Archive for the ‘Middlesex County’ Category

Week 5 Primer and Live Updates: The Storm Arrives

Friday, October 12, 2012 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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It’s judgement night in the SCC: Hand and Xavier will kick off in the Rumble at Palmer Field. Hillhouse and North Haven tangle in the fray at Vanacore Field. Fairfield Prep takes on Cheshire in the fight at the Maclary Complex.

There’s so much to say, so much to talk about. Elsewhere Liam O’Neil is back at quarterback for Greenwich as the Cardinals take on Ludlowe. Joe Pacheco and New Fairfield head into the Panthers’ den of Benedict Field in Monroe. Barlow’s looking to go 5-0. And Trinity Catholic hopes to keep its state playoff drive intact when it hosts rival Stamford on Saturday at an Alumni Field that should be packed with alumni.

Ooooh, baby. Can you feel it in the air?

We’re almost halfway through the 2012 season. It’s Week 5.

Buckle up.

Welcome to football central, where you can get all the info you you need as we begin this pivotal week of games.

Here we go.

The Nuts & Bolts of Week 5

On The Air

Live Update Blog

State Polls Week 3: Masuk, Darien, West Haven make poll debuts

Monday, September 24, 2012 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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The earth moved under our feet after a pretty wild week 2.

Among the wreckage affecting the Top 10 vote: Hillhouse lost to Hand in a battle of Top 10 teams. New Canaan was nipped by Trinity Catholic in overtime. New London crushed Montville. Brookfield shocked Bunnell. Ansonia blitzed Woodland.

Hillhouse and New Canaan were the biggest casualties. As it is, they have been voted off the Top 10 island for now. Berlin, which spent two weeks in the Top 10 and hasn’t lost yet, has nevertheless been supplanted as well.

Leaping into the vacuum are three regional teams. Masuk, Darien and West Haven entered the fray for the first time.

In the media poll, little has changed in the Top 6. The usual suspects are all in attendance, in order.

In the coaches poll, Masuk and West Haven join as co-No. 6. Hand and Staples are tied at No. 3.

NHR State Media Top 10

Dropped Out: Hillhouse (7), New Canaan (8), Berlin (10).
Other teams receiving votes: Berlin (2-0), 267; Glastonbury (2-0), 216; Southington (2-0), 211; New London (2-0), 160; Hillhouse (1-1), 136; Newtown (2-0), 114; North Branford (2-0), 113; Cheshire (2-0), 89; Holy Cross (2-0), 73; Manchester (2-0), 39; Cromwell (2-0), 28; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 25; Middletown (2-0), 24; Farmington (2-0), 17; New Canaan (1-1), 14; Wolcott (2-0), 12; St. Joseph (1-1), 9; Fairfield Prep (2-0), North Haven (1-1) and Trinity Catholic (2-0), 7.
The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, Sporting News CT; Jim Bransfield, Middletown Press; Kyle Brennan, Waterbury Republican-American; Chris Brodeur, Danbury News-Times; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, MSG Varsity; Tom Evans, Norwalk Hour; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, West Hartford News/New Britain City Journal; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shore Line Newspapers; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Mike Wollschlager, New Haven Register; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.

Day Coaches Top 10

Dropped out: New Canaan (8).
Also receiving votes: Ledyard (2-0), 108 points; Darien (2-0), 94; New London (2-0), 75; Middletown (2-0), 62; Holy Cross-Waterbury (2-0), 55; Southington (2-0), 54; Tie, Hillhouse-New Haven (1-1) and Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 52; Newtown (2-0), 48; Cheshire (2-0), 42; St. Joseph-Trumbull (1-1), 18; Tie, Cromwell (2-0) and Fairfield Prep (2-0), 16; Tie, New Canaan (1-1) and North Branford (2-0), 12; Tie, Brookfield (2-0) and Derby (2-0), 11; Tie, Avon (2-0) and Hartford Capital/Classical/Achievement (2-0), 7.
The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Craig Bruno, Bunnell-Stratford; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Rob Fleeting, Windsor; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.

SCC-FCIAC football challenge for 2013 and 2014 begins to take shape

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Football fans get ready.

A future clash between two of the state’s power football conferences took a leap closer to reality today.

Ambassadors from both the SCC and FCIAC met at Marisa’s in Trumbull this afternoon and adjourned with a preliminary agreement in place to match the leagues’ 38 teams together in the first week of the expanded 2013 and 2014 seasons.

In attendance were SCC Commissioner Al Carbone, Hand’s football coach Steve Filippone and athletic director Craig Semple, FCIAC Commissioner John Kuczo, Trumbull athletic director Michael Herbst, New Canaan football coach Lou Marinelli and Staples football coach Marce Petroccio.

“It was a good, productive first meeting,” Carbone said.

All that’s really left is to hammer out an official schedule, which Carbone said would be finalized and announced at a press conference in November.

A first draft of the matchups already exists, though Carbone declined to give any details. A source confirmed Staples vs. Xavier and Hand vs. New Canaan are among them.

The matchups, Carbone said, are still being discussed. They are being decided by number of demographic variables, including program performance over a three or five-year period, school size, and minor intangibles like school type, potential regional and historical rivalries.

He added that the SCC’s power scheduling of large and small schools versus the FCIAC’s more liberal scheduling of determined by a three-division setup and dictated by intracity rivalries, are being weighted in the discussions.

School size is one of the biggest factors. Only two of 19 FCIAC teams are currently ranked lower than Class L: St. Joseph and Trinity Catholic, which are both Class S. Six of the SCC’s 19 schools reside in Class M: Lyman Hall, Sheehan, East Haven, Foran, Law and Hillhouse.

“This first meeting was establishing criteria, creating matchups, a lot of looking at data and the way our leagues schedule,” Carbone said. “For example, Hillhouse is probably ranked second or third in our league in winning percentage, but it’s a Class M school. So who would fit them?

“We’re working to get on the same page.”

We’ll have more on this later. But what do you think the official FCIAC-SCC matchups should be? Give us your wish list below.

It’s a Wrap Week 7: The Snow Days of Autumn

Monday, October 31, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Nick Kelly leaps to pick off Darien quarterback Henry Baldwin in the third quarter of Staples' snowly 42-23 win over Darien on Saturday.

Bethel's Brian Birdsell fights through Bunnell tackles during his six-touchdown effort Saturday at DeSantis Field. Bethel defeated Bunnell 56-46.

We asked for an upset last week and we got it, with Bethel’s stunning 56-46 victory over Stratford at Ralph DeSantis Field.

That was the only local surprise. Statewide, we saw both NFA (to Stonington) and New London (to Fitch) catch the upset bug and the state playoff picture looked slightly different than they did just days ago.

Of more immediate concern, the SWC playoff race fell out of focus somewhat with Bunnell’s loss. Now it’s anybody’s ballgame for the right to face Masuk at Bunnell on Nov. 16. (Sorry, kids. it’s true. They’re a lock.).

Staples’ win over Darien put the Wreckers and New Canaan’s win over Wilton put those schools in the drivers’ seat for the FCIAC title game. The NVL’s biggest games are coming up this week. The league’s championship picture should be clear before Week 9.

Hand and Xavier remained unbeaten in the SCC. And everybody’s gearing up for that showdown … Oh, wait.

All and all, it was a pretty crazy week, if not for the games then for the snow that dumped on the region turning a handful of games into snowball fights. I’ve never seen anything like it. And it’s still causing havoc across the region. Many towns are still without power. Some schools have, of course, canceled classes indefinitely. The U.S. government had declared a state of emergency.

It’ll be worth watching how long some of these schools remain closed, and how their teams will be affected in the coming days.

We’ve added a post on this issue and will collect information as is becomes available.

In the meantime, if you can read this, here’s look back at Week 7 and a look ahead to Week 8:

Bulldozers

Lou Fenaroli had another monster game for 6-1 Newtown

  • Javon Grey, Notre Dame-WH – 27 carries, 204 yards, four TDs vs. Wilbur Cross
  • Arkeel Newsome, Ansonia — 188 yards, 3 TDs on nine carries vs. Crosby
  • Brian Birdsell, Bethel – Six touchdown runs vs. Bunnell
  • Jack Shaban, Barlow — Ran for 168 yards and 2 TDs on 16 carries vs. Oxford
  • Lou Fenaroli, Newtown — 169 yards, 3 TDs, including 95-yard run vs. Brookfield
  • James Harrington & Austin Calitro, Danbury — Combined for 263 yards rushing and five TDs vs Trumbull

Gunslingers

  • Matt Milano, New Canaan — 19 of 24 for 298 yards and three touchdowns vs. Wilton
  • Bryan Castelot, Bunnell – 28 of 50 for 425 yards and six touchdowns in loss to Bethel.
  • Connor Rowe, Ridgefield — 20 of 28 for 217 yards and one touchdown vs. McMahon.
  • Casey Cochran, Masuk — Threw for 395 yards and five touchdowns vs. New Milford.

Gamebreakers

  • Matt Paola, Pomperaug — Tied a state record with a 54-yard field goal vs. record-holder Rico Brogna and Notre Dame-Fairfield
  • Joey Zelkowitz, Staples — Ran for 188 yards on 15 carries and scored three TDs (including two from 60 yards out) vs. Darien
  • Danny Rogers, Weston — Scored the game-winning TD in Weston’s cluch 16-9 win over New Fairfield
  • Barry Boderick, Stamford — Punt return touchdown, TD catch vs. Ludlowe
  • Joel Arroyo, Greenwich – Caught two long TD passes from Liam O’Neil in Greenwich’s overwhelming win over Westhill
  • Donald Graham, Stratford — Ran for four touchdowns vs. Immaculate

Brick Walls

Ridgefield's Chris Mirra takes down McMahon's Damien Vega in Week 7.

  • Kevin Kearney, Staples — 18 tackles, pass defensed vs. Darien
  • Eddie Kochiss, Shelton – Interception return TD vs. Amity
  • Chris Mirra, Ridgefield — Intercepted potential game-winning 2-point conversion vs. McMahon.
  • Dylan Leeming, New Canaan — 16 total tackles vs. Wilton
  • Brandon Freeman, McMahon — Returned an interception for a TD vs. Ridgefield
  • Jack Yule, Pomperaug – 16 tackles vs. Notre Dame-Fairfield
  • Shawn Flynn, Masuk — 10 tackles, interception vs. New Milford
  • Warde defense — Forced six turnovers, including 2 interceptions apiece from Devon Lofton and Maxx Garrett vs. St. Joseph
  • Mike Longo, Greenwich – Returned a fumble 82 yards for a TD vs. Westhill
  • Mike Palomba, Trinity Catholic — Interception return TD vs. Bassick

Valiant in Defeat

  • Tyler Vallie, Amity – Threw for 131 yards and a TD, rushed for 173 yards and a TD vs. Shelton.
  • Chad Lawrence, Central – Ran for 100 yards and three touchdowns in loss to North Haven.
  • Jared Vasquez, Bunnell – 10 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns vs. Bethel
  • Nigel Beckford, Notre Dame-Fairfield — 20 carries, 134 yards, 2 TDs rushing, 98-yard kickoff return TD
  • John Prutting, St. Joseph — Interception return TD vs. Warde
  • Daron Britt, Law — Caught two touchdown passes in loss to Branford.
  • Tahir Manning, West Haven – Caught two TD passes to give West Haven a halftime lead in a loss to Hand
  • Taquan Broadway, Harding — 100 yards rushing vs. Norwalk

We’ll close the Top Performers section with a clip of Matt Paola‘s 54-yard field goal against Notre Dame-Fairfield. It tied the state record held by former Watertown star Rico Brogna … who just happened to be standing on the Notre Dame-Fairfield sidelines as the Lancers head coach. Paola and Rico posed for pictures afterward. Nice moment.

“When we were at midfield, I said to the offensive coordinator, `Get your two-point (conversion) play ready.’ ” — McMahon coach A.J. Albano, whose 2-point attempt failed in a 14-13 loss to Ridgefield.

Austin Calitro fends off a Trumbull defender during the Hatters' victory Friday night.

“Looking back now, I guess it was nice having that week off. The kids were fresh, their legs weren’t heavy. They were ready to play today.” — Stamford coach Bryan Hocter

“When we play in a tighter game than this it is really going to do us in,”  — New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli on his team’s penalty-filled 28-14 win over Wilton

“We were terrible tonight, absolutely terrible. We have to move on to the next one.” – Trumbull coach Bob Maffei, whose team lost its fourth-straight game, keeping Maffei at 99 career wins.

“We want to go out with a bang and set the tempo for next year. Those guys have to work hard and (if they do) this is what happens.” –Danbury senior FB/LB Austin Calitro after beating Trumbull.

“The upset. It’s a powerful thing that can change your season. It’s one of the best feelings a football player can have.” — Bethel FB/LB Brian Birdsell, whose six touchdown runs toppled Bunnell from the unbeaten ranks.

“No. 36 had a great game for them. He was all over the field,” — Bunnell coach Craig Bruno on Bethel FB/LB Brian Birdsell.

“We knew that tonight was a do-or-die situation for us. But we are going to pick our heads up, keep going and finish the season strong.” — Brookfield coach Rich Angarano on his team’s 41-0 loss to Newtown, which dropped it to 3-4.

Weston's Danny Rogers scores the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter vs. New Fairfield in the snow last week.


“I should have punted. Everyone makes mistakes. We were all fired up and we wanted to end the game right there.” — Weston coach Joe Lato on a fourth-down call that led to New Fairfield’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter of Weston’s 16-9 win.

“That could have been the greatest third quarter in Staples history.” –Staples coach Marce Petroccio on the Wreckers’ 28-point outburst leading to a 42-23 win over Darien.

“It’s a football players dream to play in the snow. It was awesome.” — Staples RB Joey Zelkowitz.

“I think our kids at the half thought we had the game won, and they are too good an opponent to do that.” — Darien coach Rob Trifone on his team’s 42-23 loss to Staples, in which it held a 17-7 halftime lead.

“That’s our goal right now. It’s really big because none of us have ever been in a playoff game before, in any sport. We can smell it.” — Norwalk QB Delshawn Wilson on the Bears’ shot at breaking a 13-year playoff drought.

A lot of good ones out there this week, most having to do with the blizzard at Staples Field. So we’ve decided to drop this week’s best Tweets into slideshow form

Here we go:
  • Cheshire (4-3) at Notre Dame-WH (5-2), Friday, 7 – The Class L playoff door is opened just a crack for the Green Knights. They can’t lose again. And it only gets tougher against the cornered animal that is 4-3 Cheshire.
  • Ansonia (7-0) at Wolcott (6-1), Friday, 7 — They’re calling this an NVL showdown for the Brass Division title and a spot in the NVL title game. Or will it be just another Ansonia showcase. (We’re betting the latter).
  • Fairfield Prep (5-2) at Shelton (5-2), Friday, 7 — This game hasn’t meant a thing for years. With both teams clinging to faint playoff hopes, it’s pretty big now.
  • Woodland (5-2) at Holy Cross (6-1), Friday, 7 – Holy Cross can basically wrap up the Brass Copper Division (I always get those division titles mixed) with a title here. Might want DiGiorgi for this one.
  • Seymour (5-2) at Derby (2-5), Friday, 7 — Seymour’s not quite out of the Class S playoff race yet. They’ll need to win out. And, hey, this is a nice rivalry game.
  • Bethel (5-2) at Newtown (6-1), Friday, 7 – Amazing what an upset can do. In addition to giving their playoff hopes a boost, Bethel dropped some intrigue into the SWC championship race. It won’t mean much if they can’t solve Lou Fenaroli and Newtown. That 41-0 win over Brookfield was frightening.
  • Pomperaug (6-1) at Masuk (7-0), Friday, 7 — Finally! A Game! A game for Masuk. Its road to a second straight title finally starts climbing up hill after two months in perpetual 50-point hell. This is their first game against a winning team. Masuk should be ready. It’s been practicing seven weeks for this. Whaddya got Pomperaug? Your season begins or ends here.
  • Central (2-5) at Trumbull (2-4), Friday, 7 — The two Greater Bridgeport powers are down on their luck. I saw one Central player Tweet that a win here would make their season. I’m sure Trumbull feels the same.
  • New Canaan (7-0) at Stamford (4-2), Saturday, 1:30 5 p.m. – Moved from Friday (time changed), New Canaan has few hurdles left on the way to the FCIAC title game. The Boderick Brothers and Stamford are dangerous. But so is New Canaan QB Matt Milano.
  • McMahon at Greenwich, Saturday, 2 – This game’s of minor intrigue only because of McMahon’s shown it’s capable of knocking off the superpowers, it just hasn’t done it yet. Greenwich has a good shot at reaching state playoffs for the first time since 2007 and an outside shot at the FCIAC final. Game on.
  • Weston at Notre Dame-Fairfield, Saturday, 2:45 – Every game’s a big game for Weston from here on. They’re in the running for a Class S playoff but still have to play Masuk. So they’d better enjoy this ride, regardless of what happens next week.

Weekly Links: Ned talks Xavier, Duffy talks Masuk, IBD talks Boeing and video clips

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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The Day's Ned Griffen (at left, if you didn't know)

The Lonesome Polecat: The Day’s Ned Griffen catches up with Xavier

The hardest working writer in all of football took a trip to Middletown to check the Game of the Year of the Week, Cheshire at Xavier.

Among the discussions, Xavier’s new offensive coordinator and its suddenly not-so-impotent offense. There’s also a note about the last time Greenwich allowed more than 50 points in a game

(Hint: It’s been a long, long time).

Brookfield QB Boeing Brown


School Sports Stars Tackle Recruitment Game Online

Brookfield quarterback Boeing Brown is the cover boy on this article from Investors Business Daily. Yes, IBD.

We’re as shocked as anyone, but the story is definitely apropos. It’s about how recruits use various social media outlets — Facebook, Twitter, what have you — to help boost exposure to college football programs.

Brown has certainly been proactive in that department, perhaps more than any high school football player I’ve ever seen.

ADDED/UPDATED: Berks Catholic cancels Stamford trip… without telling Stamford

Late add from down Stamford-way, the planned Oct. 21 meeting between Stamford and Berks Catholic (Pa.) is apparently off. Berks Catholic booked a home date with Imhotep Charter of Philadelphia that same day. It only came to Stamford coach Bryan Hocter‘s attention because he just happened to randomly check out Berks’ schedule. Stamford AD Pete Samperi got in touch with the Berks Catholic coach, who told Samperi he made informed his principal of the change, but not his athletic director.

Samperi:

“I’m really upset now I was counting on the team as our 10th game. It makes a big deal in the standings, for the whole state, not just us. Now we are basically short a game and I’m waiting to hear from the CIAC what to do.”

The answer is, most likely, nothing. Stamford’s out of luck just two weeks from the scheduled date. It will probably be ruled a no-contest and the Black Knights will be stuck with just nine games.

This comes not long after Trumbull’s out-of-state game with Catholic Memorial (Mass.) was canceled after the lights went out in the second quarter of their Week 1 meeting. That, too, was ruled a no-contest.

Ah, the strange but true stories of bye week. Anybody wanna join the FCIAC as the 20th team? They’ll be your best friend.

Duffy: Masuk No. 2 again

Nothing we didn’t cover here, just a little more in depth from the News-Times’ Kevin Duffy. He starts with a cute story about New Milford coach Chuck Lynch‘s daughter and her take on the SWC juggernaut. He also chimes in on the fickle pollsters.

Around the SWC: Vote for SWC Player of the Week

More Duffy as he takes a closer look at the SWC. You can also vote for your SWC football player of the week.

Newsome wins CTPost Male Athlete of the Week

401 yards rushing, 5 touchdowns? No shock here.

NVL Football Blogguys on Week 4

Kyle and Remmy, your favorite semi-non-newspaper bloggers (semi, because Kyle freelances for the Republican-American) have been posting weekly video previews of the NVL season. If copious amounts of NVL news and analysis isn’t your thing, at least tune in to see what threads our boys are wearing this week. Very chic.

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Video: Fairfield Prep vs. Wilbur Cross and Rich Magdon ceremony

Fairfield Prep’s media department was hard at work this week compiling a video from last weekend’s victory over Wilbur Cross at Alumni Field. Lots of atmosphere captured, particularly the ceremony to honor former coach Rich Magdon for his decades of service to the Fairfield Prep program.

The dedication portion of the video begins at the 4:46 mark.

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Birdseysports Play of the Week

Of friends from Birdseye Sports covered the Darien-St. Joseph game. This week’s highlight is Peter Gesualdi’s acrobatic touchdown leap that gave Darien a 28-7 lead in the second quarter.

Included is yet another catch phrase, Oh my God, I don’t…. Yes! Yes! which, frankly, doesn’t ring as much as ‘Ain’t No Way.’

Keep trying Effusive-Fans-on-BirdsEye-Sports-videos. Keep trying.

♦♦♦

New London at Greenwich… THE MOVIE!

Our coworkers at the Greenwich Time have attempted to get some extra game highlights to help out yours truly. The equipment is limiting, but staff writer Scott Ericson did a fine job of capturing many of the touchdowns in Greenwich’s 51-33 loss to New London. So we helped him out by packaging all the highlights and postgame interviews onto an official video.

And, finally a couple of more football notebooks from elsewhere around the state:

NHR: Sheehan proving its doubters wrong

Despite just 31 players on its roster, Sheehan of Wallingford is 2-1.

ADD: Also curious quote from Woodland coach Tim Shea on about the NVL mindset before the Woodland-Law game.

“All week some of the other NVL coaches were e-mailing me, telling me to show what our league is made of. …”

Really?

Record-Journal’s Tuesday morning quarterback: It’s getting late early for Meriden teams

Story on the struggling Platt and Maloney football teams, plus notes from around here.

Hartford Courant: State and area rankings

The Courant’s state and area rankings. Funny how the state rankings includes just two of their local teams.

State Polls Week 4: Flip flop, flip flop

Monday, October 3, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Here we go again.

Xavier recaptured the top spot in the NHR Media Poll today, returning to the top for the first time since Week 1. The Falcons defeated Cheshire 42-20 and snatched two first-place votes away from Masuk and claimed the top spot by a measly two points.

Masuk 50-pointed Stratford, scoring 42 points in a quarter and a half, but lose two 1st-place votes.

Crazy stuff. Until something drastic happens, get used to the flip flopping. It’s going to happen all year.

Elsewhere, Ansonia leapfrogged New Canaan. New London jumped three spots to No. 9. Windsor jumped two to No. 8 and Bunnell joins the poll at No. 10. Cheshire, which was No. 8, falls out after its 42-20 loss to Xavier.

Updated with the CSWA and Day Coaches polls. And look who got a first-place vote in the Day. (Hint, it’s not Masuk or Xavier.)

NHR

Rank Team (1st Place) Record Points Last
1. Xavier (13) 3-0 724 2
2. Masuk (12) 3-0 722 1
3. Ansonia 3-0 590 4
4. New Canaan 3-0 548 3
5. Hand 3-0 532 5
6. New London 2-0 469 9
7. Staples 3-0 426 6
8. Windsor 3-0 374 10
9. West Haven 3-0 326 7
10. Bunnell 3-0 282 NR

Others receiving votes: Trumbull (2-0), 224; North Haven (3-0), 194; Cheshire (2-1), 192; Middletown (3-0), 168; Darien (3-0), 148; Pomperaug (3-0), 101; Berlin (3-0), 58; Montville (3-0), 50; Conard (3-0), 49; Norwalk (3-0), 40; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 37; Southington (3-0), 35; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (3-0), 24; Naugatuck (3-0) and Northwest Catholic (2-0), 19; Cromwell (3-0), 14; Holy Cross (3-0), 10.
The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Sean Patrick Bowley, Connecticut Post; Don Boyle, Sporting News CT; Jim Bransfield, Middletown Press; Bryant Carpenter, Meriden-Record Journal; George DeMaio, WELI; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Matt Doran, MSG Varsity; Kevin Duffy, Danbury News-Times; Tom Evans, Norwalk Hour; Noah Finz, WTNH-8; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, Patch/West Hartford News; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Dave Phillips, Shore Line Newspapers; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Dave Ruden, Stamford Advocate; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Mike Wollschlager, New Haven Register; Jimmy Zanor, Shore Line Newspapers.

DAY COACHES

Rank Team (1st Place) Record Points Last
1. Xavier (6) 3-0 376 1
2. Masuk (6) 3-0 368 2
3. Ansonia 3-0 301 3
4. Hand 3-0 292 4
5. New Canaan 3-0 272 6
6. New London (1) 2-0 232 T10
7. Windsor 3-0 213 8
8. Staples 3-0 192 7
9. Bunnell 3-0 156 9
10. Cheshire 2-1 121 T4

Also receiving votes: West Haven (3-0), 116 points; North Haven (3-0), 96; Pomperaug-Southbury (3-0), 74; Conard-West Hartford (3-0), 53; Montville (3-0), 52; Berlin (3-0), 49; Tie, Newtown (3-0) and Trumbull (2-0), 45; Middletown (3-0), 39; Darien (3-0), 34; Naugatuck (3-0), 28; Northwest Catholic-West Hartford (2-0), 26; Ledyard (2-0), 25; Holy Cross-Waterbury (3-0), 20; Norwich Free Academy (2-0), 18; Cromwell (3-0), 17; Southington (3-0), 10; Bloomfield (2-0), 9; Hartford Public (3-0), 8; Hall-West Hartford (3-0), Norwalk (3-0), Notre Dame-West Haven (2-1) and Wilton (3-0), 7.
The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Craig Bruno, Bunnell-Stratford; Dave Cadelina, Bridgeport Central; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Rob Fleeting, Windsor; Tanner Grove, Montville; Jude Kelly, St. Paul-Bristol; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; John Murphy, Masuk-Monroe; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport; Bob Zito, Maloney-Meriden.

CSWA

Rank Team (1st Place) Record Points Last
1. Xavier (19) 3-0 452 1
2. Masuk (12) 3-0 446 2
3. Ansonia 3-0 374 4
4. New Canaan 3-0 359 3
5. Hand 3-0 315 %6
6. New London 2-0 298 9
7. Staples 3-0 261 5
8. Windsor 3-0 240 8
9. West Haven 3-0 151 10
10. Bunnell 3-0 120 NR

Also Receiving Votes: Trumbull 2-0 108; Cheshire 2-1 106; North Haven 3-0 103; Middletown 3-0 72; Conard 3-0 57; Pomperaug 3-0 46; Montville 3-0 39; Darien 3-0 33; Berlin 3-0 30; Northwest Catholic 2-0 23; Norwich Free Academy 2-0 19; Valley Regional/Old Lyme 3-0 19; Southington 3-0 14; Farmington 3-0 7; Cromwell 3-0 6; Glastonbury 2-1 4; Naugatuck 3-0 4; Norwalk 3-0 4; Notre Dame-West Haven 2-1 4; Newtown 3-0 3; Hall 3-0 2; Coventry/Windham Tech 2-0 1
Voters: Marc Allard (Norwich Bulletin), Brian Barreto (NVL Blog), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), Don Boyle (Sporting News CT), Jim Bransfield (Middletown Press), Kyle Brennan (Waterbury Republican-American), George DeMaio (WELI Radio), Gerry deSimas (Collinsville Publishing Co.), Bill Donovan (WXLM 980 AM), Mark Fijalkowski (CT Sports Network), Ted Glanzer (The Granbys Patch), Dave Greenleaf (Bristol Press), Mike Guerrera (Southington Citizen), John Holt (WFSB Channel 3), Larry Kelley (SE Conn Patch), Bob Lazzari (Valley Times), Greg Lederer (Cheshire Herald), Ken Lipshez (Farmington/W. Hartford Patch), Robert Mayer (Berlin Patch), Eric Montgomery (Minuteman Newspapers), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Dave Phillips (Shoreline Newspapers), Pat Pickens (Fairfield Citizen-News), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Times)

The Guide to Week 3′s Games

Thursday, September 29, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Here is your Guide for Week 3′s regional high school football games.

FRIDAY

VISITOR HOME TIME SKINNY
Bassick (0-2) Wilton (2-0) 6 Get excited for your Warriors, Wilton
O’Brien Tech (1-1) Capital Prep (2-0) 6:30 Honeymoon’s over, Condors
Warde (1-1) New Canaan (2-0) 7 TV show ‘Traditions’ wants a happy ending
Trumbull (1-0) Ludlowe (0-2) 7 Trumbull just praying Moore can return
Ansonia (2-0) Derby (1-1) 7 Can’t see this topping 2010’s game
Kennedy (0-2) Seymour (2-0) 7 Can you see 3-0, Seymour? Can you feel it?
Wilbur Cross (1-1) Fairfield Prep (1-1) 7 Feel free to join the discussion, Prep.
Hand (2-0) Amity (1-1) 7 Amity’s Vallie can’t do it all by himself
Hillhouse (0-2) Foran (0-2) 7 Yes. These were two of our SCC favorites
ND-WH (1-1) Shelton (2-0) 7 Try going down 17-7 to ND, Gaels
West Haven (2-0) Hamden (0-2) 7 Hamden usually plays WH tough. Usually
Masuk (2-0) Stratford (0-2) 7 Not what Stratford needed right now
Barlow (1-1) New Milford (0-2) 7 Green Wave have had a rough six quarters
New Fairfield (1-1) Bethel (1-1) 7 Huge swing game for both clubs
Notre Dame-FF (0-2) Brookfield (0-2) 7 Can you handle this, Brookfield?
Weston (2-0) Newtown (2-0) 7 Trojans have the SWC’s rapt attention
Law (0-2) Woodland (1-1) 7 This’ll say more about NVL than SCC
New London (1-0) Greenwich (2-0) 7 Take notes. Lots to learn from this game

♦♦♦

SATURDAY

VISITOR HOME TIME SKINNY
Bullard-Havens (2-0) Wolcott Tech (1-1) 1 Tigers are now the favorite in CSC
Darien (2-0) St. Joseph (0-2) 2 Darien’s grown up. How ‘bout St. Joe?
Abbott Tech (0-2) Platt Tech (1-1) 2:30 Abbott will get their ‘W’ sooner or later
Trinity Cath. (1-1) Harding (0-2) 2:30 What’s Trinity without Howsie?
Westhill (0-2) Norwalk (2-0) 3 You’re entering uncharted territory, Bears.
Oxford (1-1) Bunnell (2-0) 3 We’d like to think Oxford will show up
Pomperaug (2-0) Immaculate (0-2) 3 Pomperaug’s been eating its Wheaties
Central (0-2) Danbury (1-1) 4 Hilltoppers ripe for the plucking
Ridgefield (1-1) Stamford (1-1) 6 Tigers can end Stamford talk for good
Staples (2-0) McMahon (1-1) 7 Don’t expect a repeat of last year, MSGVarsity

2011 High School Football Cheat Sheet: The Southern Connecticut Conference

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Shelton quarterback Frank Camerino


♦♦♦

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

Division I: Xavier (West); Hand (East).

Division II: Lyman Hall (West); North Haven (East)

♦♦♦

Local SCC Preview Capsules

♦♦♦

TOP 5 PLAYERS

♦♦♦

  • HAROLD COOPER, Hillhouse – With 1,376 yards and 15 TDs, sophomore easily is one of the state’s top returning tailbacks.
  • JALON WHITE, RB/DB North Haven – The Indians have strength and skill all over, but White is their go-to guy.
  • RENNICK BRYAN, OL/DL, Hillhouse – Massive, 6-5, 300-pound UConn-bound lineman makes Hillhouse go.
  • JOVAN SANTOS, LB/TE, Xavier – Big TE/LB and UMass commit takes over for Graham Stewart as leader of the Falcons hard-hitting defense.
  • RYAN MURPHY, TE/LB Xavier – Top target and one of the many bruising defenders playing for the defending Class LL champions.

♦♦♦

KEEP AN EYE ON…

♦♦♦

MATT ASPINWALL, QB, Foran; AMHIR BESS, RB, Notre Dame-WH; TIM BOYLE, QB, Xavier; FRANK CAMERINO, QB, Shelton; PAT D’AMATO, QB/WR, Xavier;  JOE DEMICHELE, OT/DT, Hand; JOE DESANDRE, RB/S, Lyman Hall; CONNOR FALAGUERRA, WR/DB, Law; BILLY GANNON, QB, Sheehan; SEBASTIAN LITTLE, WR/DB, Cheshire; SEAN MARINAN, OL/DL, Xavier; JOE McBRIDE, RB, Fairfield Prep; Je’VAUGHN MOORE, QB/DB, Hillhouse; MIKE MASTROIANNI, RB/DB, Xavier; NICK NIEVES, QB, West Haven; CONNOR O’BRIEN, RB, Shelton; SPENCER OAKES, TE, North Haven; JOE ORTOLI, OL/DL, Shelton; ERVIN PHILLIPS, RB/DB, West Haven; ANDREW SAVENELLI, OL/DL, North Haven; JAKE SCINTO, WR/DB, Cheshire; ANDREW SILEO, HB, Foran; TYLER VALLIE, WB Amity; NICK VITALE, WR, Hand; BILLY WEYRAUCH, RB, Cheshire; AUSTIN WEZENSKI, OL/DL Xavier; MARK ZURLIS, TE/LB, North Haven.

♦♦♦

THE FAVORITES

♦♦♦

  • SCC Division I: XAVIER – Despite suffering a few major stars, the reigning No. 1 Falcons are big, bad and loaded with college talent.
  • SCC Division II: HILLHOUSE – Surprised everyone by winning a state championship with a freshman RB and sophomore QB. Everyone’s back for a shot at a repeat.

♦♦♦

5 CONTENDERS

♦♦♦

  • CHESHIRE (Division 1) – A massive senior class of 28 returns with talent and experience across the starting lineup. No doubt, Xavier’s top competition for a Class LL title.
  • WEST HAVEN (D1) – Strong front lines and stars Phillips and Nieves return for another playoff run. Xavier remains in the Westies’ way. They might be a year away.
  • SHELTON (D1) – Veteran offensive and defensive line is in place for returning QB Camerino and newcomer O’Brien. If Cheshire or West Haven can’t knock Xavier off, maybe these guys can.
  • NORTH HAVEN (D2) – Senior stars abound and expectations are high on the Indians making a second-straight playoff run in Class L. Hand remains their white whale.
  • HAND (D1) – Star talent graduated at QB and WR, but “New Canaan East” typically has talent and depth to make up the difference quickly.

♦♦♦

DARK HORSES

♦♦♦

  • FORAN (D2) – Aspinwall spent a season running the offense. The Lions have weapons at receiver and tailback. The O-Line returns four starters… Hmm.
  • LYMAN HALL (D2) – The Trojans were a playoff team in 2010. One DeSandre returns, but will that be enough?

♦♦♦

5 CAN’T MISS GAMES

♦♦♦

  • North Haven at Hillhouse (Week 1, Sept. 15) – This is the Daytona 500 for SCC Division II: A Super Bowl-caliber game at the beginning of the season.
  • Cheshire at Xavier (Week 3, Sept. 30) – This year’s SCC Division I showdown also takes place early. Big game with huge Class LL playoff ramifications.
  • Cheshire at West Haven (Week 6, Oct. 21) – Loser is going to have trouble reaching the Class LL playoffs.
  • Hillhouse at Xavier (Week 7, Oct. 28) – Hillhouse narrowly missed upsetting the Falcons at Bowen Field. They’ll get another crack, only this time in enemy territory.
  • Xavier at West Haven (Week 9, Nov. 11) – The Ken Strong Stadium clash should have an impact on the Class LL race. How much depends on the previous eight weeks. The  Westies had their chances in two meetings at Palmer Field.

♦♦♦

EXTRA POINTS

♦♦♦

Cheshire will be playing at least two games at neutral sites while a new turf field is completed at the Maclary Complex. The Rams kick off vs. Hamden at East Haven High School this week and will play Hand at Meriden’s Falcon Field in Week 4. Cheshire is expected to return to Maclary on Oct. 14 vs. Wilbur Cross. …Due to flooding, Palmer Field in Middletown, site of Week 1’s clash between Xavier and Notre Dame-WH had been under water for all of last week. Coaches and administrators are hoping it will recede in time to play Friday’s game. If not, it’s likely the game will be played at Middletown High. …The same teams have bye dates as last season, including the four-team Division II East schools. Lyman Hall plays Wilby (Week 1); Fairfield Prep plays Griswold (Week 2); Law plays at Woodland (Week 3); East Haven hosts Platt Tech (Week 6); North Haven hosts Bridgeport Central (Week 7); and Branford hosts Ledyard, Wilbur Cross plays Norwich Free Academy, Foran plays Stonington, Sheehan is at East Lyme in Week 10. …The league has agreed to match up with the FCIAC  (dubbed the “SCC-FCIAC Challenge” by SCC Commissioner Al Carbone) to fill 11-game schedules in 2013 and 2014.

♦♦♦

PREDICTIONS

♦♦♦

  • Champions: Division I West: Xavier; Division I East: Cheshire; Division II West: Hillhouse; Division II East: North Haven
  • Playoff Teams: Xavier (LL); Cheshire (LL); Hillhouse (M); North Haven (L); West Haven (LL)

♦♦♦

THE BOTTOM LINE

♦♦♦

Don’t listen to the folks down Fairfield County way. This is the best league in the state. It’s the SEC of Connecticut high school football. Two defending state champions — Hillhouse and Xavier — are poised to do it all over again and the contenders, Cheshire, West Haven and Hand, would smash through most other leagues. Even Division II, long the punching bag of its bigger brothers, has several playoff/state title contenders in North Haven and Hillhouse. North Haven, remember, upset Notre Dame last season en route to the Class L playoffs. Hillhouse came within fingertips of knocking off Xavier. Foran also looks to be on the rise. Back in the mighty SCC-I, Xavier may be king of the hill, but we’re certain the Falcons will be in a dogfight every week … maybe even more so than last year, if that’s possible. Don’t be shocked to see the league pick up a couple more state champions come December.

Yes, we have Stamford and Xavier highlights

Saturday, September 10, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Stamford's Chandler Foster in Friday's scrimmage vs. Xavier.

Two of the most discussed high school football teams this offseason squared off Friday night at beautiful Boyle (soon-to-be-renamed Robustelli) Stadium in downtown Stamford.

One, the prime dark horse candidate in the FCIAC. The other… well, the other needs no introduction.

We caught the Black Knights take on the defending Class LL state champion and reigning No. 1 team in our last high school football scrimmage of the preseason.

Quick things to look for: 1. It may not translate well on video, but Xavier’s huuuge. Maybe bigger than last year’s team> Could be. 2. Stamford strictly passed during the scrimmage. The Knights move the ball well in spots, but like so many other Xavier opponents, they just couldn’t punch it in. A fumble and, later, an interception by Xavier’s Ryan Murphy killed their momentum. 3. Xavier’s offense might have some more weapons than last year (back DeAngelo Berry, for one). And though it passed often, rotating QBs Pat D’Amato and junior Tim Boyle, the Falcons still can pound the ball. Mike Mastroianni (no number) breaks off a few huge runs and scores twice. 4. Stamford’s defense, dwarfed by the Falcon’s front line, played well. It had a goal line stand to preserve a 7-0 halftime deficit. 5. Xavier’s offense shot it itself in the foot with some big penalties and drops that thwarted drives. Sounds familiar. 6. The final varsity score after three quarters was Xavier 21, Stamford 0.

Stamford players: Bryan Boderick (4), Barry Boderick (17), Tarek Bruce (5), Frankie Colandro (44), Chandler Foster (13), Carlos Martinez (15). Xavier players: D’Amato (16), Boyle (7), Mastroianni (no number), Ryan Murphy (18), Jovan Santos (31), Sean Marinan (80).

As we’ve mentioned before, everybody (including us) has been talking up Stamford as a potential contender in the FCIAC. Enough veterans are there, the schedule is favorable and the team showed plenty of potential last year in finishing 6-4, including an upset of Class LL runner-up Trumbull at midseason.

Seven starters are back on defense, led by LB Tarek Bruce and Frankie Colandro and Chandler Foster. The offense is full of playmakers, QB Bryan Boderick, his twin brother and receiver Barry Boderick, WRs Carlos Martinez and Jake Demetros. There are some injuries to heal, and coach Bryan Hochter says depth is more of an issue than he’d like. The lines have potential.

The Black Knights still must learn how to win, but the pieces are here.

Xavier is Xavier. Despite significant losses, particularly on defense, the Falcons will likely be the No. 1 team to start 2011. It is senior-dominated with QB Pat D’Amato, TE/LB Jovan Santos, OL Austin Wezenski and OL/DL Sean Marinan and TE/LB Ryan Murphy. RB Mike Mastrioanni and DB Ryan Jacobucci. At least six players have college offers or have committed.

Santos just committed to UMass and D’Amato just committed to Stony Brook this week. “I guess they just wanted the get it over with before the season,” Marinan said.

Junior QB Tim Boyle, who’ll be splitting time at the position with D’Amato, already has offers from Syracuse and Boston College.

Anyhoo, they’re loaded.

Are they No. 1? We’ve now seen both Masuk and Xavier in scrimmages and the same differences that applied last season are there. Xavier’s bigger, brawnier. Looks like a small college team. Masuk’s quicker, can throw ridiculously well and has many more weapons. Both defenses are aggressive and intimidating. Masuk might be the more proficient of the two. Xavier’s road is an SCC minefield, Masuk misses two of the SWC’s top teams.

You make the call.

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.

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