SPB's High School Football

The SWC football all-star teams were also announced a few weeks ago.

Here they are.

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

The SCC released its All-Conference team a few weeks ago.

Here it is:

Division I Offense
WR: Nick Vitale (Hand), Tahir Manning (West Haven), Ryan Jacobucci (Xavier)
TE: Ryan Murphy (Xavier)
OL: Serge Jean-Baptiste (Fairfield Prep), Austin Wezenski (Xavier), Joe Ortoli (Shelton), Dennis Flanagan (Amity)
QB: Tyler Vallie (Amity), Pat D’Amato (Xavier), Michael Ecke (Cheshire)
RB: Ervin Philips (West Haven), Javon Grey (Notre Dame), Mike Mastrioanni (Xavier), Frank Camerino (Shelton)

Division I Defense
DL: Joe Demichele (Hand), Ludovic Richardson (Notre Dame), Sean Marinan, Jr. (Xavier), Tom Spencer (West Haven), Josh Dellacruz (Wilbur Cross)
LB: Billy Weyrauch (Cheshire), Robert Rose (Shelton), Anthony Masucci (Notre Dame), Jovan Santos-Knox (Xavier), Matt Walsh (Hand)
DB: Vance Giarratana (Hand), Tim Dube (Hamden), Brandon Martin (Notre Dame)
P: Xavier Frey (Fairfield Prep)

Division II Offense
WR: Connor Falaguerra (Jonathan Law)
OL: Rennick Bryan (Hillhouse), Sean Merrill (Sheehan), Derrin Gelston (Guilford), Jake Mikos (North Haven), Mike McInnis (North Haven), Khamil Rangolam (Hillhouse)
QB: Billy Gannon (Sheehan), Joe Schwab (North Haven)
RB: Harold Cooper, Jr. (Hillhouse), Matt Hoey (Guilford), Joe DeSandre (Lyman Hall)
PK: Brodie Corless (Sheehan)

Division II Defense
DL: Andrew Savenelli (North Haven), Mark Williams (Branford), Conor Riordan (Lyman Hall), Derrick Gilliam (Hillhouse)
LB: Mark Zurlis (North Haven), Dave Yerxa (Foran), Anthony Georgetti (Foran), Joe Costanzo (East Haven)
DB: Andre Anderson (Hillhouse), A.J. Pascuzzo (Sheehan), Curtis Sutherland (Branford), Niko Fiorillo (East Haven)
P: Matt Aspinwall (Foran)

The FCIAC has announced its All-Conference teams.

It is broken up into the three divisions, first team, second team, honorable mention.

All-FCIAC East

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

HONORABLE MENTION

All-FCIAC Central

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE

HONORABLE MENTION

All-FCIAC West

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE

HONORABLE MENTION

Sean Marinan Jr. drops Staples' Nick Kelly behind the line of scrimmage for a loss during Xavier's 42-7 Class LL championship victory over Staples. Xavier was named the No. 1 team in the state for the second-consecutive year.

Welcome to the end of the 2011 season.

The best three teams in the state were Xavier, Hand and Ansonia.

Xavier was No. 1.

The 2011 Falcons looked like the 1985 Chicago Bears out there this season, hammering all opponents into submission with a bone-crushing defense and a huge and physical offensive line that opened massive holes up for its tailbacks, specifically Mike Mastroianni, and allowed its backs and receivers to strike for big yardage and/or scores.

The only thing missing was the Class LL Championship Shuffle video. Why did it have to just come from Ledyard?

This Xavier team would have beaten last year’s Xavier team. And it would have beaten it convincingly. It was that good. Last season its offense leaned on defense to produce a 13-0 state champion. This year, all guns were blazing.

Hand was a close second but, overall, didn’t dominate its common SCC opponents the way Xavier did. Hand had it all, however. It was diverse on offense. Smothering and hard-hitting across the board on defense. The mere presence of Peter Gerson and Joe DeMichele on the lines gave playmakers Nick Vitale and Co. room to work its magic.

Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome runs away from the entire Ledyard defense en route to a 95-yard touchdown run in the Chargers' 38-0 Class M title game. Newsome compiled an all-time, state-best 3,763 rushing yards and 62 touchdowns (total) and led the United States in rushing.

Ansonia, the first 14-0 team in Connecticut history, was equally as talented. The Chargers were big and smothering on the offensive and defensive lines, backed them with brick walls like Tyler Wood, had playmakers  in the secondary and, of course, it featured Arkeel Newson, one of the best tailbacks in Connecticut history, a sophomore who cast aside records like few before him.

But the best of the best was Xavier. No question. And what a ride it has been: Back-to-back 13-0 seasons, back-to-back No. 1 rankings. Just an awesome, awesome team.

Where would it rank among the all-time best teams? It’s obviously one of the best teams over the last 10 years. Maybe it is the best. I’ve wracked my brains and only a few teams were as good. Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant posed the question to me and Ned Griffen of The Day in preparation for his post-championship column.

It was one of the best teams since 1997-98 Bloomfield. Maybe one of those Ansonia of Greenwich teams of the mid 2000s or maybe Shelton in 2000 would have a case.

Maybe.

Regardless of your opinions in that matter, this run has been nothing short of extraordinary.

The SCC showed it is easily the best conference in the state, with two dominant state championship teams in the large divisions. The NVL produced the other two champions. Holy Cross might not get the credit it is due because Ansonia blasted the Crusaders twice. But that only masked how good the team really was.

The Final Elite 8

Locally, outside of Ansonia, it was an exciting, but not a tremendous year for our fair teams in Shangri-La.

After the 14-0 Chargers, Staples, Masuk and New Canaan were the region’s best. But those three were all shown the door by Xavier and Hand.

Casey Cochran graduates as Connecticut's All-Time leading passer.

MASUK — Despite losing several major components that produced its dominant 2010 team (which remains my pick for No. 1 a season ago), Masuk 2011 had an outstanding second act in 2011.

Masuk ripped through the SWC and won the league title, outscoring teams by an average score 54-9 (as close as you can get to a weekly suspension under the CIAC’s Score Management policy). Despite an off night, they hammered runner-up and eventual Class LL semifinalist Newtown on Thanskgiving.

But in the quarterfinals, North Haven strength exposed  some weaknesses on Masuk’s frontlines. And, in the semifinals, Hand took advantage. After a pretty even first half, the eventual Class L champions’ brute strength eventually won out.

This team will have a drastically different look in 2012. You might not even recognize it. Casey Cochran, the state’s all-time leading passer, is off to UConn in a few weeks. Colin Markus, Shawn Flynn and the rest of the gang will be gone. It’ll be interesting to see just where this program goes from here.

STAPLES – Everyone figured Staples would be tough this season. Few could have expected an FCIAC title and less could have predicted a run to the state championship.

Staples' seniors Robbie Wolf and Jon Heil console each other after the Class LL title game loss to Xavier.

The Wreckers had some returning stars, sure. It was still a very young team. But they rallied around their seniors, overcame a few setbacks and grew up a season early. They grew stronger in the playoffs with a surprisingly overwhelming win over Ridgefield and the comeback vs. Newtown. Staples played as best as it could in the Class LL championship game, but Xavier was that much better.

Now 90 percent of this year’s team returns, including Nick Kelly, Joey Zelkowitz, Jack Massie, James Frusciante, Kevin Kearney, Lance Longergan, Pieter Hoets, et. al.

We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but…

Well, you figure it out.

Matt Milano broke Kurt Horton's records at New Canaan.

NEW CANAAN — Other than some cosmetic trophies missing from the display case, New Canaan fans couldn’t ask for much more from this outstanding team. They overcame all kinds of obstacles on their way to a 11-1 season. They leaned on QB Matt Milano early, roaring back to beat Warde and McMahon. Though Milano’s wasn’t around to help the Rams attempt a comeback vs. Stamford, New Canaan merely tuned up its defense and run game to and won four straight — including arch-rival Darien to reach the playoffs and then New London and Windsor.

Alas, like Masuk, New Canaan just wasn’t on par with the eventual Class L champion. Though New Canaan was beat up in the final for the second straight year, it was still an outstanding team.

And, like Masuk, it will have a drastically different look in 2012. Milano, the program’s all-time leading passer, Kevin McDonough, Bobby Distler, Thomas Rochlin and Co. are out the door. But New Canaan’s fall is never too far.

Greenwich's Shane Nastahowski

GREENWICH — You really had to feel for Greenwich. The Cardinals were bit by some disabling injuries early in the year. Losing QB Liam O’Neil to a concussion greatly contributed to the Cardinals’ 51-33 loss to New London in Week 3. But behind senior leaders Kyle Camacho and Shane Nastahowski, they regained their dominant form and played for the FCIAC championship vs. Staples.

But the program just couldn’t take that last step-forward. Staples rallied to beat Greenwich, knocking it out of the playoffs. In any other season, Greenwich would have qualified easily in Class LL. But having all three of the FCIAC’s winless teams on its schedule denied Greenwich crucial playoff points and the Cards went home, perhaps a bit too early.

Though some players return, Greenwich will miss Camacho and Nastahowski tremendously. Hard to foresee where the Cardinals go from here. Their state playoff drought is now up to four years.

[Aside: We kill the SWC, but the FCIAC's scheduling policies are, perhaps, the most confounding thing on the planet. Though the league took a proactive step by grouping its teams into three size-based divisions, it remains tremendously unbalanced and forces the top programs to miss each other throughout the year. Yes, I know the 19-team setup hurts, but something's got to be done to figure this out.]

Norwalk's Delshawn Wilson helped the upstart Bears go all the way to the state semifinals.

NORWALK — As devastated as Greenwich felt, Norwalk was sky-high this year. The Bears literally came out of nowhere to produce the best season in school history. They brought in a vibrant new coach in Sean Ireland, took one of their best athletes, Delshawn Wilson, and put him a quarterback, then built a big and strong defense around Kwazee Rice and Gil Arujo, and went to town.

Norwalk reminded us of Trumbull last year. A big and aggressive defense and athletes who ran around and made big plays on offense. Their only regular-season loss was to New Canaan and, though they missed top FCIAC clubs like Greenwich, Staples and Darien (ugh), the Bears still proved their mettle in the playoffs, reaching the state semifinals before getting run down by eventual champion Xavier.

Like most clubs, Norwalk has some serious rebuilding to do. A large senior class including Wilson, Arujo, Rice, Derek Edwards, Bobby Stringfellow, Johnny Anzalone and Patrick Whalen are gone. While there is plenty of emerging talent remaining like DL Cory Barrett, we wouldn’t be shocked to see the Bears take a step back.

Then again, after what they accomplished this season, we wouldn’t be shocked to see them do it all over again.

Led by back Lou Fenaroli, Newtown went all the way to the Class LL semifinals.

NEWTOWN – After a 16-9 loss to Pomperaug around midseason, 2011 Newtown was looking a lot like its predecessors. But the Hawks made some adjustment and rallied behind seniors FB Lou Fenaroli, Hunter Bassett, Mike Lord, James Horosko, Mac Morlock and Cory Fisher and talented underclassmen like Dan Hebert, Drew Tarantino, Chris Devaney and freshman Juilian Dunn to script one of the program’s best seasons in the last 20 years. Newtown won its next five games convincingly, including an insane overtime win over Bunnell that put them in the playoffs. Though Masuk wiped Newtown out in the Thanksgiving SWC title game, the Hawks rallied again in the state playoffs, beating Hall in the quarterfinals and taking a 14-0 lead over Staples before falling.

Though the Hawks will take a severe hit next year — who will carry the ball like Fenaroli? — many SWC observers say this is a program quickly on the rise. They’ll be a favorite to compete for a long-awaited SWC championship and further playoff success.

NOTRE DAME-WH — Led by a three-headed rushing attack and a staunch defense, Green Knights played, perhaps, the toughest schedule in the state and was in every game except its opening loss to eventual Class LL champion Xavier. They were everyone’s favorite to make a run in the Class L playoffs. But ultimately, Notre Dame couldn’t rally past its offensive shortcomings in a loss to Windsor. Still, losing all three games to a pair of state champions and a state semifinalist is nothing to sneeze at.

The Green Knights of 2011 were as good as, maybe better, than most teams. It graduates a significant portion of its team, including  Amihr Bess, Malik Tinney, Anthony Masucci, Eamon DeToro, Javon Grey and many of its linemen. ND might take a step backward, but it’s always a team to fear.

The Rest

Ridgefield graduates a good senior class, but it will return many of the players who helped script an 8-3 playoffs season, particularly  Sam Gravitte and Connor Rowe on offense. The Tigers might be better in 2012. …Darien, which once again suffered some late-season shenanigans by some of its players, will return a pretty good group led by HB Peter Gesualdi and QB Henry Baldwin. …Stamford, which once again finished strong to script one of its best seasons in 15 years, graduates a large and talented senior class. The Black Knights have some serious work to do. …Bunnell loses stars in Jawad Chisholm, David Camille, J.J. Bivona, Jared Vasquez. But outstanding QB Matt Castelot returns. …Pomperaug loses a good senior class, particularly LB Tyler Valenti and WR/K Matt Paola and some linemen. The Panthers might take a hit next year, but shouldn’t fall far. …Shelton loses quite a few seniors, but showed late in the season that its underclassmen are going to be pretty good. … Weston is a team to watch in the SWC with returning talent like RB Danny Rogers.

Postscript

You can watch replays of ALL the CIAC State championship games this week on the new CPTV. Class L and LL games will also be on MSGVarsity.

We are quickly compiling our 2011 Hearst CT All-Star Team, comprising 50 teams from Fairfield County and New Haven County. Coaches, expect to see a ballot sheet in your email boxes ASAP and, for some, a phone call. The team will be released around Christmas.

And that about wraps it up from here at CT HS Football Central.

Went fast.

It’s back to real life for me. Thanks for following along all season. It was our pleasure to entertain you. And, for the hard-working football players out there, thank you for providing great theater and allowing us to chronicle a big part of your young lives.

Thanks for all the kind comments of the last last few months. It’s been a labor of love, as always.

But now I need a break.

If anyone needs me or has a request (for videos or what-not), I’ll be on the ski slopes. Email me at sbowley@ctpost.com.

Sincerely yours,

Sean Patrick

Xavier has been voted the No. 1 team in the NHR’s state media poll for the second-consecutive year.

This time, it was unanimous.

Xavier was simply dominant in 2011. It earned its second-straight unbeaten, 13-0 season, capped with 42-7 victory over FCIAC Champion Staples in the Class LL championship game.

Fellow SCC Division I team Hand  took No. 2 with a 13-0 season, including a convincing 31-10 victory over New Canaan in the Class L championship game.

Despite playing in the same league, Xavier and Hand did not face each other.

Class M and NVL champion Ansonia, which capped the first 14-0 season in Connecticut history with a 38-0 victory over Ledyard in the championship game, took the No. 3 spot.

Class S champion and NVL runner-up Holy Cross (12-2) chimed in at No. 8.

Locally, FCIAC champion and Class LL runner-up Staples (11-1) took the No. 4 spot. SWC Champion and Class L semifinalist Masuk (11-1) comes in at No. 5. Class L runner-up New Canaan (11-2) finished No. 6.

Class L semifinalists Windsor and New London  finished No. 7 and 9, respectively. Notre Dame-West Haven, which lost to both Class LL and L champions and then Windsor in the Class LL quarterfinals, rounded out the poll at No. 10.

Xavier was also a unanimous No. 1 in the Connecticut Sports Writers’ Alliance Poll.

Xavier got all but one of the No. 1 votes in The Day’s state coaches poll.

Final NHR State Media Poll

Others receiving votes: Norwalk (9-2), 225; North Haven (9-2), 192; Ledyard (11-2), 186; Newtown (9-3), 169; Cromwell (10-3), 144; Greenwich (8-2), 84; Hall (9-2), 81; Berlin (10-2), 52; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (10-2), 51; Northwest Catholic (9-3), 21; Conard (9-2), 20; Ellington/Somers (10-1), 17; Glastonbury (8-3) and West Haven (7-3), 11; Wolcott (8-4), 9; Pomperaug (8-2), 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; 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.

Final Day Coaches Poll

Also receiving votes: Notre Dame-West Haven (8-3), 107 points; Cromwell (10-3), 104; North Haven (9-2), 91; Norwalk (9-2), 73; Newtown (9-3), 50; Conard-West Hartford (9-2), 35; Greenwich (8-2), 29; Berlin (10-2), 26; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (10-2), 25; Hall-West Hartford (9-2), 18; Northwest Catholic-West Hartford (9-3), 17; Farmington (9-1), 15; Bunnell-Stratford (8-2), 8; Tie, Waterford (7-4) and West Haven (7-3), 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.
Dave Cadelina of Bridgeport Central could not be reached to vote.

CSWA Media Poll

Also Receiving Votes: Ledyard 11-2 114; Norwalk 9-2 106; Newtown 9-3 85; Cromwell 10-3 80; North Haven 9-2 60; Greenwich 8-2 32; Hall 9-2 21; Berlin 10-2 19; Valley Regional/Old Lyme 10-2 16; Shelton 8-2 8; Northwest Catholic 9-3 5; Conard 9-2 4; North Branford 4; Wolcott 8-4 3; Darien 2; Farmington 9-1 2; Bunnell 1
Voters: Brian Barreto (NVL Blog), Bob Barton (CT H.S. Football Record Book), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam Acorn), 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), 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), Mike Pucci (New Haven Register), Paul Rosano (Meriden Record-Journal), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Elliott Schickler (Westport News), Mike Suppe (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Peter Vander Veer (Hersam Acorn Newspapers), Tom Yantz (Hartford Courant), Rich Zalusky (Willimantic Chronicle), Jimmy Zanor (Shore Line Times).

We start every new football season looking back on the season that preceded it, transferring what we remember from the December before and planting it in September. Week by week, we readjust our preconceptions from there.

Teams are never what they were the season before. A team may feature the same names and duplicate its predecessors accomplishments, but, really, it’s never the same team. The kids you knew grow older, bigger, faster over the course of 12 months. New players bubble up through the depth chart. You may not notice them at first, but they eventually make their contributions.

We began 2011 trying to cut through the Masuk-Xavier No. 1 debate from 2010, hoping we could somehow get closer to ending the debate. And we went through the season like that. Masuk? Xavier? Masuk. Xavier.

But, of course, these weren’t the same teams from a year ago. Masuk 2011 wasn’t Masuk 2010. Xavier 2011 wasn’t Xavier 2010. This was a new season with new players, improved players and new stars.

As we all found out, Masuk 2011 wasn’t as good as Masuk 2010. Not even close. As we all found out. Xavier 2011 was better than Xavier 2010.

We also found out Hand-Madison had a damn good football team. An incredibly dominant one.

And we discovered the exponential improvement of the Ansonia team that fell a few touchdowns short in 2010.

So now with four new state champions crowned and the 2011 season’s curtain coming down like an anvil, we ask you now to develop an acute case of amnesia. Erase, once and for all, the memories of 2010 and take a look at August until last Saturday.

Who was the best team in the state?

Xavier, of SCC Division I West, which finished 13-0, bludgeoned all opponents by an average score of  43-8, including three playoff games by a combined score of 131-27. Xavier allowed under 400 total yards in the state playoffs and crushed the FCIAC champion 42-7 in the title game. Xavier showed it could win every which way this year. It only trailed once all season, 7-6 to Norwalk in the Class LL semifinals vs. Norwalk. Staples coach Marce Petroccio endorsed them for No. 1.

Hand, of the SCC Division I East, which also finished 13-0, beat its opponents by an average score of 37-10. Hand had tremendous offensive balance, with both a first-year quarterback Henry Foye, and outstanding offensive players Nick Vitale and, later in the season, tailback Kevin Frey, who torched Masuk for 155 yards and New Canaan for 211. Hand’s defense allowed just 127 points all year. They won a title in, arguably, the toughest of the four state playoff divisions. They got New Canaan coach Lou Marinelli’s vote for No. 1.

And finally, you have Ansonia, the first 14-0 team in state history which boasted the Nation’s top tailback, Arkeel Newsome, who finished with a state-record 3,763 yards rushing and record 62 total touchdowns. Ansonia’s defense allowed just 154 points all season, usually in the late-stages of games, and scored a state-best 624 points. Ansonia also defeated Class S champion Holy Cross twice, 45-13 in the regular season and 33-0 in the NVL championship game.

To me, I think it’s a no-brainer. But, as we’ve seen from the comments on the previous post, there’s plenty of other opinions out there.

So… Who’s No. 1?

 Loading ...

What’s your Top 10?

The final polls will be unveiled today and we’ll wrap the whole season up shortly and start picking our all-star teams, which will be unveiled around Christmastime.

Many of you have already posted your No. 1 and your final Top 10 (or 5) on the previous post. Since the comments might have been buried, feel free to repost here and make your case for No. 1.

Ansonia lifts up coach Thomas Brockett as they celebrate their win over Ledyard Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 during the Class M State Championship football game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

Mike Mastroianni busts through Staples' line for a long run in Xavier's 42-7 win in the Class LL title game. Photo: Christian Abraham

Saturday’s three CIAC championship games weren’t quite championship caliber. Not the kind you expect to see from the ultimate games of the season.

These weren’t great games.

These were coronations.

No one had any doubts by the time the lights went out at Rentschler Field.

The best teams won.

Emphatically.

And they were all produced by two of football’s basic elements: Defense, and a punishing ground game.

Daniel Hand's Kevin Frey outruns several New Canaan players to score on the first play from scrimmage in Hand's 34-10 class L victory

Ansonia became Connecticut’s first 14-win team, using two Valley staples to win its record 17th state title, 38-0 over Ledyard. The Chargers defense held Ledyard to seven first downs, 145 yards of total offense and, more importantly, posted a shutout. Meanwhile, back Arkeel Newsome (eventually) broke the state record for yards in a season and put his name atop the national leaderboard.

Same thing with Hand’s 34-10 victory over New Canaan. Though much has been made about coach Steve Filippone’s blasphemous switch from power-I to the newfangled spread, Kevin Frey ran for 211 of Hand’s 321 rushing yards and Hand’s defense kept QB Matt Milano and New Canaan out of the end zone until it was too late.

And, finally, Xavier — No. 1 Xavier — hammered FCIAC champion Staples 42-7 with heavy doses of Mike Mastroianni and heavier doses of Sean Marinan, Austin Wezenski and Ryan Jacobucci (et. al.) on defense. Xavier held Staples’ dangerous option attack to just 175 total yards while Mastroianni slugged the Wreckers with 239 rush yards. Xavier amassed 505 total yards of offense and completed its second consecutive 13-0 championship season.

It was the most lop-sided Class LL championship game in Connecticut history.

Oh, and lest we forget, brawn (nickname: Dave DiGiorgi. Yards: 317. Touchdowns: 4) won Holy Cross’ 34-27 Class S championship over Cromwell.

So, yes. Defense wins championships. But our state champions proved tonight, if you can’t run you can’t win either.

And yes, for those of you counting, the SCC and NVL ruled Championship Saturday. Two titles apiece. They must be doing something right.

More later, including highlight videos and recaps galore.

I’ve gotta turn out the lights at Rentschler.

#CLICK!

Photo Galleries

[CLASS LL CHAMPIONSHIP: Xavier 42, Staples 7]

[CLASS L CHAMPIONSHIP: Hand 32, New Canaan 10]

[CLASS M CHAMPIONSHIP: Ansonia 38, Ledyard 0]

This is it.

Today marks the culmination of the 2011 Connecticut high school football season.

Last night, we had our appetizer, a delicious blue plate special of a Class S championship game between Holy Cross and Cromwell. The Crusaders ran behind back Dave DiGiorgi to the tune of 317 yards and notched their first title since 2006 and second overall with a thrilling 34-27 victory over Anthony Morales and Cromwell.

Today, we have a wonderful three-course meal for everyone.

The NVL vs. the ECC in the morning, then the SCC vs. the FCIAC in back-to-back, whose-conference-is-better? megamatches in the afternoon.

At 10:30 a.m. we kick off with Ansonia and Ledyard in the Class M title game. Ansonia back Arkeel Newsome is 198 yards away from breaking Alex Thomas’ single-season rushing record. More importantly, the Chargers 48 minutes away extending their state-leading title count to 17. Ledyard is looking for its first title since 2007.

Immediately following at 2 p.m. is the anticipated Mirror Bowl: New Canaan vs. Hand. The Rams are going for title No. 9. Hand is going for title No. 10 and an unbeaten season. Hand hasn’t beaten New Canaan in three tries.

And finally, at 5:30 p.m., the Class LL championship game. The only title game pitting two undefeated football teams. No. 1 Xavier is looking to cap a second consecutive 13-0, state championship and No. 1-ranked season. Staples is hoping to win title No. 4 and its first since 2005.

Should be a wild, wild say up at Rentschler Field. And, of course, this is the only place to be.

We’ll be running the live blog below, complete with a scoreboard. You can post comments and ask question there. While you’re doing that, you can also listen to the games on Sportingnewsct.com or on WELI 960-AM (960weli.com). Because MSGVarsity is taping the final two games (for a later broadcast only on Cablevision. Sorry, kids), there will be no online video feed.

You can also get live statistics from the CIAC — CLASS LL | CLASS L | CLASS M.

Below is everything you need to know about today’s games

CLASS LL CHAMPIONSHIP Preview Capsule & Video: Xavier vs. Staples, 5:30 p.m.

CLASS L CHAMPIONSHIP Preview Capsule & Video: Hand vs. New Canaan, 2 p.m.

CLASS M CHAMPIONSHIP Preview Capsule & Video: Ansonia vs. Ledyard, 10:30 a.m.

Regional Game Preview Stories:

• New Canaan relishes chance to play in sixth straight state final | Stamford Advocate
• Staples arrives in title game ahead of schedule | Connecticut Post
• Positive influence of Marinelli, Petroccio goes beyond gridiron | Stamford Advocate
• Ansonia’s Newsome, a sophomore, already among elite | Connecticut Post
• Lonesome Polecat: Marinelli, Filippone BFF, Steely Staples, Holy Cross’ spark | The Day
  
• Unbeaten Xavier takes pride in defense | Hartford Courant
• Ledyard football scores some style points | TheDay.com
• Former Ledyard Colonel Matt Buriak lives on through his organ recipients | TheDay.com

Class S Championship Recaps

• In a game to remember, Holy Cross wins Class S crown | Republican-American
• Mr. December carries Holy Cross to highest high | Republican American
• DiGiorgi, Holy Cross dash Cromwell’s title hopes | Middletown Press
• Lonesome Polecat: DiGiorgi plays big, Morales sets records | The Day
  
• CIAC Game Box Score: Holy Cross 34, Cromwell 27

The Live Blog

Here you can follow chatter and game updates on Twitter all day long. Photos, links and stories will be available here, as will a scoreboard and a live chat option.