SCC report - Week 6 (A good man leaves us)

This might be the first time you've read the name Tony Mentone in print. And he'd probably be fine with that. Unfortunately, Mentone - who worked at Hamden (I was trying to give him a title here, but couldn't come up with one that would do him justice), died of a heart attack last week at the age of 63.
Mentone was one of those guys who didn't get the publicity of a coach and didn't really care to. But in every high school athletic program, there are jobs that need to get done for everything to run smoothly and Mentone pretty much did them all at Hamden.
His official title was facility manager, but here's an incomplete list of things he did for the Dragons: junior varsity basketball coach, freshman baseball coach, ticket taker, scoreboard operator, equipment repairer, security detail, etc.
He also did plenty away from Hamden High to help the youth of the community.
"He pretty much did everything for us, going back to when (former Athletic Director) Vin Iezzi was here," Hamden Athletic Director Jeannie Cooper said. "You name it, he did it for us. It will take a bunch of people to replace him."
According to his son Mark (who wrote for this publication before becoming a full-time Sports Information Director, currently at Felician), he coached his sons in the Hamden Fathers Little League, and after they graduated, he just stayed with it.
He was also (as Mark is) an accomplished umpire, having worked at various levels in the area, and worked closely with the youth basketball leagues in Hamden as well.
But Tony's contribution goes beyond what goes on a resume. He had a passion for the kids, a passion that can't be taught, but can be easily seen by any kid he worked with. Therefore, it wasn't a surprise that so many of his former players and colleagues overflowed Iovanne Funeral Home in New Haven last Thursday to pay their respects.
Too often at the high school level, we judge people by how much they win (and everyone, including Tony, wanted to win, don't get me wrong), and not the effect they have on the kids they work with.
"He had zero selfish intent," Mark said. "But he got a great deal out of it for himself as well. There was just a pure pleasure in helping kids, of all ages and abilities, that never got old for him."
As we go forward toward the playoffs and champions and playoff points and controversies, always remember that guys like Tony Mentone are the reason high school sports are such a valuable teaching tool to young people.
But Tony loved every minute of it. As his son said, "I would ask him if he spent too much time doing it, and he would always say, 'What the hell else am I gonna do?' "
PLAYOFFS? ALREADY?: Going to go off on a couple of tangents that take us off the field (but not very far, don't worry) this week, but I wanted to start with the mess that the CIAC playoff race is coming. If you take a look at the CIAC site and get a slightly pained look on your face like I did, you know what's coming.
With four games left, Hamden, Cheshire, and Xavier stand third, fourth, and fifth in the Class LL race with four teams, obviously, qualifying for the postseason. If it ends that way, I would be torn. It would be great for the SCC to have half of the Class LL field (and well deserved, I might add), but how do you choose between three teams that are 5-1? Right now, Hamden would be the one on the outside looking in, but - crunching the numbers - it looks like it might be the Falcons who may be in trouble if all three teams win their remaining four games. And while it's not a foregone conclusion, it's certainly a possibility. With nine teams in Class LL undefeated or with one loss, it seems there is a decent chance that someone with one loss will not make the postseason. For us SCC folk, that brings back bad memories of Jonathan Law from a couple of years back and Amity before them who finished at 9-1 and got no ticket to the playoff dance.
Luckily, although they are currently in fifth, Notre Dame shouldn't have the same problem in Class L. If they win out, they should be in. In fact, even if they lose again, the Green Knights have an outside chance to make the playoffs in Class L, which leads to our nightmare scenario.
Picture Thanksgiving at Hamden High in front of 5,000 people (and the Green Bowl looks like it's going to be the place to be this year). The Dragons down by a score late storm down the field and win the game on the final play to move to 9-1 on the season. The Knights fall to 8-2, but because of their respective classes, Notre Dame goes to the playoffs, while Hamden is left out in the cold. To be honest, it's not terribly likely, but it could happen.
Fortunately, a change in the playoff system might be on the way. If they can get enough votes, the playoff system will go back to four classes next year, but with eight teams in each class, extending the season by one week, but making each class more competitive, and making there less of a chance deserving teams get left out.
As we've discussed before, no system is perfect, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make it as good as possible.
EXTRA POINTS: The Guilford-Amity game was postponed last Friday due to an outbreak of the H1N1 virus at Guilford High. All activities from last Thursday through the weekend at the school were cancelled, including all practices. In fact, school was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, which obviously meant there was no practice those days. The Guilford-Amity game is scheduled for Nov. 19 (the week before Thanksgiving). They are slated to play Branford this Friday. If that game is postponed? Who knows? The Indians have been more affected in other sports where their girls cross country team, favorite to capture the SCC title, fell to Cheshire last week, in part because some of their kids were sick (to be fair, they didn't use it as an excuse). The boys soccer team will likely qualify for the SCC Tournament (and the girls have an outside shot as well), meaning no one knows how they will squeeze all the games they have to get in with the state tournament starting next week ... The only Division II team that seems to have a shot to qualify is North Haven, who beat up on Sheehan 48-14 last week. The dilemma for the SCC is that if North Haven is able to upset Cheshire this week, that would likely eliminate the Rams from postseason contention. Regardless, a very intriguing game ... Cheshire had some trouble putting Hand away, but eventually did 31-13. The poor Tigers have a good team, but just not quite as good as the top Division I squads ... Hillhouse continues to roll, especially the white-hot Spencer Jones, who had four first-half touchdowns in the Academics' 34-8 win over Jonathan Law ... We've gotten this far without talking about the Notre Dame-Wilbur Cross game which probably tells you how good the game actually was. The Knights were up 28-7 by halftime and coasted to a 42-7 win. Hand will be the next to try to stop the vaunted ND offense Friday night ... Speaking of offense, Hamden posted just 52 yards combined in the second and third quarters of last week's overtime loss to Xavier. The Dragons wanted to get running back Jordan Teague into the offense gradually coming off an ankle injury, but Teague ended up with 31 carries (for 167 yards), 13 coming on one drive. Unfortunately, his 31st carry was a fumble in overtime and Xavier scored the winning touchdown on the next play.
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kendrick Amaker, North Haven - Amaker ran for 139 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries as the Indians beat Sheehan easily, 48-14, last Friday. Amaker, who is North Haven's threat to score every time he touches the ball, scored from 30, 47, 22, and 30 (again) yards out on his scores.

GAME OF THE WEEK
Cheshire at North Haven, Friday, 7 p.m. - The Rams will enter the game as favorites, but for those comparing scores, Cheshire held off Sheehan 30-24 two weeks ago, while North Haven beat the Titans 48-14 last week. North Haven's defense has been excellent all season, while Cheshire has been able to score against every opponent they've faced, so something has to give.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
246
Number of points Notre Dame has scored this season, behind only Bloomfield in the state (Avon is tied), and the Green Knights have a slight strength of schedule edge over Bloomfield. In the SCC, only Cheshire (208) is even in the same offensive league as the Knights. Shelton (198) is third, but the Gaels have given up more points than everyone but winless East Haven and Fairfield Prep.
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POWER RANKINGS
1) Notre Dame (5-1; Last Week 2) – A new No. 1 and not much argument. Can they master the Surf Club?
2) Xavier (5-1; LW 3) – Have won five straight, and will be heavy favorites the rest of the way.
3) Hamden (5-1; LW 1) – Dragons' offense just isn't very good right now, 6th in D-I in points scored.
4) Cheshire (5-1; LW 4) – Struggled with Sheehan, will they do the same in North Haven Friday?
5) Shelton (3-3; LW 5) – Nice to get an easy one under their belts, Hillhouse won't be quite as simple.
6) West Haven (3-3; LW 7) – With that intermission concluded, back to the grind for young Westies.
7) Hand (3-3; LW 8) – Not that far off, but don't have to be that far off when playing in Division I.
8) Amity (2-3; LW 9) – An unexpected week off, but under the circumstances, not much they can do.
9) North Haven (4-2; LW 11) - Have had more success than most in crossovers. They'll need it Friday.
10) Wilbur Cross (3-3; LW 6) – What happened to that team that destroyed Xavier at Palmer Field?
11) Hillhouse (3-3; LW 14) - Acs are improved, but we'll see just how much when they take on Shelton.
12) Sheehan (3-3; LW 12) - Defensive woes that have haunted Titans in past resurfaced against North Haven.
13) Foran (4-2; LW 15) - Lions really couldn't find anyone else to play them, so had to settle for Abbott Tech.
14) Lyman Hall (2-4; LW 17) - Really, Trojans had been knocking on the door for a couple of weeks.
15) Branford (3-3; LW 10) - Luzzi done for season, and it seemed to have an immediate effect on Hornets.
16) Jonathan Law (3-3; LW 13) - Just never got out of starting blocks in day game in New Haven.
17) Guilford (1-4; LW 16) - Going a week without even practicing can't be good for squad, but better safe.
18) Fairfield Prep (0-6; LW 18) - All Division I games left for Jesuits. Doesn't look good.
19) East Haven (0-6; LW 19) - At least back to D-II this week.