The Road to Boyle

Fairfield Ludlowe takes on a great unknown during its FCIAC bye week. They have scheduled a team known as “Randolph” on the CIAC schedule. But it is a team better known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

Randolph Campus is its “host” school, but the Hellfighters are a co-op/club team made up of high school students from all around Manhattan. The team was founded by former NFL player Duke Ferguson because he was shocked at how few opportunities there were for Harlem’s youth to play organized football.

The Hellfighters also have not played a game this season, according to this recent article in the New York Daily News.

According to that article, the Hellfighters played in a PSAL championship game two seasons ago against a predominantly white school.

The New York State Sportswriters Association reported on its blog that Ferguson saw a racial epitath written on a bench, which was targeted at his team.

The Daily News said in its report that the Hellcats were removed from the PSAL’s 2008 schedule, and the team has a pending lawsuit against the city’s Department of Education.

For more on the Ludlowe-Harlem Hellfighters match-up, here’s Sean Patrick Bowley’s report from today’s Stamford Advocate.

Staples in No. 2 in the latest coaches poll, and suddenly it’s in for the fight of its life against a team with a .500 record.

Yep, high school football is always interesting.

All the hype this week is on Staples quarterback Brandon Pacilio’s broken leg, which requires season-ending surgery.

Now everyone is talking fire and brimstone and a Ludlowe upset…

Now Ludlowe has come a long way since quarterback Rob Ferrara and linebacker-fullback Dan Farina returned from injuries. And you can’t look down on the Falcons’ 3-3 win streak, no matter who those wins were against. Keep in mind that Ludlowe battled hard against New Canaan and Ridgefield, who have a combined 11-1 record.

And without its offensive leader, Staples may struggle. But in making his first career start, senior quarterback Keith Gelman should do fine. Yes, he will have to run the ball a lot, but should have Ryan Burke back from injury to pair up in the backfield with Matt Kelly.

Plus, Staples showed it can run the Wildcat when they played Ridgefield, so the pressure won’t be all on Gelman.

Ludlowe has played some very solid defense, and Thomas Lipp and Tom Nagy are among the best ends in the league. But Staples’ defense has been the story on 2009 so far. Jake Santora and Brandon Rankowitz have done a solid job leading a defense that has allowed just 19 points on the season.

Keep in mind, too, that Ludlowe and Staples played a thriller last season, in which Staples pulled out at the end 8-7.

I say Staples pulls this one out, in a close one like they did last year. And it’ll be a low-scoring game.

Here’s the rest of my picks for Friday’s FCIAC games.