Comments on: Week 9 Primer and Live Updates: Can we play football already?

By: GHS1973

GHS1973 — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:04:06 +0000

@Dave Lib…Not sure about all the other FCIAC teams you mentioned, but next year’s Cardinals will look a lot different…They’ll be losing a lot of key seniors from this year’s team…This year could be their best shot to make some noise for a while…

By: Dr. Von Nostran

Dr. Von Nostran — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:01:04 +0000

Teams obvviously are up/down from year-to-year, but comparing the schedules below just makes you scratch your head.

Bassick (4-5 teams will qualify for postseason):
Fri., 9/14 New Canaan
Fri., 9/21 Greenwich
Sat., 9/29 Wilton
Fri., 10/5 Fairfield Warde
Thu., 10/11 Bridgeport Central
Sat., 10/20 Harding
Fri., 10/26 Trinity Catholic
Sat., 11/10 St. Joseph
Fri., 11/16 Darien
Tue., 11/20 Bullard Havens Tech

Ridgefield (1 state qualifier):
Fri., 9/14 Greenwich
Fri., 9/21 Fairfield Ludlowe
Fri., 9/28 Stamford
Fri., 10/5 Wilton
Fri., 10/12 Fairfield Warde
Fri., 10/19 Norwalk
Fri., 10/26 Brien McMahon
Fri., 11/9 Harding
Wed., 11/14 Bridgeport Central
Wed., 11/21 Danbury

By: Dave Lib

Dave Lib — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:05:43 +0000

New Canaan will (arguably) play the TOUGHEST schedule in the state next year. I believe they play: Hand, Darien, St. Joe’s, Greenwich, and Staples.
Staples, Greenwich, and New Canaan played soft schedules this year….and that’s not their fault. The league makes the schedule.
NC, Greenwich, and Staples should NEVER EVER being playing Bassick, Harding, Warde, or Ludlowe.
That’s why the SCC is like the SEC of football. Hardly any easy weeks.
I’m an FCIAC fan, but the scheduling down here can be ridiculous and unbalanced.
Ridgefield has played one of the easiest schedules in the state….while Xavier and Hand have played two of the hardest. Look for yourself.

By: SCC

SCC — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:24:32 +0000

@XHS xavier definitely didnt have 4 lbs out since week 3, more like since week 6

By: SCC

SCC — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:23:29 +0000

I thought phillips would do better against a depleted xavier defense, but if you focus your defense on stopping one player it is very possible it will happen. Tim and Luster really picked apart the defense last night. I agree they should throw more passes, i saw tantalizing potential in the pass game, if they load the box just throw screens to berry and luster and either one can take it all the way in space.

By: Fred

Fred — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:11:18 +0000

Phillips would have done much better on a turf field. Berry was slipping too, but Xavier had the passing game, and WH had none.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:50:31 +0000

@JB This kid Phillips was alright last night. Xavier was energized and West Haven’s pass defense was leaky. Xavier needs to throw the ball more often I think.

By: JB

JB — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:16:57 +0000

Sounds like Xavier has made the needed adjustment to teams loading the box against Berry. Whenever X tried those swing passes against Hand the timing was off and too many drops. Maybe West Haven just not as good as Hand crowed on twitter. It will be interesting to watch the TV replay and see where the WH defense fell apart.

@Xhs – I dont’t recall Xavier having 4 starting LBs out against Hand. That would have been pretty obvious to the media and all over this blog – no? If so, why did Hand get such huge accolades with its win and jump to #1 when it was playing against X’s JV.

By: FauxRealism

FauxRealism — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:49:06 +0000

@ Ranker
It’s not the teams, it’s the scheduling. The SCC top teams play more games against similar “top” teams within the league.

It’s not just perception. The better scheduling shows up in the playoff point rankings, e.g.

Xavier – 1 loss team, enough points to ranked ahead of 2 undefeated teams (NFA & Newtown = weak schedules)
West Haven – 2 loss team with tougher schedule, win final game should be in playoffs
Ridgefield – 2 loss team with with weak schedule, praying for help and currently ranked behind a 3 loss Manchester team

Not a ranking example but also consider…

New Canaan – um, why didn’t they play Staples, Greenwich, or Ridgefield?
Trumbull – why did they get stuck playing Greenwich, Staples, Darien, and NC?
Is that not a GIANT advantage for NC?

Take Fairfield Prep – they didn’t have to play Hand this year, but if they could also skip Xavier and West Haven, they would likely be in strong playoff contention.

By: Sean Patrick Bowley

Sean Patrick Bowley — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:21:26 +0000

@PatPatriot – They just ran those flat passes all night, dared Westies to defend. They couldn’t. As for the field, none of the Xavier players had any problems, huh?