Archive for the ‘Links’ Category

That’s a Wrap Week 3: Status Quo (kinda)

Monday, October 3, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Staples James Fruscaiante leaps up to catch a ball for a touchdown in Saturday's 24-21 victory over McMahon. Photo: Christian Abraham / Connecticut Post

They almost pulled it off.

New Canaan's Louis Hagopian muscles through the defense with help from Nick Pelli as New Canaan defeated Fairfield Warde 28-14 Friday night. Photo: Shelley Cryan

Fairfield Warde on Friday night, then McMahon and Hamden on Saturday night almost gave us the shakeup we were looking for.

But their established opponents, New Canaan, Staples and West Haven, respectively, pulled off wild, come-from-behind victories to keep the status quo in the region. New Canaan beat Warde 28-14 in a Friday thriller. Staples topped McMahon 24-21 on a last-second field goal.

While chaos rained [sic] upon the region Friday night, everything seemed to tidy up nicely, if not bizarrely, on Saturday.

Watching Derby and Ansonia play their second half at Shelton’s Finn Stadium riled up a few old-timers, I’m sure, but it did nothing to stop Ansonia from burying Derby 55-19. …Fairfield Prep kept its foot on the gas and defeated Wilbur Cross 35-18. …Hillhouse pulled away from Foran 50-26 [this and more from the Saturday Roundup].

Of all the teams forced to suspend play and return to the field Saturday, Hamden was the only one that looked rejuvenated by the day off. Down 24-14, the Dragons rallied to take a 31-24 lead behind quarterback Tim Dube, only to see if disappear quickly thanks to a 66-yard TD pass from Nick Nieves to Tahir Manning with just seconds remaining. Almost, Hamden. Almost.

In the SWC, it was a pretty tame week. We saw Newtown and Pomperaug both won handily and moved to 3-0 heading into Thursday’s mega SWC matchup. Bunnell is 3-0 after rolling Oxford, 55-20, behind a huge day from David Camille.

Casey Cochran broke the state record for touchdowns and Masuk broke score management against Stratford, 56-0. If the information we have is correct, coach John Murphy will not be suspended. Brandon Schmidt helped Bethel win a shootout vs. New Fairfield. The Wildcats are 2-1 along with Weston in the SWC. Brookfield (over Notre Dame-Fairfield), New Milford (over Barlow) also got their first wins of the season.

Darien's Peter Gesualdi sails over St. Joseph's Jon Prutting to score a touchdown during Saturday's game at Dalling Field. Photo: Autumn Driscoll

In the FCIAC on Saturday, Norwalk (yes, Norwalk), Wilton (yes, Wilton) and Darien joined New Canaan and Staples as the league’s remaining 3-0 teams. Ridgefield dumped Stamford, Danbury crushed Central, and Trinity Catholic took care of Harding to reach get to 2-1.  Trumbull, meanwhile, is 2-0 heading into a big game at home vs. 2-1 Greenwich.

The Cardinals played, perhaps, the craziest game of Week 3, falling to New London 51-33. Kyle McKinnon torched Greenwich for 236 yards and three touchdowns. New quarterback Rob Key threw for 302 yards three touchdowns. The game also featured three interception return TDs, including (officially) a 99-yarder Greenwich’s Ryan Kelly scored from five yards deep in the opposing end zone.

[You can see highlights from that game here: second half | first half. We'll have a full version later.]

What does it say about New London? What does it say about Greenwich? (over 500 yards of total offense? Bananas.)

Quick notes, provided by Dave Ruden of The Advocate: Trinity RB/DB  Shaquan Howsie is done for the year, as is Fairfield Warde WR Kevin Krug. Both suffered knee injuries in week two.

All and all, some interesting results, if not completely shocking. Are there some pretenders among the 3-0 teams. We’ll try to break it down in the coming days.

TOP PERFORMERS

  • Arkeel Newsome, Ansonia — 401 yards, 4 TD rushing, 1 TD receiving vs. Derby
  • James Harrington, Danbury — 225 yards, 4 TD rushing vs. Central
  • David Camille, Bunnell — 201 yards, 5 TD vs. Oxford
  • Connor Shanahan, New Milford — 263 yards, 3 TD passing
  • John Shannon, Bullard-Havens — 230 yards, 4 TD rushing vs. Wolcott Tech
  • Matt Aspinwall, Foran — 23-41, 315 yards, 2 TD passing vs. Hillhouse.
  • Lou Fenaroli, Newtown — 189 yards, 4 TDs rushing vs. Weston
  • Peter Gesualdi, Darien — 2 TDs, 2 INT vs St. Joseph
  • Delshawn Wilson, Norwalk — 14 of 16, 191 yards, 3 TDs passing vs. Westhill
  • Dan Hebert, Newtown — 85-yard punt return TD, 2 INT vs. Weston
  • Casey Cochran, Masuk — 185 yards, 2 TDs, became state’s all-time leader in career passing touchdowns (86) vs. Stratford

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“I’ve been a head coach a long time and I’ve never seen a play just not count.”  –Barlow coach Rob Tynan, believing officials during a 28-9 loss to New Milford incorrectly moved chains during a play. The ensuing argument lasted approximately 10 minutes.

“You can’t take us lightly anymore.” – Norwalk quarterback Delshawn Wilson.

“The kids were fired up to be home. I saw passion that we didn’t see before.” – Fairfield Prep coach Tom Shea

“It was Ansonia football weather. We wanted to get down and pound the ball. We wanted to get muddy. It was awesome.” – Dylan Vano, Ansonia lineman

“Even when we’re not blocking people, he runs them over. It’s a real nice thunder-and-lightning combination we have with (Fenaroli) and (Dan) Hebert.” – Newtown coach Steve George

“We just wanted it a lot. No one wanted to go home with a loss. It just wasn’t going to happen.” – Jack Massie, Staples QB

“We’ve got to walk out of here with our head held high and realize that we can play with a team like this. I knew we could. The kids knew we could. It hurts.” – A.J. Albano, McMahon coach

TWEET OF THE WEEK

This from @CTFootballLive, otherwise known as Bay on this space, responding to an update from @CurrenSCC at the Xavier-Cheshire game. Cheshire was down 14-0 at the time this came over:

GAMES TO WATCH WEEK 4

Remember, short week for most teams. A good portion of the schedule will be played Thursday night.

  • Bunnell at Weston, Thursday, 3:45 p.m. – The honeymoon’s over for Weston as Air Castelot comes to town.
  • Ridgefield at Wilton, Thursday, 6 — OK, now we get to see what Wilton’s really all about.
  • Greenwich at Trumbull, Thursday, 6 — The jury remains out on both of these FCIAC contenders. Don’t look now, but this might be Greenwich’s highest hurdle until the FCIAC title game.
  • Newtown at Pomperaug, Thursday, 7 – Huge matchup in the SWC title race. Lou Fenaroli and the Hawks take on Eric Beatty and the Panthers in a clash of 3-0 teams.
  • Hand at Cheshire, Thursday, 7 — Hand finally gets to play an opponent of its caliber. Cheshire still licking its wounds from last week’s 42-20 loss to Xavier.
  • West Haven at Notre Dame-WH, Friday, 7 – Notre Dame’s rounding back into form after its 28-0 victory over Shelton. The Westies were just lucky to survive Hamden.
  • Holy Cross at Ansonia, Friday, 7 — Possible preview of the NVL title game?
  • Norwalk at Trinity Catholic, Friday, 7 – The big game before the big game. Can the Bears actually get to 4-0 heading into Week 5′s game vs. New Canaan?

ANSONIA AT DERBY … THE MOVIE!

We’ll leave you with the first-half carnage from Derby’s DeFilippo Field from Friday night. I’ve gotta say the last momest of the first half looked like the opening scene of ‘The Last Boy Scout.’ We didn’t shoot the second half at Shelton (camera troubles… I wonder why), but we got post-game interviews. Enjoy.

Week 3 Friday: Biblical Proportions

Saturday, October 1, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Fans at DeFilippo Field in Derby run for cover as a thunderstorm unleashes a deluge of rain late in the first half of Ansonia-Derby. The game, like many others, was postponed and resume tomorrow. Photo by Christian Abraham

The first sign of trouble came well before anyone really kicked off Week 3.

A Tweet, simply, from our pals at the Greenwich Time, all the way at the other end of the state:

It didn’t sound too ominous. Games all across Connecticut kicked off without a second thought.

Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome busts loose for big yardage in Friday's 36-20 postponed game vs. Derby.

But anyone with a smartphone tuned to a weather website (as I did) knew better. A short time later, the carnage made its way across the state like a tidal wave. Reports of thunder, lightning and rain … so much rain. Ominous weather updates in New Canaan (“nasty storm clouds brewing”), then Newtown (“sky is pitch black here”), then Waterbury (“lightning delay at Municipal”) all came across the feed. Then, “stands cleared 5 minutes before biblical storm arrived”). Games were quickly postponed, even the ones that had started.

Meanwhile, in Derby we saw a storm of another kind. Storm Arkeel.

Ansonia’s super sophomore Arkeel Newsome ripped off a 69-yard touchdown run on Ansonia’s first play and then added two more during a deluge of 36 Ansonia points. By the time the rain — buckets of it that cleared the packed stands at DeFilippo Field — finally hit the Valley, Newsome had amassed 200+ yards rushing.

The Chargers and Red Raiders played the last minutes of a 36-12 halftime in a monsoon. The last score was a short TD pass from Ansonia’s Elliott Chudwick to Jake LaRovera (clip at right).  I gamely stayed outside to capture footage, and by the time I’d retreated to the press box, I looked like I’d jumped in a pool. The game didn’t last long after that. Postponed, like so many others, to Saturday.

He wasn’t the only one. New London’s Kyle McKinnon, meanwhile, was putting on a show down in Greenwich in a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad game that saw the Whalers defeat the Cardinals 51-33. You can watch game highlights here.

They also finished down in New Canaan, where the Rams scored 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter to rally past Fairfield Warde, 28-14. They finished in Shelton, where Notre Dame scored 21 points in the second half to beat the Gaels 28-0. They finished at Fairfield Ludlowe, where Trumbull routed the Falcons. The rain didn’t get to Middletown, where Xavier moved up and down the field to down Cheshire 42-20 in the “Game of the Year of the Week,” according to Ned of the Day.

Video highlights from Cheshire-Xavier

And, of course, they finished an onslaught at Stratford, where Casey Cochran broke the career TD passing record and Masuk broke ‘score management’ with a 56-0 win over the Red Devils. Masuk’s John Murphy says he did everything he could to keep score down in our Roundup | Friday’s postponements/results.

So this is where we stand on Saturday. Games. Games. And more games on tap today and tonight. So don’t turn that dial.

Week 3 Primer and Live Scoring Updates: Less 2010 and more 2011, please

Friday, September 30, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Something’s not right here.

We’re about to begin Week 3 of the 2011 Connecticut high school football season, but, I’ve gotta be honest with you, it still has that 2010 taste to it.

Don’t get me wrong. 2010 was fun. Plenty exciting. But I’ve already seen that movie. We’ve already lived that day.

Paraphrasing Phil Connors: “Once again the eyes of the nation have turned here to this … TI-ny village in [southwestern Connecticut]… blah blah blah blah blah.”

A couple upstarts aside, New Canaan is still king of the FCIAC, Masuk still rules the SWC, Xavier is still bludgeoning the SCC, Ansonia the NVL.

Both Masuk and Xavier remain embroiled in a never-ending battle of public opinion for the top spot in the polls, which, by the way, haven’t significantly differed much from last year, either.

Pomperaug’s good. Bunnell’s good. Staples is good. Darien is good. Newtown is good. Hand is good. West Haven is good. We’re still wondering about Trumbull. Hillhouse is down, but not out. Greenwich is on the fence, as are a number of others. OK, yeah, St. Joseph isn’t in the picture, then again they were 1-2 around this time last year anyway.

What, pray tell, is really different? I’ll tell you: nothing.

Is this all you have to offer, 2011? 2010 II? Didn’t we do this last year? Have you run out of ideas?

Many of our preseason dark horses have already “been taken to the glue factory,” as Bay so succinctly put it in our comments section. We’re running out of trendy picks. The usual suspects are still standing.

So who’s left?

Weston takes on Newtown tonight in an intriguing SWC matchup that could tip the scales if the Trojans somehow pull it out. …Seymour? The ‘Cats are 2-0, but they haven’t really played anyone yet. TBA. …Norwalk? TBA until they host New Canaan as an undefeated football team. …How about you, Wilton? Looking good so far, but let’s see you take on New Canaan or someone.

What about the boys from Cheshire? They’re gearing up to take on jilted No. 2 Xavier tonight at Palmer Field. Taking out the defending No. 1 team in the state? Yes, that would be the significant switch we’re looking for. (OK, it would be a switch back to 2009, but a switch nonetheless.)

Shelton? The Gaels are 2-0, take on Notre Dame-West Haven. They haven’t been boss in the SCC since at least 2007. Football’s not the same around here without a strong Shelton club. We’ll keep an eye on them. …What about Derby? The Red Raiders had us excited for a spell, but then lost to Naugatuck. They won’t help our cause without beating Ansonia. …New Fairfield? Bethel? That’s a big game up there. Let’s see something. …Oxford? …McMahon? …Ridgefield? …Greenwich? (actually, I’ve gotten used to Greenwich being out of the mix.)

If I wanted 2010, I would just post all of last year’s videos and call it a day.

Somebody. Do something.

And fast, before we actually relive yesterday today.

WEEK 3 FEATURES/NOTEBOOKS

WEEK 3 GOODIES

ON THE AIR

Live Scoring Blog

That’s a Wrap Week 2: Trojan horses and High-Flying Condors

Sunday, September 25, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Weston High School's Grayson Keith, left, and Patrick Rogers hit Brookfield High School's Kory Brown during a football game at Weston. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 Photo: Scott Mullin

Some surprising results (Norwalk, Wilton), some not-so-surprising and one whopper:

Weston 21, Brookfield 20.

Oh, yes. And big congrats to the O’Brien Tech Condors for the program’s first victory. It took just two games and they might have lost their head coach to a knee injury in the ensuing celebration (he’s questionable for Week 3), but it’s all worth it.

Good. Stuff.

We’ll give you the news first. Analysis later.

Here are all the links from Week 2. Feel free to discuss amongst yourselves.

50-POINT ALERT!

We had the first violation of the score management policy, Northwest Catholic 52, Weaver 0.

Unlike past seasons, the policy does not automatically suspend the coach pending any appeals. Now, the two teams and the game officials must submit a game report to a committee within 48 hours.

If the committee — comprised of the CIAC executive director, the football chairman, the CIAC board of control chairman, a coach an and AD — deems the proper procedure (i.e. pulling starters appropriately, running the ball, etc.) was followed, the coach will not be suspended. If the committee thinks otherwise, the coach will be suspended for the next game.

An improvement. Albeit an improvement over a dumb — nay! –  idiotic, stupid and dumb rule.

Anyway, NWC coach Michael Tyler told the Hartford Courant he doesn’t think the committee will rule against him.

Tyler said he began pulling his starters as early as the second quarter, but said they also need to be in action on the field.

“I don’t think there will be a problem,” he said. “We have a big game [at Bloomfield on Friday night] coming up. The kids, they won’t be in game shape if we don’t play them.”

UPDATE, Monday: Tyler will not be suspended. The CIAC committee rules that proper sportsmanship was displayed.

In other news, I’d like to chair committee to suspend the 50-point score management policy for the rest of creation.

Moving on…

Lytton puts Torrington in record books again

Torrington broke the single-game team rushing record with 647 yards in a 66-28 victory over Wolcott. The previous record was held by Stonington, which amassed 634 rushing yards against Bacon Academy in 2008.

Lytton briefly flirted with his own rushing record of 9 touchdowns in a game. He settled for six TDs on the ground and 426 yards rushing and also threw a TD. Teammate Jared Williams added 114 yards.

Tweet of the Week

From our friend @CurrenSCC, who’s written a weekly SCC football column for Elm City Newspapers since 2000 when I was its humble editor. He was at the Xavier-Foran clash at Vito DeVito Sports Complex. Please, kids, tell me you get this observation.

FRIDAY NIGHT LINKS

Week 2: Saturday Live Update Dashboard

Saturday, September 24, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Good morning. What can we tell you?

Oh, yes. Football. Lots of football.

Recaps, get your game stories and recaps here, plus the live update blog. Lots of games were  postponed to today (inexplicably, unless maybe you had grass. It rained, but not nearly enough to be a problem. Especially for you turf schools. C’mon now.) So lots going on.

Here’s Friday’s scoreboard and Saturday’s schedule.

UPDATE Masuk’s game vs. New Fairfield will be played AT New Fairfield, 7 p.m. The game was originally supposed to be at Masuk. So gas that car up, Masuk fans.

LIVE BLOG

Week 2: The Friday Night Update Dashboard

Friday, September 23, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Week 2 is now in session.

Let’s get you caught up on everything you need to know so you can be chalk full o’ knowledge for the games tonight.

The Essentials

Features

The Weekly Notebooks

Weather changes/postponements:

Cheshire at Hillhouse is now 3 p.m. Postponements: New Fairfield at Masuk, Saturday, 7; Derby at Naugatuck, Saturday, 10 a.m. at Municipal Stadium; West Haven at Guilford, Saturday, 7 p.m.; Amity at East Haven, Saturday, noon; Oxford at Stratford, Saturday, 1:30; Xavier at Foran, Saturday, 5 p.m.; Trinity at New Canaan, 5 p.m.

ON THE AIR/WEB
Notre Dame-WH at Branford, 7 p.m. – Gogreenknights.com
Hamden at North Haven or Wilbur Cross at Law, 7 p.m. (weather permitting) – WELI (960-AM); Weli.com

LIVE BLOG

Spring Links: Pomperaug’s new football coach and (some) scrimmage updates

Monday, June 20, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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It’s been a relatively busy week in offseason high school football.

First, the 10th Governor’s Cup between Rhode Island and Connecticut all-star teams, kicks off Saturday night at Southington’s Fontana Field. The Hall of Fame Classic comes two weeks after. Pomperaug elevated Dave Roach to head football coach. And a bunch of teams culminated spring practice with their annual (color)-(color) scrimmages. Also, we know the 2011 playoff divisions.

Here’s a run-down of the stories published locally over the last week or so.

Pomperaug names Roach new head football coach

This caught no one by surprise. From the moment we heard coach Chuck Drury might be stepping down to join his son Michael at Southington, Roach’s name was the first from everybody’s lips. He’s a teacher, he’s an alum, he was a no-brainer for a school trying to suppress transitional chaos stemming from the first significant regime change in 35 years.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be major changes in Southbury. Philosophical, organizational and tactical tweaks aside, there have been rampant whispers that other coaches from Pomperaug’s staff will be jumping ship shortly. Like we’ve said, what looked like a bona fide contender could be indistinguishable from 2010.

Ansonia moves up to Class M and other (less significant) CIAC football division shuffling

The official packet hasn’t been released, but the 2011 CIAC playoff classes are set. This was a separate post from late last week, but worth mentioning again in case you missed it. Check your team’s CIAC playoff division.

We have updated this slightly since the original post. Derby’s placement dropped from Class M to Class S over the weekend, presumably its loss of the O’Brien Tech enrollment hadn’t been counted.

Spring Game Updates

The Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time and Danbury News-Times published a variety of spring reports from their immediate coverage areas last week.

All-Star Season

As mentioned, the Governor’s Cup all-star game between Connecticut and Rhode Island kicks off Saturday, June 25 at 4:30. The game is being held at Southington’s Fontana Field due to field renovations at the game’s traditional spot at Rentschler Field. Tickets are $8.

The all-star committees from Rhode Island and Connecticut, along with the YouthFootball Coaches Association will be holding a free youth football clinic at 1 p.m. before the game. Registration is at noon.

To purchase tickets contact John Fontana, P.O. Box 632, Southington, CT 06489 or call 860-628-4122, fax 860-628-7652 or e-mail: jfontana01@snet.net. For additional information go to www.cthssports.com.

Here is the Connecticut roster for the Governor’s Cup

Two weeks later is the New Haven-Fairfield County Hall of Fame Classic at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium.

The rosters for the Hall of Fame Football Classic are listed here. Game time is Friday, July 8, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7. Visit www.newhavenfootballfoundation.com for more information.

From upstate:

An absolutely wonderful Father’s Day column from Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant on the subject of Fermi football coach Bill Beeler: Shooting Makes Fermi Coach, Manchester Officer Beler Appreicate Father’s Day More.

Beeler, if you recall, was shot in the shoulder during a hostage standoff in Manchester a month ago. He’s recovering with spirits flying. Great to hear. Great read.

Notebook

Notre Dame-Fairfield released some news on a pair of their athletes, Nigel Beckford and Theo Tumba, earning MVP honors in their respective classes at the National Underclassman Scouting Combine in Hartford. Click here for more details.

Add: League changes

A quick glance at the Connecticut football leagues shows that the CCC has realigned its monstrous conference again into more of an SCC model. The league goes one further than the SCC, with three divisions split into east and west. Division I has 10 teams (5 each); Division II has 12 teams (6 each) and Division III has 10 teams (5 each).

No other changes are listed (yet).

Camp Listing

From July 15-17, Jack Cochran’s ‘The Program’ football camps will be hosting a several summer clinics. The Friday Night Lights QB-WR Academy; the Dwight Freeney D-Line, pass rush academy; the Andrew Pinnock running back adcademy and the All-American linebacker academy. Go to http://www.theprogram1.com for more details or contact Jack Cochran at (860) 748-8899 or cochranjack@att.net.

Anything else?

Report: D.J. Hernandez leaves Southington

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Southington coach D.J. Hernandez

D.J. Hernandez, the former Bristol Central and UConn star who became embroiled in nationwide controversy during his rookie season as the head coach of the Southington football team, has resigned, the Knight Time blog reported Tuesday evening.

According to a press release from the school, Hernandez is accepting a job as quarterbacks coach at Brown University:

The Southington Athletic Department is announcing that Dennis “D.J.” Hernandez has resigned as head football coach for Southington High School. He has accepted a position as quarterback coach at Brown University. Coach Hernandez leaves after completing one year as head coach with an 8-2 record. The search for a replacement will begin immediately.

Southington went 8-2 and fell just short of a Class LL playoff berth in Hernandez’s only season. Earlier in the season, Manchester coach Marco Pizzoferrato accused Hernandez of cheating for using a lost wristband against Manchester during a 28-14 Southington victory on Oct. 22.

Southington suspended Hernandez, who ultimately admitted to using the wristband for four plays. The CIAC later fined Southington $1,000 and placed the football team on probation for the 2011 season.

State Tournament Central: The CIAC Football Semifinals

Saturday, December 4, 2010 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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The stars will be out when the CIAC state football semifinals, featuring eight regional teams, commence today at select football stadiums near you. From left to right, Montrell Dobbs of Ansonia, Brian Kelly of Brookfield, Ian Milne of Trumbull, Matt Milano of New Canaan, Tyler Matakevich of St. Joseph, Chris Allam of Darien and Jon Testani of Masuk.

Good morning, afternoon or evening from wherever you are.

Welcome to Tournament Central. Centro del Torneo.

Welcome to our own personal NORAD for the Connecticut high school football world, the place where you can track everything happening in today’s state football semifinal round.

You’re not going to find a better spot to witness all of the action than right here.

Today the hard-working staff of Connecticut Post, Stamford Advocate and Danbury News-Times will be covering six of the regional state semifinal games, complete with stories, photos and videos as the day goes on and complete recaps at the end of the evening.

We’ve been given access to the webcasts from six games by the good folks at Sportingnewsct.com who will be broadcasting the game and Birdseyesports.com, which will be filming them for the CTSN broadcasts later on.
Three of them are live video streams, three more are audio broadcasts. The only games not being broadcast are Trumbull-NFA and Brookfield-New London.

However, you can still follow everything on our weekly live scoring update blog at the bottom of this page.

PREVIEWS

2 PM GAMES

CLASS LL
XAVIER vs. GLASTONBURY
Live video webcast (via sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

At Jess Dow Field on the campus of Southern Connecticut State, Boston College commit Graham Stewart and top-ranked and unbeaten Xavier (11-0) look to reach the school’s first state championship game since 2005. Malcom Crossen and Glastonbury (10-1) hopes to spring the upset and reach their second final in three seasons.

Darien's Jake Weil

Masuk's Casey Cochran

CLASS L

MASUK vs. DARIEN
Live video webcast (via sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

The SWC Champion Panthers, led by Gatorade Player of the Year Casey Cochran take on the reigning FCIAC champion Blue Wave at Finn Stadium in Shelton. Both teams are looking to make a second state championship game trip in three years.

CLASS M
HILLHOUSE vs. GILBERT/NORTHWESTERN
Live audio webcast (sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

Fresh off a 33-30 upset of No. 1 seeded Berlin in the quarterfinals, Taurese Washington and Hillgouse (8-3)  face Bobby Lippincott and playoff newcomer Gilbert/Northwestern of Winsted (9-2) in an unlikely playoff clash at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium.

Ansonia's Montrell Dobbs

CLASS S
MONTVILLE vs. ANSONIA
Live audio webcast (sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

The state’s best two rushing attacks butt heads at Middletown High School. Montrell Dobbs and Arkeel Newsome of Ansonia vs. Tyler Girard-Floyd and Skyler McNair of Montville.

7 PM GAMES

CLASS L
NEW CANAAN vs. HAND
Live video webcast (via sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

Kevin Macari and New Canaan vie for their fifth-straight state championship appearance vs. Zach Miller and Hand-Madison at Ken Strong Stadium.

CLASS S
ST. JOSEPH vs. VALLEY REGIONAL/OLD LYME
Live audio webcast (sportingnewsct.com and birdseyesports.com)

St. Joseph QB Joe Della Vecchia and FB/LB Tyler Matakevich look to bring the 8-3 Hogs to a second-consecutive state championship game. They face electric QB Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn and lineman Mitchell King of playoff newcomer Valley Regional/Old Lyme (11-0).

♦♦♦♦

The Trumbull-NFA Class LL semifinal and Brookfield-New London Class M semifinal at Bunnell are not being broadcast online (to the best of our knowledge. If they are let us know).

You can follow all eight games through the live blog window below. Just click on the window to watch updates from both media and fans at the games. The scoring blog will also appear on the same page as any of the broadcasts above.

LIVE SCORING BLOG


Super Tuesday: State Football Quarterfinal Primer & Live Blog

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Eight regional teams will begin their journey toward a coveted state football championship when the new CIAC state quarterfinals begin tonight at 6:30 p.m. Clockwise from top-left, Brookfield's Brian Kelly, St. Joseph's Joe Della Vecchia, Ansonia's Montrell Dobbs, New Canaan's Kevin Macari, Staples' Tyler Jacobs, Masuk's Casey Cochran, Trumbull's Phil Terio and Darien's Chris Allam.

Trumbull High School football captains, Mat Lena, Will Testani and Phil Terio, left to right, take the field before a regular season game. Trumbull takes on Conard tonight in the Class LL quarterfinals.

Welcome to Super Tuesday.

32 teams enter.

16 leave.

Tonight, the CIAC football state quarterfinals kick off across the state at 6:30.

Regionally, we have nine (or so) lucky qualifiers — shown above — Brookfield takes on Lyman Hall in Class M; St. Joseph hosts Woodland at Ludlowe,  Ansonia hosts Hyde in Class S; New Canaan is at Naugatuck, Darien is at Wethersfield and Masuk hosts Bristol Eastern at Bunnell in Class L. Staples is at Glastonbury, Trumbull hosts Conard and West Haven tangles with No. 1 Xavier in Class LL.

Here’s the full schedule (based on the bracket), and some corresponding stories to whet your playoff palate:

First, our humble state playoff previews (and some pretty silly picks, I’m told).

Now the schedule with news from the front

CLASS LL

CLASS L

CLASS M

CLASS S

LIVE UPDATES

Doesn’t look to be a ton of radio and internet radio coverage this fine Super Tuesday, save for “The Coach” George DeMaio on WELI 960-AM from the West Haven-Xavier game. They’ll be getting updates from all over the state from their correspondents, so they’re worth a listen.

But of course, we’re running our live high school playoff blog below, which should get you updates from everywhere.

Just quick note on the live blog: It’s a feed connected to Twitter that searches the term #ctfb. If you want to send updates, just sign up to Twitter and you can send updates from your phone by adding #ctfb to your Tweet. If on this live blog, you don’t see a score you’re looking for, you can scroll up to find the last update on your game.

We’ll add video, stories and commentary here as soon as the games are over.

Enjoy the games.

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