Here we go again.
Xavier recaptured the top spot in the NHR Media Poll today, returning to the top for the first time since Week 1. The Falcons defeated Cheshire 42-20 and snatched two first-place votes away from Masuk and claimed the top spot by a measly two points.
Masuk 50-pointed Stratford, scoring 42 points in a quarter and a half, but lose two 1st-place votes.
Crazy stuff. Until something drastic happens, get used to the flip flopping. It’s going to happen all year.
Elsewhere, Ansonia leapfrogged New Canaan. New London jumped three spots to No. 9. Windsor jumped two to No. 8 and Bunnell joins the poll at No. 10. Cheshire, which was No. 8, falls out after its 42-20 loss to Xavier.
Updated with the CSWA and Day Coaches polls. And look who got a first-place vote in the Day. (Hint, it’s not Masuk or Xavier.)
NHR
| Rank | Team (1st Place) | Record | Points | Last |
| 1. | Xavier (13) | 3-0 | 724 | 2 |
| 2. | Masuk (12) | 3-0 | 722 | 1 |
| 3. | Ansonia | 3-0 | 590 | 4 |
| 4. | New Canaan | 3-0 | 548 | 3 |
| 5. | Hand | 3-0 | 532 | 5 |
| 6. | New London | 2-0 | 469 | 9 |
| 7. | Staples | 3-0 | 426 | 6 |
| 8. | Windsor | 3-0 | 374 | 10 |
| 9. | West Haven | 3-0 | 326 | 7 |
| 10. | Bunnell | 3-0 | 282 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Trumbull (2-0), 224; North Haven (3-0), 194; Cheshire (2-1), 192; Middletown (3-0), 168; Darien (3-0), 148; Pomperaug (3-0), 101; Berlin (3-0), 58; Montville (3-0), 50; Conard (3-0), 49; Norwalk (3-0), 40; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 37; Southington (3-0), 35; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (3-0), 24; Naugatuck (3-0) and Northwest Catholic (2-0), 19; Cromwell (3-0), 14; Holy Cross (3-0), 10.
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, MSG Varsity; Kevin Duffy, Danbury News-Times; Tom Evans, Norwalk Hour; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, Patch/West Hartford News; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shore Line Newspapers; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Mike Wollschlager, New Haven Register; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.
DAY COACHES
| Rank | Team (1st Place) | Record | Points | Last |
| 1. | Xavier (6) | 3-0 | 376 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (6) | 3-0 | 368 | 2 |
| 3. | Ansonia | 3-0 | 301 | 3 |
| 4. | Hand | 3-0 | 292 | 4 |
| 5. | New Canaan | 3-0 | 272 | 6 |
| 6. | New London (1) | 2-0 | 232 | T10 |
| 7. | Windsor | 3-0 | 213 | 8 |
| 8. | Staples | 3-0 | 192 | 7 |
| 9. | Bunnell | 3-0 | 156 | 9 |
| 10. | Cheshire | 2-1 | 121 | T4 |
Also receiving votes: West Haven (3-0), 116 points; North Haven (3-0), 96; Pomperaug-Southbury (3-0), 74; Conard-West Hartford (3-0), 53; Montville (3-0), 52; Berlin (3-0), 49; Tie, Newtown (3-0) and Trumbull (2-0), 45; Middletown (3-0), 39; Darien (3-0), 34; Naugatuck (3-0), 28; Northwest Catholic-West Hartford (2-0), 26; Ledyard (2-0), 25; Holy Cross-Waterbury (3-0), 20; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 18; Cromwell (3-0), 17; Southington (3-0), 10; Bloomfield (2-0), 9; Hartford Public (3-0), 8; Hall-West Hartford (3-0), Norwalk (3-0), Notre Dame-West Haven (2-1) and Wilton (3-0), 7.
The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Craig Bruno, Bunnell-Stratford; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Rob Fleeting, Windsor; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.
CSWA
| Rank | Team (1st Place) | Record | Points | Last |
| 1. | Xavier (19) | 3-0 | 452 | 1 |
| 2. | Masuk (12) | 3-0 | 446 | 2 |
| 3. | Ansonia | 3-0 | 374 | 4 |
| 4. | New Canaan | 3-0 | 359 | 3 |
| 5. | Hand | 3-0 | 315 | %6 |
| 6. | New London | 2-0 | 298 | 9 |
| 7. | Staples | 3-0 | 261 | 5 |
| 8. | Windsor | 3-0 | 240 | 8 |
| 9. | West Haven | 3-0 | 151 | 10 |
| 10. | Bunnell | 3-0 | 120 | NR |
Also Receiving Votes: Trumbull 2-0 108; Cheshire 2-1 106; North Haven 3-0 103; Middletown 3-0 72; Conard 3-0 57; Pomperaug 3-0 46; Montville 3-0 39; Darien 3-0 33; Berlin 3-0 30; Northwest Catholic 2-0 23; Norwich Free Academy 2-0 19; Valley Regional/Old Lyme 3-0 19; Southington 3-0 14; Farmington 3-0 7; Cromwell 3-0 6; Glastonbury 2-1 4; Naugatuck 3-0 4; Norwalk 3-0 4; Notre Dame-West Haven 2-1 4; Newtown 3-0 3; Hall 3-0 2; Coventry/Windham Tech 2-0 1
Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Brian Barreto (NVL Blog), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Don Boyle (Sporting News CT), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Kyle Brennan (Waterbury Republican-American), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 980 AM), Mark Fijalkowski (CT Sports Network), Ted Glanzer (The Granbys Patch), Dave Greenleaf (Bristol Press), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (SE Conn Patch), Bob Lazzari (Valley Times), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (Farmington/W. Hartford Patch), Robert Mayer (Berlin Patch), Eric Montgomery (Minuteman Newspapers), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Newspapers), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Times)
“ANSONIA — Arkeel Newsome is awesome, no doubt. Perhaps the state’s best tailback. His anticipation and field vision are without peer, and enable him to turn big gainers into long touchdowns. There’s a reason why his path to the end zone is so wide open. Seven, actually: Tyler Williams, Matt Hall, Arkadiusz Osiecki Kaszuba, Dylan Vano, Hakeem Martin; Dennis Danley and Jake LaRovera. They’re Ansonia’s bone-crushing offensive line, fullback and tight end. The Chargers slide into the No. 2 spot behind Masuk.”
SPB is just trying to get Xavier pissed-off so they can put more kids in the hospital and become a unanimous #1. :)
@Remmy – Lol, but how’s Xavier involved? They’re not included in these rankings. Only SWCT.
I have to agree with Remmy. Newsome is amazing and has an incredible front seven who downfield blocks. The top 3 are right.
Newsome is great. The Ansonia O-Line is Probably the best in the state. They probably have at least 1 d-1 player and a couple d-2 players on it. It is fun seeing the numbers that this line has produced over the past 2 yrs with Dodds in 2010 and now with Newsome in 2011.
NVL guys give us break. The next thing you will be saying is the Ansonia O line should be playing for the Jets on Sunday.
Now your just getting out of line Dave. No one went that far. Were saying they’re really good. The numbers speak for themselves if you have an issue. You can look up their sizes and you can look back at Dobbs stats last season and Newsomes this year. Before you say they play No one. Dobbs had nearly 1400 yds in the playoffs against excellent teams.
well dave k did you see the jets center sunday night…?
Hand looks like a college team.Thats all I got to say.
Remmy Its easy to run against people that are slow and cant tackle.Torrington,Derby,!!!Whos the next big team that could challenge AHS.I think AHS is great and could play anyone but they dont because of there league but dont get ridiculous
@bernie “Hand looks like a college team.” Are you serious? Here’s the Hand roster.
http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/LOGMjGhGNUu8d4JGbrYVng/hand-tigers/football/roster.htm
There tallest player is 6’4 and he’s a wide receiver. There biggest lineman is 6’3 240. What college level are you talking about?
Here’s Ansonia’s roster.
http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/TKlkxAUDgEaTPT921h1FzQ/ansonia-chargers/football/roster.htm
Which one looks more like a college team? Ansonia has fifteen kids over 6′, and/or 200 Lbs. Hand has eight.
Ansonia’s starting offense goes:
3 Jake LaRovera (C) TE, DE Sr. 6-2 205
70 Hakeem Martin (C) OL, DL Sr. 5-11 275
71 Tyler Williams OL, DL Sr. 6-2 263
76 Dylan Vano OL, DE Sr. 6-5 280
56 Matthew Hall OL, DE Sr. 6-1 268
52 Arkadiusz Kaszuba OL, DL Sr. 5-9 220
2 Arkeel Newsome RB, DB So. 5-7 173
4 Andrew Matos WR, DB Jr. 6-1 190
6 Raeshaun Finney WR, DB Jr. 6-2 174
7 Elliot Chudwick (C) QB Sr. 6-1 190
33 Dennis Danley RB, LB Sr. 5-4 160
Not only are they big and strong, they’re athletic. Dennis Danley is the smallest lead blocker in the state, but pound-for-pound probably the strongest.
Let’s be realistic. I respect the Hand program and what Coach Filippone has done, but they certainly don’t look like a college team on paper.
Too many NVL bloggers here.Remmy take your entourage and stay on your own blog with your Ansonia lovers.Give the people your website so they can all see how bored you guys are.400 yards vs Derby.Impressive maybe he can try for 600 this week.Ansonia is a great program and I give them all their due.Here’s the problem-the rest of the league is pathetic.I believe you had Derby picked for 2nd place in the league.They stink and will win 6 games in the NVL.A .500 bad Shelton team will beat them by 35 pts on Turkey Day.Give the Chargers their due but put in perspective on who they are playing.Also keep in mind Arkeel is a Waterbury kid and you knew what you were getting when you brought him in.
The NVL bloggers hyped the you know what out of Torrington. Yeah, they’re really good.
Everybody play nice.
@Kris1 , actually Hand has at least one kid who looks like a D1 lineman, senior co-captain Joe Demichele, the kid goes about 6’3″ 285, without much body fat and won the state and new england opens for wrestling as a junior last year, pretty dominant on the ol and dl as well for the tigers
@#11 Great post….SPB- please try and maintain all the NVL bloggers…Remmy has his own blog and he can build the Chargers up on that site.Hey Remmy,what do you think about the other teams in the NVL this year…Any of them worthy state champions?Maybe KENNEDY is a darkhorse.Please keep your people on your own site.SPB has this great blog for open minded people all from different leagues that want to debate football.
thanks for taking heat off me rem–lol.everyleague has bogus programs—– LAW was one of the worse teams ive ever seen.what league do they play in?The NVL is not a strong league.But either is SWC, SCC-D-2,AND HALF the fciac. PAUL—calm down weve been on this site since it started.Must be a YANKEE fan.
If one goes by strength of schedule then Xavier hands down should be ranked #1. Ansonia and Masuk will not be tested at all this year and it’s a shame for their players and coaches. All athletes want competition otherwise it’s not fun to play. This has been Ansonia’s problem for years being stuck in the NVL. They have a great tradition and outstanding teams each and every year but around the state they don’t get the respect they deserve because of its schedule.
The SCC would welcome Ansonia to its league and this would be a positive for all concerned. People keep knocking the Waterbury schools but in reality the problem with Waterbury is they have too many high schools.
Everyone knows the NVL not stronger than the SCC or FCIAC or SWC, team for team. But some of you people make me laugh with your comments.
We can’t mention “Ansonia” on this site? SPB does. Why can’t we?
Look at the bottom-feeders in any league and tell me they don’t stink (FCIAC, SCC, SWC, ECC, etc.) Especially those big schools from Bridgeport in the FCIAC.
The NVL is good for smaller-sized schools and that works well, IMO. To compare the NVL overall to SCC-D1 or FCIAC is ridiculous.
@ray Brown,whats your name on the NVL blog….KYLE….I have to admit you have had some witty input this year to SPB….Keep your open mind and you will have some value here.Tell remmy to stay with the rest of his folks on his site.He must be bored because it seems to me hours are spent running his site.BTW-Did you see Newsomes pic today in the Post?What is he about 25?Thats the oldest looking Soph I have ever seen…….LOL!!!!
I think we do a pretty darned good job.
@kyle – I think you do too!
Thanks, SPB.
I won’t go picking fights or rebutting what any of these folks say, but as far as I know a few NVL teams are included in the Southwestern Connecticut region The Post covers. Why those teams wouldn’t be conversation fodder, I have no idea.
Enjoy your powerhouses.
@Paul Ray Brown is aka wags or Daddywags
@jeb, I agree with Remmy that the NVL is good for smaller-sized schools. I’m not sure the SCC would really want Ansonia, and it has nothing to do with football. Most SCC schools have X-Country, field hockey, ice hockey, swimming, lacrosee and track. Many have wrestling. I don’t think Ansonia offers any of those sports. ADs want full schedules for all sports.
Ansonia punches above its weight in football. I wish they could go out of conference in the regular season more.
i played arkeel newsome in 8th grade and he didnt score, which is surprising cause he is dirty now
@ jeb You’re absolutely right. Ansonia approached the SCC a few years back and that was the hang up. Ansonia doesn’t offer the other sports that the SCC schools have and it would cause scheduling conflicts.
@perspective DiMichele (#76), who plays LT, may have a D1 football body but based on the highlights I saw, not the athletic ability. He doesn’t have great feet and he’s very slow. One play he was the lead blocker on a screen and tackled his own RB. On D he gets no penetration, he just slides down the line. He may be a very good wrestler, but that doesn’t make him a D1 football player. I believe wrestling can help on the football field with learning how to use leverage, but from the film that I saw, he not transferring his wrestling ability to the football field. And for the record, Fairfield Prep is terrible. I’d rather play Kennedy and Sacred Heart.
On the other hand, I think Masuk and/or Pomperaug have standing invitations to join the SCC.
good work dave k.——-
roto hit it on head,ansonia doesnt have full slate of sports
2010 Eastbay Youth All-American Bowl – Top 10 Plays – YouTube
4:47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Nov 1, 2010
Ansonia’s Newsome @ 1:00
@ 24 wrong, the 4 classes LL,L,M,S are good for the size schools maybe in some cases but the leagues have more to do with location than size of the school.Good coaching has alot to do with good teams, leagues…naugy and Seymore retired good coaches and the programs have been trying to rebound every since ,so now everone wants to jump on the NVL.I think if a school in the NVL had enough interest in lacross or golfing or what ever they would field a team.Heck, Bullard Havens (Tech League)has a bowling team …or did? It just does not make sence to say the NVL is good for small schools it really doesn’t.
I have to admit I am a fan of the SCC and FCIAC, however, when I played back in the day for a Housatonic league team (SCC Division I now), we played Ansonia every year. It was always a competive game, Ansonia getting the best of us most of the time. I think if they were in the SCC, they would have no problem competing week in and week out. When I played them in the past, I never considered Ansonia a weak team or from a lesser conference(NVL), because they were always an explosive team. You put players like: Newsome, Dobbs, Thomas bros, Tinney’s, Sharkey and all those Ansonia guys from the past in any league and they will dominate, there is no question about that. Would they go 10-0 or 9-1 in the SCC as they do in the NVL each year, maybe, but it would be hard to beat Hand, Xavier, Cheshire, Shelton, WH, NDWH, and Prep year in and year out. Those teams are big and physical and have large student populations to draw from. Obviously, I think Ansonia would have no problem with SCC II teams (as seen by Woodland’s dominate performance over Law). As for all the conversations about better conferences, I think people should just focus on better teams. There are great teams in a lot of conferences in CT and it all sorts itself out in the state tournament anyway.
This year Ansonia beat Hand,Prep,Amity,West Haven at the Yale Football Camp without some of the starting defensive players. Than Pre-Season they beat ND-WH and West Haven and Shelton. This team will go toe for toe with anyone out there. Losing in the state championship game last year made this team very angry to get back what is theres.
Once October starts, all preseason talk must end! This includes, but is not limited to- scrimmages, passing leagues and weightlifting competitions.
@Master Legend – Agreed. Demerits for those evoking preseason.
@Master,great point lets stop talking about controlled scrimmages,passing camps, games in Brocketts back yard ect….They mean nothing now….I think what Spartan is talking about is Ansonia is a great team and program but what if they had to run the gauntlet of playing a SCC D1 schedule.Sure they would win there share of games but along the way they would get hit and suffer injuries ect…..I do respect Ansonia and I believe the critics are always going to be out on them because they are a victim of there own league.When derby is one the few teams that critics say will challenge them this year the league is in serious trouble.Bottom line-Lets move past the pre season and enjoy the rest of the season.
Can we also add that any youth/freshmen/JV success is not indicative of future performance?
@Doc – Yes. Absolutely true.
In regard to the teams in the NVL I could round up better competition at the neighborhood Soup kitchen. They should put these teams behind bars for impersonating high school football teams. Ansonia excluded!!
NVL fan, come on man…Yale camp? I watched all the film from the Yale camp and while Ansonia looked good, it was a camp…..and that is about it. Like Master Legend and SPB said, pre-season is over, the season has begun, no more scrimmage talk.
What a difference two years makes. Can you imagine if Wilton had beaten Central and St. Joes in the first 2 games in 2009? They would have been the darlings of CT football. They do it this year and haven’t received a single vote in the NHR poll! Of course Central and SJ are down, but Naugy and Holy Cross get votes and Wilton doesn’t?!? Come onnnnn maaaaannn!!
@Master – Nice observation. I didn’t vote Wilton, but I’d certainly vote them ahead of both Holy Cross and Naugatuck.
I still think Wilton played one of the State’s toughest schedules last year. If they were able to pull out the week #1 upset bid at Trumbull, the week #2 win at SJ really would have raised eyebrows (even w/o Matakevich).
Fri., 9/17 Trumbull Away L 9-13
Sat., 9/25 St. Joseph Away W 27-14
Sat., 10/2 New London Away L 9-16 (OT)
Fri., 10/8 Darien Home L 2-14
Sat., 10/16 FairfWarde Home W 24-21
Fri., 10/22 Bassick Away W 27-0
Sat., 10/30 New Canaan Away L 7-43
Fri., 11/5 Staples Home L 7-35
Fri., 11/12 Ridgefield Away L 24-27
Thu., 11/25 Trinity Catholic W 38-20
@Doc – It was without a doubt the toughest schedule in the state last year.
Lessee, played six state playoff teams, including four of the eight finalists.
So, to sum up, the NVL is awful but Wilton is good and underrated.
Wilton
smh
@Rob – That’s about right. I’ve seen Wilton. I can say with full confidence they’re very good. We’ll see if my praise is misplaced this week.
This year could wilton’s chance against the tigers. Anyone know how long it’s been since Wilton beat ridgefield?
Wilton has lost at least 8 straight. My records don’t go further than 2003. I’m sure Ridgefield won the 2002 meeting, too — in fact, I think they came back to win it and snuck into the Class L playoffs after Shelton and ND lost.
@spb ridgefield has won 16 straight against Wilton, hasn’t lost to them under callahan
@Tiger guy – Yikes. …That’s actually a better line for the Guide.
Ridgefield has beaten Wilton every year since Callahan has been head coach. This seems to be the strongest Wilton team Callahan has had to face, if they’re ever going to beat the tigers, this year is the year. However ridgefields offense seems to be clicking now…should be a good game.
As a resident in the NVL corridor of CT, and also a keen observer of the FCIAC, I can say unequivocally that Wilton would by far be the second best team in the NVL this season.
Ridgefield defense vs. Wilton offense could be the story-line. Bassick, Central and St Joe games are not enough to prepare the Warriors. Except for two big-play TDs, Ridgefield played Greenwich to a virtual tie. Also, that Stamford win showed offensive improvement against a decent Stamford defense. But in the end, Tiger’s defense is just too tough … 17 straight is the likely outcome.