’m thinking, my compass is just off.

But then, like the Bat Signal, came a Tweet to save me.

From California, of all places:

“@MichaelVelush: @SPBowley Should go to Bethel-Bunnell then”

What was going on there? It’s 28-28, he said. I thought about it. Then I saw Bethel had scored to make it 35-28. That’s when decided I could make it to Ralph DeSantis Field, at least in time for the final quarter.

I backed away from the turf at Brookfield, raced down Route 25, slipped across Route 6 and into the woods of Bethel to witness Brandon Schmidt, Brian Birdsell and the rest of the Wildcats tie a bow around the second great SWC upset of the 2011 season.

Bethel 56, Bunnell 46. This from a team that Weston had used as fertilizer just a few weeks before.

I’d called for an upset last week. I even wondered if Bethel had one in them in the Guide. Ask and you shall receive.

Good show, Wildcats. Good show.

But it wasn’t just Bethel knocking one of Class L’s contenders down a peg. The rest of the playoff division took another hit when Fitch bounced No. 5 New London — remember them, Greenwich? — by the stunning score of 14-0. Down the pole a bit, Windsor felled Farmington, leaving six unbeaten teams in the division.

In Class LL, Stonington (the mighty Bears of Stonington) dropped Norwich Free Academy from the unbeaten ranks, 22-21. Cromwell lost to North Branford.

Down here in Shangri-La (south-western Connecticut for the uninitiated), we were devoid of any additonal stunners. New Canaan took care of Wilton; Fairfield Prep handled Hamden; Ridgefield edged McMahon; Hand (now 7-0) defeated West Haven; Masuk (also 7-0) crushed New Milford, Danbury defeated Trumbull, Shelton beat Amity, Ansonia bounced Crosby, Derby was outgunned against Torrington; Woodland kept pace by defeating Naugatuck.
Read the full roundup here.

So thanks for giving us a little spice, Bethel. You’re still in the playoff race. Newtown’s up next. Let’s see how long you can stay here.

OK. Finish up those pancakes. Scarf down the rest of that coffee. Grab an umbrella and (maybe) some cross-country skis and we’ll see you at Staples Field.

The Live Update Blog

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From Accuweather.com: A confluence of weather patterns could cause hazardous conditions Saturday.

Open your doors or windows. Look outside. Take a deep breath.

Can you feel that twinge in the air? Can you smell it?

There’s a storm brewing. A few of them, in fact.

It’s brewing on the shores of Madison, where West Haven and Hand clash in (yet another) huge SCC game. It’s brewing in Middletown, where Hillhouse is marching into Palmer Field for a date with No. 1 Xavier. It’s coalescing in Brookfield, where the hometown Bobcats engage with Newtown in a fight for their playoff lives. And, of course, it’s massing in Westport where premier FCIAC clubs Staples and Darien are set to collide.

For the less poetic of you out there, we have a literal storm, too. One (depending on where you live), could bring gobs of the white fluffy stuff. Yes, snow. (To the many of you freaking out about snow at this time of year, where I went to school, we called this phenomenon “October.”)

Anyway, it could get tough out there. So be safe. That includes anybody out and about during this storm Saturday.

A couple of Saturday games have already been bumped up to account for the weather: New Fairfield at Weston and Barlow at Oxford are now at 10 a.m.

Here’s your Week 7 primer:

Harding coach James Morris remains suspended for undisclosed reasons and will not coach Saturday’s game vs. Norwalk. Bridgeport citywide athletic director Jim Denton did not respond to a phone call seeking further information Thursday night. We’ll have more on this as more details arise.

Also: Joe Acquanita, Brookfield’s standout linebacker, will not play vs. Newtown on Friday. He was ejected during the late stages of Brookfield’s game against Bunnell last week.

Here are other stories appearing in today’s Hearst CT Newspapers:

• Thursday night football: Seymour holds off Wilby in thriller
• Chisholm, Vazquez star for 6-0 Bunnell
• Stakes are high for Staples, Darien clash
• FCIAC notes: QB Vega a game-time decision for McMahon

Goodies

• Week 7 Games to Watch
• Guide to Week 7′s Games
• The Elite 8
• League Playoff Watch

On The Air

• Notre Dame-WH at Wilbur Cross, Friday, 3 — sportingnewsct.com OR gogreenknights.com
• Naugatuck at Woodland, Friday, 7 — WATR 1320-AM (watr.com)
• Westhill at Greenwich, Saturday, 1 — WGCH 1490-AM (wgch.com)
• New Canaan at Wilton – or-  Friday, 7 — WSTC 1400-AM/WNLK 1350-AM (wstcwnlk.com)
• West Haven at Hand, Friday, 7 — WELI 960-AM (960weli.com)

Live Blog

(check here for latest postponements)

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Taking knees on extra points, taking knees on four-consecutive downs, punting on first down, falling down intentionally with no players within 10 yards, taking intentional safeties, allowing intentional touchdowns, intentionally fumbling, throwing intentional interceptions…

These weekly outrages have come to define the CIAC’s 5-year old and much maligned Score Management Policy — colloquially known as the “Cochran Rule,” named in honor of Jack Cochran, the guy state football coaches were trying to stop from scoring 90 points in any given game.

Now, the state’s coaches are thinking about toning it down, perhaps phasing it out altogether, according to Ned Griffen of the Day.

The CIAC’s football committee will examine alternatives, specifically a running clock, when it meets next Monday.

From the Article:

“It’s a hot-button issue,” said Paul Hoey, the Associate Executive Director for CIAC. “There is some feeling around the table that running clock would make sense. This year, if you look at some of the scores, it would probably be a good thing to do and then talk about phasing out the 50-point rule altogether.”

“It has been a resounding success in us managing scores,” Hand coach Steve Filippone said. “The bottom line is it’s worked, but it is flawed like so many other things. … it’s much harder on us coaches than I think we ever anticipated it would be.”

Enacted in 2006, the score management policy sought to suspend coaches one game for defeating opponents by more than 50 points. The extreme legislation drew universal scourge from observers nationwide when Central football coach Dave Cadelina defeated Bassick 56-0 just weeks into that season.

Central appealed and Cadelina’s suspension was overturned. Beginning this season, the CIAC removed the automatic suspension (pending an appeal) in favor of a more liberal approach. Coaches and game officials now submit reports and a committee rules on whether the policy was violated.

Of the dozen violations, to date, only one coach has been suspended under the policy, Dan Lawrence of East Hartford in 2007, and that was because his school didn’t appeal. Otherwise, appeal rates are 100 percent.

In addition to the exotic ways coaches have employed to avoid violating the policy, another issue has come to light. It stems from Torrington’s 80-39 victory over St. Paul in Week 3.

Up big in the first half, Torrington removed its starters to avoid the 50-point barrier. However, St. Paul’s starters remained and proceeded to score four consecutive touchdowns, making it a 22-point game in the third quarter against Torrington’s limited junior varsity bench. Torrington re-inserted its starters, causing some testy moments between the coaching staffs afterward.

The Day reported a National High School Federation survey that found 30 of 50 states use a running clock anywhere beyond a 30-point margin.
But given a choice in Connecticut, the coaches chose the 50-point policy instead of a running clock — presumably because a running clock would cut down on playing time.

Filippone told The Day he’d support a running clock, “but I’m the only guy.”

Read the full article here.

My thoughts:

WE’VE BEEN TELLING YOU THIS FIVE YEARS RUNNING YOU BUREAUCRATIC LOONIES!

A running clock, please. And if you’re so concerned with varsity playing time for your freshmen, coaches, let’s set the bar at 50 points and readjust as issues arise.

And Coach Filippone, I love ya and all, but of of course score management has been a ‘rousing success’ in keeping scores down. But so would have tying cinder blocks to the better team’s feet or — better yet — not playing the game at all. Doesn’t make it any less dumb and unnecessary.

After five years railing against this stupid, insane, politically correct piece of over-legislated garbage, here’s how I feel right now.

I’ll be at my shrink (oh, sorry, ‘behavioral specialist’) if anyone needs me:

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Week 7 is just about the time to start to seriously keep an eye on the playoff races. The state races have still a ways to go before we can truly look at scenarios. But it’s not too early with the league championship games, at least in an overview. don’t expect anything too specific.

Here we go.

The FCIAC

New Canaan, Staples and Darien are in the driver’s seat. One team will get bumped down with the conclusion of this week’s mega-match in Westport.

New Canaan has games with big point potentials in the coming weeks. The Rams round out their FCIAC regular season vs. Wilton (3 FCIAC wins), vs. Stamford (3 wins), vs. Trumbull (2 wins). They’ll clinch if they win out.

Staples or Darien can pick up a ton of points with a win on Saturday, so the victor will be in great shape if it wins out.

After Darien, Staples wraps up with Warde (3 wins) and Westhill (0 wins). After Staples, Darien wraps up with Trinity Catholic (2 wins) and Bassick (0 wins).

Greenwich will likely need some help. The Cards wrap with Westhill (0 wins, McMahon (3 wins) and Danbury (2 wins)  Even if it finishes the season unbeaten in the FCIAC, it would only get in if they are one of two unbeaten teams remaining after Week 9.

The FCIAC Championship game will be held Friday, Nov. 18 at Trumbull’s McDougall Field, 7:30 p.m.

Note: To the uninitiated, these are “FCIAC” playoff points. Not CIAC playoff points. Only FCIAC games count.

The SWC

It’s a little more clear-cut. The top-two records get in. Only if there’s a tie will things get slightly messy.

Masuk and Bunnell are the league’s only remaining unbeaten teams. If they win out, they will face each other at Bunnell on Nov. 17 for the title.

Newtown’s only realistic shot is to beat Brookfield this weekend, and then beat Bunnell on Nov. 9. That would drop Bunnell to one loss and Newtown holding the head-to-head tiebreaker.

If Brookfield defeats Newtown this weeked, the race is all but over. That would give Newtown two league losses. Bunnell, holding a tiebreaker over Pomperaug, would qualify if it wins out.

Pomperaug‘s only realistic chance is to win out, and that includes beating Masuk. That would at least force a three-way tie and the playoff points would be in their favor.

The SWC Championship will be held Thursday, Nov. 17 at Bunnell, 7 p.m.

The NVL

Thankfully, the league came to its senses and made head-to-head the first tiebreaker in determining division champions. Last year’s controversy was silly and unnecessary.

So, it’s quite simple nowadays.

In the Brass Division, Wolcott is the only thing standing between Ansonia and a division clinch. The teams play next week. Ansonia can start printing NVL title tickets with a victory there.

The Copper Division is slightly more muddled, but not by much.

Holy Cross controls its own destiny.

The Crusaders wrap up the season with games against Sacred Heart, Woodland and St. Paul. They already own the tiebreaker over Torrington and, with a victory over Woodland next week, would be the likely division champion.

Torrington and Woodland need help.

Torrington finishes division play with Kennedy and Sacred Heart.

Woodland finishes division play with Naugatuck, Holy Cross.

A Woodland win over Holy Cross could set up a three-way tiebreaker for the division title. We assume that would be broken by overall NVL record. But we’re not sure yet. Anyone from the NVL feel free to chime in here.

The NVL title game is Thursday, Nov. 17 at Municipal Stadium, 6:30 p.m.

CIAC Playoff Points

And, in the interest of keeping everyone up-do-date on statewide happenings, here’s how the state playoff races are shaping up.

If the playoffs started today:

• CLASS LL: No. 8 West Haven at No. 1 Xavier | No. 7 Norwalk at No. 2 Conard | No. 6 Glastonbury at No. 3 Staples | No. 5 Pomperaug at No. 4 Norwich Free Academy

• CLASS L: No. 8 Coventry/Windham Tech at No. 1 Windsor | No. 7 Farmington at No. 1 Hand | No. 6 Darien at No. 3 Bunnell | No. 5 New London at No. 4 New Canaan.

No, there’s no Masuk out there. Masuk is biding its time at the No. 9 spot. But rest assured, if Masuk finishes unbeaten, it will get in. One loss would be a killer. But you knew that.

• CLASS M: No. 8 Enfield at No. 1 Ansonia | No. 7 Ledyard at No. 2 Ellington/Somers | No. 6 Waterford at No. 3 Wolcott | No. 5 Berlin at No. 4 Cheney Tech.

• CLASS S: No. 8 Bloomfield at No. 1 Capital Prep/Classical | No. 7 North Branford at No. 2 Coginchaug | No. 6 Northwest Catholic at No. 3 Cromwell | No. 5 Valley Regional/Old Lyme at No. 4 Holy Cross.

Still long ways off so don’t get too crazy.