SPB's High School Football

Staples QB Brandon Pacilio

Pacilio broke the ankle in the second quarter of Staples’ 40-0 victory over Harding at Hedges Stadium. Initially, Petroccio said there was an outside chance the injury wasn’t severe and the senior could return. But after being re-evaluated, it was decided to have the surgery. “It’s a shame,” Petroccio said. “Everybody’s pretty broken up about it.”

Pacilio had passed for 571 yards and 6 touchdowns and no interceptions this year. He’s also run for 218 yards and six touchdowns.

Nobody likes to see this happen. We all wish Pacilio well. But now the 6-0, third-ranked Wreckers are Keith Gelman‘s show to run. “He’s played a lot of varsity, but he’s never been the man,” Petroccio said. “I told him it’s easy to run the show when it’s 40-0. Now now you have to do it at 0-0. It’s a whole different ballgame.”

Staples plays Ludlowe on Friday night. We’ll have more later in the week.

While you were all busy voting on our players of the week on the main site (what? you haven’t done it? Well get busy: http://connpost.com/highschoolfootball) I finally got a chance to cut together highlights from Saturday’s big performance from — yes, I’ll say it — the state’s No. 1 football team.

New Canaan and quarterback Turner Baty sliced and diced St. Joseph, 35-25, on a soggy day at Dunning Stadium. Baty, the California transplant, threw for over 300 yards for the second consecutive week as the starter. He hit seven different receivers, three for touchdowns. No matter what St. Joseph threw at them, the Rams stayed poised. They had an answer for everything.

Fourth and long? No problem. Penalty backed them up to the 9-yard line? Zip, zip, zip right back down the field for a score. Cody Newton caught six balls for 160 yards. Kevin Macari caught a bunch of passes, too — including a 43-yard touchdown — with a cast on his hand.

While the New Canaan defense had its hands full with big fullback Tyler Matakevich, its defense were able to largely contain QB Joe Della Vecchia and his receiving corps enough to where Matakevich’s big gains were the only real offense of the afternoon. New Canaan returned an early fumble for a score and, in the second half, picked off a pair of passes, which turned into quick strikes from Baty and a 35-12 lead after three quarters.

The Cadets appeared to get burned by a couple non-calls. One was what one reporter called an obvious fumble in the second quarter (impossible to tell in this video), and the other was a called incomplete pass that most on the sidelines believed should have been ruled intentional grounding. I look at it again and it’s clearly a fumble.

While New Canaan quickly took advantage of their good karma with touchdowns. St. Joseph couldn’t create its own fortune on this afternoon. New Canaan showed it’s a worthy No. 1 pick right now. They travel to Greenwich in two weeks, then Central before the FCIAC championship game.

Quick mea culpa here: I had a tough time getting to New Canaan from New Haven in time for kickoff. I took too much time leaving home and the rain turned the Merritt Parkway into a messin spots.  I missed most of the first quarter scoring. Because of camera issues and the buckets of water that soaked my bones, I also missed half of St. Joseph’s brief fourth-quarter comeback attempt — particularly Pat Mulligan’s awesome 60-yard fumble recovery return for a touchdown.

Also included is the climax of the touching Pete Demmerle jersey retirement ceremony at halftime. Demmerle, an all-state player at New Canaan and later an All-American at Notre Dame, died in 2007 at age 53 from an awful, awful disease called ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The memory of his great days at New Canaan, and the rest of his life are ensured to live forever.

It’s suddenly getting real busy around here so, I’m sorry to say, we will have to skip the online live high school football chat for this Wednesday.

Yeah, there’s just too much going on with us football writers. Dave Ruden has a couple of big projects he’s working on for the newspaper, so he was going to miss this week anyway.

Then, suddenly I couldn’t do it because I have been invited to Long Island Wednesday night to be a guest on A Quick 60, Mike Quick‘s new weekly high school show on MSG Varsity.

Actually, it just dawned on me that this is kinda better than a live computer chat because, uh, well… it’s a live television chat.

And not only is it a live television chat, it’s a live television chat with Mike Quick, the high school football guru for the entire New York Metropolitan area.

So if you’re not down with the Yankees in the World Series, and are hankering to talk about the wild, wild week we just had in Connecticut, Mike and I will break it down on the air Wednesday night and then take your questions.

The show is on MSG Varsity from 8-9 p.m. on Cablevision Channel 14. You can call the studio at (516) 224-6100 or you can email your questions to aquick60@cablevision.com. So sharpen your wit and talk football with us.

FAIRFIELD COUNTY FOOTBALL FOUNDATION DINNER – On Thursday night I’ll be a guest at the Ralph DeSantis Fairfield County Football Foundation Chapter dinner at Vazzy’s in Stratford. All of the great high school football coaches from this side of the Housatonic river will be there, including Staples’ Marce Petroccio, Masuk’s John Murphy, New Canaan’s Lou Marinelli and many many more. The dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and will be $20. Vazzy’s is located at 3355 Main Street in Stratford.

As expected, the state polls have been completely shaken up, shaken down, and turned upside down following the events of Freaky Friday.

Where we had just one change in the top from Week 4 to Week 5 (Staples leapfrogging Masuk from 6 to 5), we had pretty much a wholesale repositioning in the state polls from Week 5 to Week 6.

Except at the top.

In a week of high drama and massive movement, New Canaan stayed right where it was: No. 1.

And, yes, New Canaan fans… count me as one of the 21 voters now casting their No. 1  vote with the Rams.

I am one of four who converted their No. 1 from Hamden to New Canaan this week, following the Green Dragons’ overtime loss to Xaveir and New Canaan’s thorough 35-25 victory over New Canaan.

The other Hamden voter cast his ballot with Glastonbury.

There was chaos everywhere else. To help you grasp all the changes in the polls, I have included a column counting the poll spots the teams rose or fell this week.

Dropped out: Montville (7)
First-place votes in parentheses after record.

Others receiving votes …………change
11. Holy Cross (6-0), 247…………… +3
12. Cheshire (5-1), 191………………. +1
13. Montville (5-1), 187………………..-6
14. Bloomfield (6-0), 121……………. +9
15. Central (5-1), 119………………….(no votes in Week 5)
16. Conard (6-0), 118………………… +8
17. St. Joseph (5-1), 52……………… -5
18. Simsbury (5-1), 38……………….. -7
19. Avon (6-0), 34…………………….. -2
20. Cromwell (5-1), 22……………….. -2
21. Wolcott (5-1), 20…………………. +3
22. East Lyme (5-1), 19………………. —
23. Ridgefield (5-1), 18……………….. -4
24. Berlin (5-1), 11……………………. -4
25. Shelton (3-3), 10………………….(no votes in Week 5)
26. Watertown (4-2), 9……………….(no votes in Week 5)
27. New Britain (3-3), 8………………(no votes in Week 5)
28. Ansonia (4-2), 7………………….. -12
The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, SportingNewsCT.com; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; Henry Chisholm, Connecticut Post; Garrett Dale, Register Citizen; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, Norwalk Hour; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, The Herald of New Britain; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Paul Nichols, Middletown Press; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.

Top 10 Coaches Poll
Compiled by The Day of New London

Dropped out: Greenwich (3), Montville (T8), Simsbury (10).
Also receiving votes:
11. Greenwich (5-1), 144 points…………………..-8
12. Conard (6-0), 127…………………………..….+5
13. Cheshire (5-1), 118……………………………+1
14. Bloomfield (6-0), 71……………………………+5
15. Central (5-1), 69…………………………….(no votes in Wk 5)
16. Avon (6-0), 48………………………………….+2
17. Montville (5-1), 47……………….……….……-9
18. Simsbury (5-1), 39………………………….…-8
19. St. Joseph (5-1), 29…………………..………-7
20. Ridgefield (5-1), 23………………………..…..—
21. East Lyme (5-1), 15………………………….+1
T22. Ansonia (4-2), 7………………………………-6
T22. Berlin (5-1), 7…………………………………-1
T22. Vinal Tech/Coginchaug (6-0), 7…………..(no votes in Wk 5)

The following coaches voted: Scott Benoit, Hamden; Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; Chuck Drury, Pomperaug-Southbury; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Bill Mella, Southington; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.

Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Top 10

Also Receiving Votes:
11. Holy Cross 6-0 137…………………………+2
12. Cheshire 5-1 111……………………………+2
13. Bridgeport Central 5-1 102………..…….…+17
14. Montville 5-1 84…………………………..….-7
15. Conard 6-0 77……………………….……….+2
16. Bloomfield 6-0 69……………………….…..+4
17. Avon 6-0 68……………………….…………-1
18. St. Joseph 5-1 37…………….………….…-6
19. Simsbury 5-1 17……………….………..….-9
20. Cromwell 5-1 15……………….……………+1
T21. Vinal Tech/Coginchaug 6-0 9…………….+9
T21. Wolcott 5-1 9………………………………+9
T23. Berlin 5-1 8………………………………….-4
T23. Northwest Catholic 5-1 8…………………..0
T23. Southington 4-2 8……………………..….+4
T26. East Lyme 5-1 7……………………..……-1
T26. Newtown 5-1 7………………………….….(no votes in Week 5)
T26. St. Paul Co-Op 5-1 7…………………….+4
29. Ridgefield 5-1 5………………………………-2
30. Windsor 4-2 4………………………………..-6
31. Coventry/Windham Tech 5-1 2.…………..-4
T32. Bethel 5-1 1………………………………….(no votes in Week 5)
T32 New Britain 3-3 1…………………..….……(no votes in Week 5)
T32. Watertown 4-2 1……………………………..(no votes in Week 5)

Voters: Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Johnny Burnham (Bristol Press), Bryant Carpenter (Meriden Record-Journal), Henry Chisholm (Connecticut Post), Ray Curren (Elm City Newspapers), Garrett Dale (Torrington Register Citizen), Anthony Della Calce (Central CT weeklies), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 104.7 FM), John Goralski (Southington Observer), Dave Greenleaf (CCC website), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Mark Jaffee (Waterbury Republican), Larry Kelley (Times Community Newspapers), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (New Britain Herald), Andrew Lovell (New Britain Herald), Matt Norlander (Darien/New Canaan News-Review), Tim Parry (FCIAC Football Blog), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Ryan Pipke (New Britain Herald), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Steve Sellers (Shore Publishing Newspapers), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Elm City Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Newspapers)

Top 10 Media Poll

Compiled by New Haven Register

And, yes, it has become quite a mess at the top of Class LL, where we have just two unbeaten teams and seven one-loss teams all attempting to shoehorn themselves into the four playoff spots.

To start, lets take a quick look at the Class LL standings as of right now. You can see their remaining schedule by clicking on the school’s name. But we’ll try to give you the shorthand version at the bottom here.

Here’s a blow-by-blow account of the top teams.

1. Glastonbury (6-0)
Toughies: Newington (3-3), New Britain (3-3), Simsbury (5-1). Softies: East Hartford (3-3)  — All winnable games from Glastonbury’s perspective. But also has high upset potential. Newington is perhaps the easiest of this bunch. It played Simsbury tough, but was beat up by New Britain and Windsor. New Britain is 3-3, but it has playmakers galore–just ask Simsbury, which got hammered by the Hurricanes 40-25 last week. Simsbury remains a tough out and and has the horses to pull off a victory over the Tomahawks on the final day of the regular season. Make no mistake, this group is pretty good. It has a very good shot to qualify and defend its Class LL title.

2. Staples (6-0)
Toughies: Trumbull (4-2), Greenwich (5-1) Softies: Ludlowe (3-3), Wilton (2-4)  — The Wreckers probably have a better shot at making the FCIAC final then they do the Class LL field. Trumbull is their toughest opponent left in the FCIAC regular season. But as far as the state races go, that Greenwich game is a major question — especially without Pacilio at QB. Senior Keith Gelman has a few weeks to prepare for this annual grudge match, one which could have major implications for the Cardinals as well. The Wreckers are still a talented team, capable of winning ‘em all and qualifying for Class LL. One loss will put the Wreckers in jeopardy, especially if they lose to Greenwich. Their overall schedule is light on playoff points.

3. Xavier (5-1)
Toughies: West Haven (3-3)… Amity (2-3)? Softies: Fairfield Prep (0-6), Middletown (0-6) — The Falcons still must be kicking themselves over that Week 1 loss to Wilbur Cross. Luckily, they’ve toppled the remaining SCC Division I’s best, Notre Dame and Hamden. That’s going to help immensely in a field chock full of one-loss teams. Win out, and Xavier is likely in. The Falcons should be able to beat Amity at Palmer Field, but don’t be shocked to see otherwise. The West Haven game at Ken Strong Stadium certainly isn’t a gimme. You could say their playoff hopes depend on it.

4. Cheshire (5-1)
Toughies: North Haven (4-2), West Haven (3-3), Southington (3-3). Softies: Fairfield Prep (0-6) — North Haven typically gives Cheshire fits, but it’s the easiest of the bunch. The Rams get tough West Haven at Ken Strong Stadium and, of course, finish with the Apple Valley Thanksgiving Game vs. Southington — one that typically can go either way. They would likely lose out to a host of other 9-1 teams, Hamden, Greenwich, Central or Xavier. So the Rams have to win out and root, root, root for a bunch of teams.

5. Hamden (5-1)
Toughies: Wilbur Cross (3-3), Notre Dame-WH (5-1). Softies: Lyman Hall (2-4), Fairfield Prep (0-6) — The Green Dragons have no room for error. Cross is always a tough matchup for Hamden. But given the Governors’ recent swoon, that is a game the Dragons should win. A likely scenario is Hamden going 8-1 with its playoff hopes resting on the Green Bowl against Notre Dame-West Haven… and even then they’re not guaranteed a playoff spot if enough teams around them win out.

6. Central (5-1)
Toughies: New Canaan (6-0). Softies: Stamford (2-4), McMahon (2-4), Harding (0-6) — It’s pretty simple for the Hilltoppers: They must run the table, including a victory over New Canaan at home to stay in contention. They’re not going to get a lot of points from beating Stamford, McMahon and Harding.

7. Newtown (5-1)
Toughies: Masuk (6-0), Oxford (3-3). Softies: New Fairfield (2-4), Notre Dame-Fairfield (1-5) — Same thing for Newtown: run the table, beat Masuk and pray for carnage across the field. Their light remaining schedule will not help.

8. Ridgefield (5-1)
Toughies: Trumbull (4-2). Softies: McMahon (2-4), Wilton (2-4), Danbury (1-5)  — Another longshot. It must run the table. Even then 9-1 won’t guarantee the Tigers a spot unless, again, carnage ensues.

9. Greenwich (5-1)
Toughies: St. Joseph (5-1), New Canaan (6-0), Staples (6-0). Softies: Westhill (2-4) — Yes, the Cardinals are far down the list and must win out, but they have the best potential to qualify at 9-1 with all the points they’d get from St. Joseph, New Canaan and Staples. Heck, if all goes right, they could be the first in line to qualify with an 8-2 record.

Foof. Lots of possibilities here. …This is going to get crazy.

We kick off the build up to Week 7 by surveying the carnage left behind from Week 6 — perhaps one of the wildest weeks in recent memory.

First look, of course, is the FCIAC playoff standings. There are just three weeks left to determine the two championship participants. New Canaan, fresh off an impressive 35-25 victory over St. Joseph, takes the lead with Staples following (hobbling?) right behind.

The ramifications of Central’s victory over Greenwich were the hot topic on a soaking wet Saturday at Dunning Stadium. Writers, broadcasters and coaches alike were suggesting all kinds of wild FCIAC championship possibilities — possibilities that didn’t seem so likely just days before.

Here are the playoff point standings and, below, the top remaining matchups in the season’s final three weeks.

(By the way, this is the kind of intrigue you won’t find anywhere else but southwest Connecticut. Say what you want about these oddly-placed and determined championship games, they certainly add a little extra spice to the final weeks of the regular season).

FCIAC Football Playoff Standings
As of Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

Here are the big matchups remaining for the top playoff contenders:

Week 7: None ….Unless you want to count Staples at Ludlowe, 7 p.m. — the Falcons always seem to give the Wreckers trouble, and this is the first game without Brandon Pacilio — or Stamford at Central at 6 p.m., given the way the Black Knights came out of nowhere to upset Trumbull last week.

Week 8:
Ridgefield at Trumbull, 6 p.m. — Trumbull is pretty much cooked as far as the FCIAC race goes. But they’ll certainly get to have their say. Ridgefield is going to need to win this to have any shot (and the Tigers are a long shot at best).
New Canaan at Greenwich, 7 p.m. – The big ‘un. Last time these two played was in the FCIAC final back in 2006. New Canaan can all but punch its ticket here. With all the points Greenwich will bring, its impending game against Central will be rendered almost moot if the Rams are undefeated after Week 8. Greenwich needs this to have any shot.

Week 9
New Canaan at Central, 6 p.m. — Scenarios that put the Hilltoppers into the FCIAC final include knocking off New Canaan and hoping the Rams are beat by Greenwich the week before.
St. Joseph at Greenwich, 7 p.m. — Where does St. Joseph stand? It needs to win out and hope. This is still a big one for their state hopes. The Hogs have to win here and then hope Staples loses and New Canaan wins out to get a rematch.
Staples at Trumbull, 7 — This is Staples only remaining game against a team with a winning record. If all goes according to form the Wreckers can punch their FCIAC ticket here and let the rest of the field duke it out for No. 2.

Good afternoon on yet another rainy October weekend (Guh) and welcome back to the live scoring blog for a Week 6 Saturday afternoon.

Not a ton of games out there today but, most important, the big one between St. Joseph and New Canaan is on for 1:30.

We will, once again, get you as many scoring updates as possible via Twitter.

Here’s the local schedule. Staples at Harding, 1:30 p.m.; St. Joseph at New Canaan, 1:30 p.m.; Danbury at Westhill, 2:00 p.m.; Seymour at Wilby, 1:30 p.m.; Newtown at Weston, 3:00 p.m.; Bullard Havens Tech at Tourtellotte/Ellis Tech, 1:30 p.m.

We’re sure to get a few outside scores as the day goes on. Enjoy!

An appropriate headline for a wild and wacky Friday night of high school football.

Hamden goes down.

Ansonia goes down.

Trumbull goes down.

Montville goes down.

Simsbury goes down.

And, of course, the big one at Kennedy Stadium.

Central 14, Greenwich 13.

Biggest win in Central’s football history?

Well, the old guard from the golden age of high school football would take exception to that. Central did have a nice run in the late 1940s (The 1949 state title trophy sits on Lincoln Blvd., after all)

But biggest win in the last 50-or-so years?

Absolutely.

For any school, beating Greenwich in football is cause for celebration. Earlier on the comments section of this blog, we detailed the pedigree of this behemoth. Two or three losses a year for the last 40 years is about the average. So you gotta get ‘em when you can.

But if you’re a Bridgeport school?

Beating Greenwich is epic poetry.

Remember, until coach Dave Cadelina came along in the late 1990s, Central had gone decades without a winning season. Then came the breakthrough year of 2004. But that group, which starred a pretty good receiver named Kelleray Gill, just didn’t enough horses to beat Greenwich in a competitive FCIAC title game.

There have been other close calls but — as is the case with most teams — the pressure to finish the job becomes too much. Greenwich capitalizes on one or two mistakes and it’s adios muchachos.

And there were a handful of moments like that in this game, moments that typically would have signaled a Greenwich opponent’s late-game meltdown.

This time, Central didn’t blink. On the Hilltoppers’ first drive, they converted a key fourth-down for a touchdown. Later, trailing by one point in the third, they stopped Greenwich on fourth-and-short pass around their 25-yard line and then methodically drove down the field behind Kelleray Gill’s little brother, Christon. The senior capped a bulldozer drive with a diving touchdown and then ran the same play for a 2-point conversion to give Central the lead it would never relinquish.

Meanwhile Central’s defense, which had already stopped one Greenwich drive with Isaiah Flores’ end zone interception, came up huge again in the fourth quarter. It was the play of the game: Christon Gill’s jarring hit on Mike Lefflbine that popped the ball free at the 1-yard line.

When Greenwich finally did score its second TD to pull within one, there was just 3:06 remaining in the game. The extra-point miss, as crushing as it was, would have meant little had the sputtering Cardinals’ offense found a way to score earlier.

Instead, this was Central’s evening. It was a result that has suddenly turned the FCIAC — heck all of Class LL for that matter — on its head. What a way to kickoff the season’s second half.

While the rest of us are scrambling to figure out the implications of such a victory, we know this: it will do wonders for this Central program which can finally count itself one of the lucky few to beat Greenwich.

Hilltopper fans constantly talk about getting over the hump. They’re hoping this finally is the game that pushes them into the elite.

At the very least, this victory saves their 2009 team’s season.

It took some time to cut the footage together (hey, I never took one class in this stuff at ‘Cuse), but here it is… might take some time to process, so be patient.