Archive for the ‘Connecticut’ Category

Reel Time: Newtown-Seymour; Masuk-Greenwich game scrimmages

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Continuing our scrimmage coverage for the week, we present two significant game scrimmages (you know, the one run like actual games): Newtown at Seymour on Friday, Sept. 2. Then Masuk at Greenwich, Monday, Sept. 5.

NEWTOWN AT SEYMOUR
We’ll start with this one first. Played on the practice fields at Seymour high school, Newtown defeated the Wildcats 36-27 (or 5 TDs to 4). Notable was the absence of Seymour QB Luke Grabowski, who was just on his way back from an injury at the time. (He has since returned.) Mike Conlon started and, after a shaky start, the Seymour offense got itself into a groove behind RBs Jon Wilson (21) and Jimmy Vartelas (30).

Senior Greg Frattaroli (13), back from an injury, played QB for Newtown in the first half and threw a couple of TDs. Senior FB Lou Fenaroli (44) scored a touchdown, as did utilityman Dan Hebert (12).

WATCH

MASUK AT GREENWICH
Our second reel is bound to get a bit more attention. Defending Class L champion Masuk took a trip to face Greenwich at Greenwich Central Middle School on Labor Day morning.

This makeshift field was used while Greenwich determines if and when it can use Greenwich’s Cardinal Stadium, whose grounds are contaminated with toxic chemicals. The field is fine, the grounds around the bleachers are not. Greenwich athletic director Gus Lindine said the school has plenty of options if the field has to be changed. “We’ve had a lot of offers. Everybody’s been real nice,” he said, adding that he hoped to know for certain by the end of this week.

Greenwich coach Rich Albonizio might have preferred not playing in front of spectators for this one. Early in the scrimmage the coach stopped action to yell at parents and fans for criticizing the referees. “We’re trying to teach the kids sportsmanship! So we don’t need anybody attacking the officials!”

The clip, which can be seen here, is included in the highlight reel.

Masuk outscored Greenwich 5-1. Tom Milone (22), Colin Markus (28) scored touchdowns. Ryan Norado (17) and Brandon Cusmano (9) made outstanding catches. And we saw for the first time new receiver Jason Piontkowski (86), a transfer from New London (yes, the rumors are true for all those who asked me this week). He caught a few of passes, including one for a touchdown.

Masuk’s defense was fast, aggressive and punishing behind Matt Duignan (50), Pat Tripodi (30) and Shawn Flynn (87). Flynn was a menace all morning. He tipped a pass for an interception, forced a fumble after getting beat deep on another pass and, later, laid out Greenwich QB Liam O’Neil on a run play.

Flynn was penalized for leading with his helmet, one of a few penalties he picked up that morning. (“Yeah, I’ve gotta watch that,” Flynn said.) Greenwich’s players, of course, took exception and the scrimmage got chippy before concluding.

Though it didn’t score much, Greenwich did move the ball with a few big plays. They struggled to stop precision passing from Casey Cochran and running from Markus. We probably didn’t get to see Greenwich’s full potential since it was playing without captains C Will Trepp and RB/LB Shane Nastahowski.

(If you listen real close, you can hear MSG’s Mike Quick offering some commentary on the game. He says the talent invoice is in the mail.)

WATCH

Want more Casey Cochran videos? Here’s four from ESPN (co-starring Brock Huard)

Friday, September 2, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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ESPN analyst Brock Huard (left) coaches Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran during a video session in Bristol.

Not exactly sure what to make of this latest internet find, except to say it’s… different, at least in our high school football niche:

ESPN videos of Masuk QB Casey Cochran hanging out in Bristol with college analyst and former Washington star Brock Huard.

This is a first. But, OK, sure.

Roll film.

Add: There’s actually four of these videos. The one missing here is the one on passing drills. Click here to watch that one. See the whole package here.

In the first video, the two quarterbacks sit together in a film room. Huard starts off asking to which quarterbacks Casey compares himself. He says it’s a little of Tom Brady (form), Ben Rothlisberger (legs), Peyton Manning (command). “Wow, these should be some pretty good highlights,” Huard says, smirking.

Then Huard thoroughly dissects some of the UConn commit’s junior highlight reel, offering tips on how not to tip off plays and how to add miliseconds to his release time (while the rest of the state wonders if Casey really needs the extra help right now).

WATCH

Here’s a clip of the two conducting passing drills on the ESPN campus, complete with GoPro personal video cameras. Huard offers more instruction and Casey humbly complies. Cochran’s brings teammate and fellow UConn commit Thomas Milone (baseball) along for the ride in this one.

Best part of this video, actually, is the background: A silent, smirking Jack Cochran snapping the balls to his son. And then ESPN staffers off in the distance curiously watching this production (What? the strange looking mascots working in cubicles, causing mischief don’t faze you, but this does?)

WATCH

And, finally, Casey and Brock take to some sort of makeshift gym room (at ESPN, I’m assuming) for agility and mechanic work. This video’s probably going to get Casey a couple extra yuks from his classmates.

We can again see Jack and what looks like Casey’s personal QB coach Travis Meyer, hanging in the background.

WATCH

“That’s a wrap,” Huard says. “That’s all we got.”

Weekend update: Sacred Heart’s Coggins done; Ryan commits to UConn

Saturday, August 27, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Couple of items of note from beyond Fairfield County before we continue with pressing questions.

First is the bad news from Waterbury that Sacred Heart standout junior receiver David Coggins was likely lost for the season with a broken ankle. The news was reported by the NVL Football Blog.

Coggins has been star for two seasons and was named one of the nation’s top sophomores last season by MaxPreps.com. In two seasons, he’s amassed 139 receptions for 2,256 yards and 17 touchdowns. He caught 78 passes for 1,427 yards and 9 touchdowns a year ago, leading the Hearts into the Class S postseason.

He broke the ankle during a scrimmage vs. Pomperaug while playing defense.

He’s the second top receiver to go down in the NVL. Derby receiver Jake Tomczak tore his ACL just days before fall practice officialy began.

HILLHOUSE OL COMMITS TO UCONN – Hillhouse coach Tom Dyer announced Wednesday offensive lineman Rennick Bryan has verbally committed to play at UConn. Bryan, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior, has played varsity for two seasons and was a part of last year’s Class M state championship team.

We’ll have more from the SCC and NVL later… if Hurricane Irene doesn’t get us first.

The (tentative) 2011 High School Football Scrimmage Schedule

Sunday, August 21, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Awright. Here we go.

Everybody gets started for real Monday. From now until mid-December, it’ll be wall-to-wall football.

Scrimmage schedules. We’ve got your scrimmage schedules!

These are the most up-to-date listings on CIAC’s website (though, this year, they haven’t been listed on the master schedule. So I had to go through each regional school, one by one, and pluck scrimmage dates from teams kind enough to list them.)

These are only scrimmages involving our regional teams. Take care: times and participants are tentative. Not all scrimmages are listed, either. These listings are optional on CIAC. Not everybody does it.

With that in mind, if anybody has any additional scrimmage information, feel free to let us know.

Here we go:

Friday, Aug. 26
Barlow at Ridgefield, 5

Saturday, Aug. 27
Central at Stonington, 10 a.m.
East Haven at Derby, 10 a.m.
Sacred Heart at Pomperaug, 6

Sunday, Aug 28
Fairfield Ludlowe at Bunnell, 4
Darien at Stamford, 7
Staples, Seymour at Shelton, TBA (I suspect 9 a.m.)

Monday, Aug. 29
Greenwich at New Canaan, 4
Platt Tech at Seymour, TBA

Tuesday, Aug. 30
Bethel at Danbury, 4
Ansonia at Notre Dame-WH, 3:30
Hillhouse at Darien, 3
Immaculate at Westhill, 4
New Fairfield at Newtown, 5
Seymour at Platt Tech (soccer field), TBA

Wednesday, Aug 31
Naugatuck at Amity, 3:30
Brookfield at Ridgefield, 5 p.m.
Staples at Bunnell, 4
Derby & Fairfield Prep at Fairfield Warde, 4 (Warde’s listing says Tetreau-Davis; Prep’s says Alumni Field. I suspect it’s at Warde)
Hamden, Law at Coginchaug, TBA
St. Joseph at Barlow, 4:30
West Haven at Norwalk, 6
Weston at Wilton, 4:14
Oxford at Woodland, 3:30

Thursday, Sept. 1
Oxford at Woodland, 3:30

Friday, Sept. 2
Newtown at Seymour, TBA
Immaculate at New Fairfield, 4:30

Saturday, Sept. 3
Ansonia at West Haven, 10 a.m.
Oxford, Cromwell, Fairfield Warde at Hillhouse, 10 a.m.
Wilton Jamboree: Central, Barlow, Trinity Catholic, Norwalk, Wilton, 9 a.m.
Stamford at Holy Cross, 10 a.m.
Danbury at Lyman Hall, 10 a.m.
Bethel at New Canaan, 10 a.m.
Amity at Pomperaug, 10 a.m.
Trumbull at Bunnell, 9 a.m.
Darien at Branford, 9 a.m.
Derby at Bacon Academy, 9 a.m.
Fairfield Ludlowe at Fairfield Prep, 9 a.m.
Iona Prep (NY) at Greenwich, 10 a.m.
Hamden at Wilbur Cross, 10 a.m.
Law at Westhill, 10 a.m.
Platt Tech at Wilcox Tech, 3 p.m.
St. Joseph at Shelton, 10 a.m.
Guilford, North Haven at Woodland, 10 a.m.

Monday, Sept. 5
Masuk, Cheshire, Ridgefield at Staples, 9 a.m.
Torrington at Seymour, 10 a.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 7
New Milford at Danbury, 4
Fairfield Prep at Trumbull, 4 p.m.
Bassick at Law, 7
Norwalk at Newtown, 5
Oxford at Seymour, 6 p.m.
Trinity Catholic at King, 3:30

Thursday, Sept. 8
West Haven at Central, TBA
Bethel at Watertown, 6 p.m.
Notre Dame-WH at Amity, 6 p.m.
Wilton at Bunnell, 6:30
Branford at Derby, 7 p.m.
White Plains (NY) at Fairfield Warde, 6 p.m.
Hamden at Greenwich, 6 p.m.
Barlow at westhill, 5

Friday, Sept. 9
Ansonia at Shelton, 6 p.m.
Darien at McMahon, 4 p.m.
Platt Tech at Fairfield Ludlowe, 6 p.m.
Fairfield Prep at Staples, 4 p.m.
Hillhouse at Holy Cross, 6 p.m.
Pomperaug at Rocky Hill, 7
Stratford at Ridgefield, 5
St. Joseph at Foran, 7
Xavier at Stamford, 6
Woodland at Bristol Eastern, 3:30

Saturday, Sept. 10
New Fairfield at Hamden Hall, 11 a.m.
Rye Country Day at Trinity Catholic, 3:30

Sitcom pitch: Kid moves to Southington, takes in his father… hilarity ensues

Friday, August 19, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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So I’ve got this idea for a sitcom once ‘Two and a Half Men’ mercifully folds.

This 20-something kid, former football player, all-state wrestler, gets one of the plumb coaching jobs in the state at Southington. To help him out we’ll bring in his dad — a hellraiser in his day (we swear!) — and they try to build a championship team together. The kid’s the boss, but, see, he’s gotta deal with his dad’s (um… ego? stretch) as they navigate the 2011 season and try to win that trophy together.

Throw in a crazy next-door neighbor from the old town to help, a bunch of football players, their parents and (BAM!) you’ve got yourself a sitcom!

Think ‘Coach’ meets ‘Frasier’ meets ‘The Odd Couple’ (sorta).

Cue the campy music.

We’ll call it: ‘Meet the Drurys’

Whaddya think? Have we got a deal?

OK, so you’ll get no ego from great, former Pomperaug coach Chuck Drury. But, man, he’s full of great one-liners. Great delivery. Great timing. Perfect foil for our straight man, Southington coach Mike Drury.

And you’ll loooooove assistant coach John Periera as the crazy neighbor. He’ll mix things up a bit.

You can get an episode out of every kid on that team, too. All kinds of stories.

It’s gold, Jerry. Gold!

(Sorry, I couldn’t get this idea out of my head when I watched this video posted by the Record-Journal of Meriden yesterday.

No, this is NOT the pilot. But fine work from RJ’s Sarah Nathan.

Aside. For all of you Pomperaug fans out there, this has gotta be bittersweet. It’s like somebody else is taking your car for a drive, yeah?

New Canaan, Ansonia to be featured on SNY’s ‘Traditions’

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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SNY’s taking its role as the home of Connecticut football up a notch.

Already the self-described home of the UConn Huskies, the cable channel is dipping into the high school football market as well this fall witha a program called, Traditions.

Produced by freelancer Drew Thorry of Five x Five Productions, Traditions will travel to 10 the tri-state area’s storied programs — some well known, some slightly off the beaten path — and go behind the curtain to document the lives of the coaches, players and townspeople involved in making the local football team special.

Connecticut’s entries will be eight-time state champion New Canaan and 16-time state champion Ansonia. Two strong, proud, but diametrically different, football programs.

It’s a perfect sample. They should represent Connecticut well.

New Canaan’s spot will be during the week leading up to its game with Fairfield Warde (Week 3).

Ansonia will be featured during the week of its game vs. Watertown (Week 6).

Broadacast times have not been set and the ‘Traditions’ official website will be launched sometime next week. We’ll have more information for you then.

The (somewhat) definitive Connecticut Class of 2012 recruiting list

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran is widely considered the top recruit in Connecticut for the class of 2012.

With some fanfare, top college recruiting website Rivals.com unveiled its state-by-state recruit rankings a couple of weeks ago. So we here at Connecticut Football HQ thought it would be nice to take those and compile a comprehensive list of the state’s top recruits heading into the 2011 season.

This is purely a list based on website reports. None of it has come from actual reporting on our end. This list designed to give fans a comprehensive look at our state’s prospects in the eyes of the recruiting world. And what you see on those sites is what you’ll get here.

Also, this is just for the Class of 2012. So you won’t be seeing any reports on Brookfield QB Boeing Brown, or Sacred Heart WR David Coggins, etc.  or Masuk’s Shawn Flynn, etc. (Brain freeze on Flynn. He’s a part of this mix.)

We’ve added links to each players’ junior year profile page on MaxPreps.com.

If we could find them (and we usually did), we added recruiting videos below each profile.

Here are the actual Connecticut recruiting pages: Rivals.com | Scout.com

REGIONAL CIAC RECRUITS

Casey Cochran

CASEY COCHRAN, QB, Masuk
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 1) – Boston College*, UConn, Harvard, Princeton, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Yale
Scout – Alabama, Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, Harvard, LSU, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, Stanford, Texas A&M, Virginia, Yale
ESPN – Boston College, Michigan State, Duke, UConn, North Carolina State
Highlight Video

Mike Money

MIKE MONEY, OT, Fairfield Warde – 6-4, 275
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 5) – No schools listed.

TAREK BRUCE, LB, Stamford
Reported Interest
Scout: UConn, Maryland, Rutgers
Note: Scout.com lists Bruce as A) a quarterback; B) from Westhill. Maybe I missed something? He has no listing on Rivals.

Shane Nastahowski

SHANE NASTAHOWSKI, LB, Greenwich – 6-2, 210
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 9): No schools listed

AUSTIN CALITRO, LB, Danbury – 6-2, 220 | COMMITTED: Villanova
Rivals.com CT No. 3
Highlight Video

AMIHR BESS, RB, Notre Dame-WH – 5-9, 165
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 10): No schools listed
Highlight Video

ELIOTT CHUDWICK, QB, Ansonia – 6-1, 200
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

Brandon Williams

BRANDON WILLIAMS, DE, Bassick – 6-2, 220
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Scout: Maryland
Highlight Video

DAVID CAMILLE, CB, Bunnell – 5-9, 166
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

JAKE TOMCZAK, WR, Derby – 6-1, 200
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed

JAWAD CHISHOLM, CB, Bunnell – 6-1, 175
Reported Interest
Scout: Penn State
Highlight Video

ARDIAN SAHINOVIC, P/K, New Fairfield – 6-5, 190
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

CIAC STATEWIDE RECRUITS

AARON BERARDINO, WR, Windsor – 5-10, 180
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn, Duke, Penn State, UCLA
Highlight Video

TAYLOR WRICE, ATH, Bristol Eastern – 5-9, 165
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 8 ) – Boston College, Cincinnati, UConn, Northwestern, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple
Scout: Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, West Virginia
Highlight Video

RYAN MURPHY, TE, Xavier – 6-3, 215
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 9) – No schools listed
Highlight Video

TOMMY UNDERCUFFLER, DB, Berlin – 6-1, 185
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn
Highlight Video

JONATHAN SNYDER, ATH, Newington – 5-10, 175
Reported Interest
Rivals: UConn
Scout: UConn
Highlight Video

NICOLAS VITALE, WR, Hand (Madison) – 5-9, 183
Reported Interest – No schools listed
Highlight Video

JOVAN SANTOS-KNOX, OLB, Xavier – 6-2, 220
Reported Interest
Rivals.com – No schools listed
Highlight Video

KELLY DOBBINS, WR, Putnam – 6-1, 175
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools reported
Highlight Video

CHRIS RECKMEYER, DE, Conard – 6-3, 220
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

BOBBY SOLECKI, WR, Glastonbury — 5-10, 180
Reported Interest
Scout: UConn, Maryland, Massachusetts, Yale
Highlight Video

NON-CIAC RECRUITS

DONQUATE ROBINSON, WR, Brunswick (Greenwich) – 6-2, 210
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 4) – Boston College, UConn, Duke, Temple
Highlight Video

HAKI DENNIS, DB, Canterbury (New Milford)
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

JONATHAN PIETERSE, QB, Salisbury School
Reported Interest
Rivals: Buffalo, Montana
Highlight Video

MALIK GOLDEN, ATH, Cheshire Academy (Newington) — 6-1, 185
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 2) – Akron, Boston College, Bryant, UConn, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Towson, Tulane.
Scout: Akron, Boston College, Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Central Michigan, Connecticut, Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Towson, Tulane
Highlight Video

KESHAUDAS SPENCE, Taft School (Watertown)
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

BUNTU BIYANA, DT, Canterbury School – 6-2, 285
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn, Temple
Scout: Bucknell, Cornell, Fordham, Georgia Tech, UCLA
Highlight Video

MICHAEL GRADY, LB, Canterbury School – 6-1, 220
Reported Interest
Scout – Boston College, Bucknell, Colgate, UConn, Holy Cross, Villanova, Wake Forest
Highlight Video

CURTIS ANTRUM, RB, Hamden Hall – 5-11, 175
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 6) – No schools listed.
Highlight Video

TEVAUN SMITH, WR, Kent School – 6-0, 185
Reported Interest
Scout: Boston College, Connecticut, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Temple
Highlight Video

ROMAINE NICHOLSON, DT, Forman School – 6-1, 340
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed

ESPN.com’s RECRUITING LIST

ESPN’s recruiting site is decidedly more liberal than any of the two big recruiting sites. Lots of names, little substance and somewhat inaccurate. Danbury’s Austin Calitro, for example, is listed as undeclared. Who knows how this list is compiled and curated.

Still, it adds a lot more names. So take these as just an expansive list of other prospects/good players who may or may not end up playing in college.

Again, by no means is this an all-encompassing list, just what the internet bots at ESPN have collated for our fair state.

Players in bold are not found on either Rivals.com or Scout.com rankings. We’ve thrown in a few recruiting video links for local players.

Update: We’re going to cheat a bit and add players we know are being recruited, but not on the ESPN recruiting site to this list. They’ll be given an asterisk. We’ll post info as necessary.  (I’ve changed this. See below.)

CIAC PLAYERS

  • Casey Cochran, QB, Masuk (ranked 38 in QBs)
  • Demetrius Bailey, CB, Torrington – 5-9, 174
  • Adedayo Bakre, DE, Glastonbury – 6-0, 194
  • Shawn Baldez, QB, Fitch – 5-11, 150
  • Amihr Bess, RB, Notre Dame-WH – 5-8, 151
  • Frederick Burgos, CB, Newington – 5-6, 124
  • Brandon Caires, LB, Newington – 5-11, 183
  • Michael Campbell, QB, Bloomfield – 5-11, 161
  • Austin Calitro, ILB, Danbury — 6-2, 220 [COMMITTED: Villanova]
  • Don Cherry, FB, Trumbull — 6-2, 200
  • Kobey Coburn, LB, Waterford – 6-0, 195
  • Jonavan Colon, WR, New Britain — 5-8, 152
  • Pat D’Amato, QB, Xavier — 6-1, 187
  • Joe Desandre, RB, Lyman Hall — 5-10, 182
  • Brett Director, WR, Cromwell – 5-8, 166
  • Aaron Dixon, S, Danbury — 6-0, 179
  • Matt Duignan, LB, Masuk — 5-9, 209
  • Michael English, WR, Farmington — 6-3, 188
  • Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, S, Valley Regional — 5-9, 165
  • Patrick Farrell, LB, Manchester — 5-11, 193
  • Louis Fennarolli, RB, Newtown – 5-9, 206
  • Myles Gaines, RB, Fairfield Prep — 5-4, 129
  • Larry Garcia, QB, New Britain — 5-10, 165
  • Leaon Gordon, RB, Brookfield — 5-10, 173
  • Ryan Jacobucci, CB, Xavier — 5-10, 166
  • Chris Jerome, RB, McMahon — 5-11, 184
  • Ryan Lumpkin, WR, Windsor — 5-7, 141
  • Jay’len Mahan, WR, Wilby – 5-10, 150
  • Davante Mallard, LB, Notre Dame — 5-9, 173
  • Sean Marinan, G, Xavier — 5-10, 229
  • Jonathan Marks, QB, Platt — 5-11, 185
  • Carlos Martinez, LB, Stamford — 5-10, 165
  • Mike Mastroianni, RB, Xavier — 5-8, 169
  • Mike Money, OT, Fairfield Warde – 6-4, 280
  • Shane Nashtahowski, OLB, Greenwich – 6-0, 190
  • Ryan Nobile, DT, Notre Dame-WH — 5-11, 306
  • Adrian Sahinovic, K, New Fairfield –
  • Nick Salza, OT, Bunnell – 6-4, 306
  • Mike Sineiro, LB, Fitch — 5-8, 175
  • Bobby Solecki, WR, Glastonbury — 5-8, 159
  • Isaiah Thomasson, ILB, Maloney – 5-10, 208
  • Jake Tomczak, WR, Derby – 6-0, 196
  • Tommy Undercuffler, S, Berlin – 6-0, 185
  • Nick Vitale, ATH, Hand – 5-9, 185
  • Giovanni Viven, LB, New Britain — 5-10, 206
  • Andrew Vollaro, RB, Haddam-Killingworth — 5-8, 162
  • Zachary Voytek, DT, Trumbull – 6-5, 295
  • Derek Ward, QB, Griswold – 5-10, 178
  • Jonathan Ware, DE, Fitch – 6-2, 217
  • Shaquille Watkin, DE, Stamford — 6-0, 212
  • Brandon Williams, DE, Bassick
  • David Wolff, LB, Fairfield Warde — 5-8, 200
  • Taylor Wrice, ATH, Bristol Eastern – 5-8, 165

NON-CIAC

  • Malik Golden, ATH, Cheshire Academy — 6-1, 185
  • Bunta Biyana, DT, Canterbury — 6-2, 285
  • Kevin Carey, DT, Taft — 6-0, 181
  • Darnell Davis, LB, Avon Old Farms — 6-2, 228
  • Herbie May, QB, Salisbury — 6-0, 190
  • Kevin Peabody, QB, King — 6-1, 180
  • Bryce Peters, WR, Avon Old Farms — 6-0, 200
  • Keshaudas Spence, FB, Taft — 5-10, 230
  • Billy Weyrauch, LB, Cheshire Academy — 5-9, 194

BRAND NEW!
THE RECRUITING WRITE-IN PAGE

OK, since everyone’s anxious to add their favorite player (or son ;) on the list, I’m creating the write-in section below. Players who did not appear on any of the big recruiting lists (as of July 21) will appear here. I’ve added a few of my one from the previous list.

Immaculate works quick, goes exotic with coaching hire from Georgia

Thursday, July 14, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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New Immaculate football coach Brian Pinabell

UPDATED (8:45)

News-Times writer Kevin Duffy has the whole story on how Bryan Pinabell landed in Connecticut at Immaculate after an entire coaching career spent in the south.

Immaculate pegs Georgia high school assistant as next football coach

Hint: His wife led him to Shangri La.

UPDATED (4:10)

We just got off the phone with new Immaculate coach Bryan Pinabell and, yes, it is the same Bryan Pinabell of Atlanta that showed up in our cursory web searches.

It’s an exotic hire to be sure. But for a foundering program like Immaculate, desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.

Pinabell’s quick bio, taken from the St. Pius X high school website and a Q&A he did with with a Catholic news site in 2006: Pinnabell is 39-years old and was born in Boston, but moved to Florida as he was entering his freshman year of high school.

He played football (linebacker and guard) and was an all-state baseball catcher at Melbourne Central Catholic High School. He went on to play baseball at Central Florida and graduated with degree in secondary education.

Pinabell spent several years as an assistant coach, first at his alma mater Melbourne Central Catholic, then moved to Georgia and spent a year at North Gwinnett (Ga.) and, beginning in 2001, five years St. Pius X under coach Paul Standard.

Pinabell took over as head coach of Our Lady of Mercy in Fairburn, Ga. in 2006 and spent two seasons there going 1-9 and 4-6.

He returned to St. Pius X where he remained until now.

We briefly caught up to Pinabell today, but he was attending a party for his young son. “My CEO and CFO won’t be too happy if I stay on the phone,” he joked in reference to his wife, Andrea. “I get the feeling I won’t get too much more time (with his family) over the next six months.”

He said he’d get back to us later.

PREVIOUS POST (3:30)

With the start of fall practices just over a month away, time was of the essence.

Still, Immaculate worked surprisingly quick to hire its next football coach. It took a week and a half since Gary Bellagamba suddenly resigned. It took just six days since Immaculate announced the opening publicly.

And the new head coach is…

Bryan Pinabell.

I’m sure everybody is having the same reaction as me:

“Um… who?”

Immaculate is working to get out a bio to us, but a cursory web search of his name only brought up one Bryan Pinabell from Tucker, Georgia — a suburb of Atlanta.

Incidentally, this search says he’s also a football coach who spent 2006 and 2007 2006 to 2009 as the coach of Our Lady of Mercy catholic school in Fairburn, Georgia, just south of Atlanta. Several other bios (from when he took the job at OLM), describe Pinabell as a Boston native who moved to Florida when he was a high school freshman. Pinabell is 39-years old now.

Football coach. New England and catholic school connections… our Spidey sense says this is the same coach who just took the job at Immaculate.

That’s enough spelunking for today. We’ll confirm all these details when Immaculate releases a bio.

Hey, lookit this: Fairfield County wins — convincingly

Monday, July 11, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Fairfield County's Tyler Matakevich catches a touchdown pass in the 15th Annual Hall of Fame Football Classic at Ken Strong Stadium Saturday, July 9, 2011. | Photo by Christian Abraham

This time there were no doubts.

No one could question it. No one could stir controversy, suggesting that the outcome should have been different.

This time, Fairfield County’s amalgamation of football talent, if not a true all-star team, actually went out and brutally snatched back the Hall of Fame Classic football trophy from the bullies of New Haven County on Saturday.

For the first time since — hold on, let’s check the program — um, ever? the Fairfield County all-stars put a whupping on New Haven County.

The 34-14 victory in Saturday’s regional all-star game was just the fifth Fairfield County win in the series’ 15-year history.

[SLIDESHOW]

The 20-point win was also the county’s biggest margin of victory of the series, topping a mere 10-point margin in 2001.

Aside from controversial, one-point, double-overtime Fairfield County victory in 2008, New Haven County’s all-stars had annually beat on Fairfield County like a speedbag, winning seven of eight years by an average of 24 points.

And it gave a few of Fairfield County chapter members stomach aches, culminating in Jerry McDougall‘s impassioned plea to members  to make sure “we win that game!” at a chapter meeting following an embarrassing 49-0 loss in 2009.

And, honestly, Fairfield County’s 2011 roster didn’t exactly look like a world beater on Thursday. Sure, it had Tyler Matakevich, Joe Della Vecchia, Phil Terio, the Brothers Maxen (Willie and Kevin) and a couple others from the Governor’s Cup all-star game two weeks ago.

But missing were large chunks of significant Fairfield County programs. Greenwich, New Canaan, Staples, Brookfield, Bunnell, Ridgefield, Bethel… New Haven, meanwhile, brought kids from almost all of its member schools, including everybody’s MVP Montrell Dobbs of Ansonia.

We’d seen this many, many times before. Just with different names.

So, yeah. That equation didn’t look like it would add up to a Fairfield County victory.

And when Foran’s Tucker Schumitz threw a touchdown pass to Notre Dame’s quarterback Sean Goldrich, in a flaunting display of New Haven ingenuity and dominance that has come to define these games, it looked as if the rout would be on again.

Of course, it was. Just not the team we thought.

Thankfully, Fairfield County coach Joe Della Vecchia had the big guns from his back-to-back St. Joseph state championship teams on his side — son Joe Della Vecchia and Tyler Matakevich.

The teammates (who were joined by fellow St. Joseph alums Jerry Kramer, Nick Adzima, Mike Marini and Ryan Mrozek) partied like it was 2010, hooking up three times for touchdowns.

The other touchdown toss was to Trumbull’s Phil Terio, who, until practices began two weeks ago, represented St. Joseph’s mortal enemy.

“There’s the whole Trumbull/St. Joe’s thing, but me and Phil are friends. I knew he’d catch it,” Della Vecchia said of his toss to Terio.

As for his four-year teammate: “Tyler, he’s just really reliable.”

It also must have helped that Della Vecchia had spent his last two games preparing to stop Dobbs. Perhaps armed with lessons learned in the Class S state championship victory over Ansonia, in which Dobbs ran for 303 yards, Della Vecchia’s Fairfield County all-stars put the breaks on the UConn recruit.

Two weeks after torching Rhode Island in the second half of the Governor’s Cup, Dobbs was held to 32 yards on just 12 carries by a front seven defensive unit that included Masuk’s Tim Allen (I was told he was “out for blood” by one of his assistant  coaches from Masuk), Pomperaug’s Willie Maxen, Harding’s underrated big man Alvin Garcia, Stamford LB Mark Robinson and Harding LB Myles Gordon.

Fairfield County sacked Goldrich (the New Hampshire recruit who was 11-for-11 passing until leaving the game with a separated shoulder) and Schumitz seven times.

Schumitz, who I submit would have been an all-star had he not broke his collar in Week 3, was the New Haven MVP. Shelton’s Cody Kitson was also a standout on the defensive side.

But, for now, all’s well for now in the Ralph DeSantis Fairfield County chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Do they have to work to shore up participation in the coming years? It can’t hurt.

But as the 2011 Fairfield County edition showed Saturday, all you really need is the right mix of outstanding football players to win the Hall of Fame Classic.

♦♦♦♦

AN ASIDE: No, I did not attend. I had tickets to see Yankees-Rays at the Stadium Saturday. So I got to witness this from the bleachers.

Sorry. It’s my summer vacation. Hey, at least I got to catch the second half on Sportingnewsct.com.

Thanks to all the seniors who participated in the game. It’s been a pleasure watching all of you play these past four years.

As for the rest of us returning, unless something breaks, we’ll see you in a few weeks.

-SPB

Updated: Your Hall of Fame Football Classic XV kickoff page

Friday, July 8, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Ansonia's Montrell Dobbs runs for a touchdown during the Connecticut High School football all-star game against Rhode Island. The recent UConn commit leads New Haven into the 15th Hall of Fame Football Classic. Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg / Connecticut Post

Updated: Paul Criscuolo says the game is on this evening, despite threats of heavy rain. As of 4:40 p.m. West Haven remained dry while northern parts of the state were being pounded.

More rain is on the way, however. Criscuolo said lightning would, of course, delay the game.

Follow the radar here.

♦♦ Original Post ♦♦

It’s your last chance for real, live football for a couple months.

The Hall of Fame Football Classic, part 15 kicks off tonight at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium at 7:30. Tickets are $7 at the gate. Come one come all.

Here are your morning links for pregame coverage of the game, which is showdown between West Haven coach Ed McCarthy (New Haven) and one of his former players — St. Joseph coach Joe Della Vecchia (Fairfield County).

Of course, all the focus will be on a certain Ansonia tailback.

Quick note on the rosters, you’ll notice major portions of Fairfield County — mostly lower/eastern schools — are missing from the All-Star roster, which is once again causing consternation and ire among those in the Fairfield County chapter. Several showed up for the pre-practice meetings, but never again.

You won’t find the same problem on New Haven County. Twenty-nine schools are represented as opposed to Fairfield County’s 19.

The issue was discussed in Tuesday’s Connecticut Post: Filling Fairfield County roster a classic challenge

Sounds like a repeat episode. But we will try not to dwell on who isn’t here, but the players and teams who are — including eight players from the Connecticut Governor’s Cup team from two weeks ago, as opposed to four from New Haven.

But will it be enough for the first Fairfield County victory since the 31-30 overtime thriller of 2008? New Haven leads the all-time series 10-4 and won last year’s game 16-13.

Once again, we’ll be live tweeting the game at @CTHSFootball. You can follow along on Twitter, or in the red window at right.

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