"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
The quote above is mentioned in Friday Night Lights - no, not the movie, nor the network drama, but the fantastic original book by Buzz Bissinger that came out some two decades ago.
(By the way, if you haven't read that book and you're reading this column, do so. Now. This can wait a few hours.)
The quote hung in Odessa Permian's locker room before their game against rival Odessa, but it must have been somewhere in Xavier's lead up to its showdown with top-ranked and defending Class L champion Notre Dame last week.
You see, as much as we want to talk about things like athleticism and strategy, there's a reason why football became America's pastime and Linda McMahon has enough money to run for the Senate, and it's violence.
Coaches and players will talk about being physical, but will rarely use the word violence because it's got a negative connotation, but it's all semantics at that point. And I'm not here to condemn violence, some of my favorite athletic memories growing up were of Mike Tyson pummeling someone. In fact, as a Giants fan, perhaps my personal best memory is Leonard Marshall knocking Joe Montana out of the 1990 NFC title game with a vicious blindside hit.
Every football player lives for a hit like that, a clean (as opposed to some of the cheapshots like the one on Wes Welker on Sunday, which should not be applauded or condoned in any way, shape, or form) blow that makes the crowd gasp. What better way to intimidate your opponent and fire up your own team?
Of course, no one wants to see people get hurt, certainly serious injuries, but you really can't get your violence without a few people feeling some pain along the way.
"We pride ourselves on being physical," Xavier coach Sean Marinan said. "We make no bones about that, that's the way a defense has to operate, especially against a team like Notre Dame."
So on the second play from scrimmage last Friday - after a long Tirrell Young kickoff return gave Notre Dame and its huge crowd early momentum - Sean Goldrich hit Phil Bentley with a flare pass down the right sideline. Bentley is listed at 168 pounds, with the operative term there being "listed". To his credit, Bentley could gave gone out of bounds, but cut up the sideline, where the play - and Notre Dame's momentum - met a violent end as safety Gerry Basadonna crushed Bentley at full speed, a collision the human body is not made to deal with too often.
With Bentley temporarily out of the game (he did later come back and score a touchdown), four plays later Austin Ahern whacked Goldrich for a 14-yard loss and a message was sent that playing against Xavier's defense is not going to be a heck of a lot of fun. And it's going to be painful.
Notre Dame coach Tom Marcucci would swear after the game that his team stood up to Xavier and was every bit as physical. And the scoreboard indicated that, if not for a bizarre fumble late in the game, the Green Knights might have won and still been the state's top team.
It's also true that violence is not the answer to all football's problems. Xavier's lack of a reliable passing game and the fact that they had trouble snapping the ball nearly derailed a much-deserved victory and probable No. 1 state ranking.
But the fact remains that Xavier came out to physically intimidate Notre Dame and you'd have to say they succeeded. Goldrich never looked comfortable, finishing 5-of-17 for 69 yards and three interceptions (and the only 2 completions in the second half were dump-offs). Young, minus the opening kickoff, wasn't really a factor. ND was held to just 180 yards of total offense.
"We want to make it our mission to come out and come after people," Xavier's Graham Stewart said. "We like to be physical, and we knew we had to be physical tonight (last Friday). That's what we do at Xavier."
Stewart, headed to Boston College, and Ahern - also one of the state's top college prospects - made a nuisance of themselves, but they were joined by Marinan's son (also Sean, and who had the biggest play in the game, stripping David Rose in the fourth quarter) and Eric Mischke in the backfield for much of the evening. After Xavier finally grabbed the lead, you never got the feeling Notre Dame was coming back.
And you also get the feeling that the Xavier defense will make plenty of people in the SCC (and, probably, beyond) extremely uncomfortable.
It won't be an accident.
LIGHTNING, LIGHTNING GO AWAY: Evidently, the football gods didn't like opening games being played on Thursdays, as all the SCC games slated for last Thursday were either never started and not completed because of heavy rain and lightning.
It set up an odd situation for the Cheshire-Hamden and North Haven-Hillhouse contests, where coaches had nearly 24 hours to design halftime gameplans. Of those four squads, apparently the Rams' staff did the best job, when play was stopped on Thursday, Cheshire and Hamden were scoreless early in the third quarter, but Cheshire ran away with a 27-0 victory in the end.
The Rams continued the two-quarterback rotation (Michael Ecke and Max Slade this year) that worked so well for them on their way to a state championship. But it was their defense that was the story, holding Jordan Teague and company scoreless.
Cheshire will have to deal with Hillhouse this week, and the Academics were able to hold off North Haven, 12-0 (a rematch of the SCC basketball title game, by the way), after having the lead by that same score Thursday when the game was stopped at halftime. Freshman Harold Cooper and senior Chris Turner had the touchdowns, and the Academics look like they might be headed back toward the top of Division II (and are the highest D-II team in the power rankings).
PENALTY KICKS: Foran and Branford played a thriller Saturday night, with the Lions eventually prevailing 28-27 in overtime after it looked like they had lost the game in regulation. The Hornets stormed to the Foran 1-yard line with time running out, but picked up a penalty and eventually had a field goal blocked.
In overtime, both teams immediately scored, and Branford originally seemed to be going for 2 points and the win, but eventually decided against it, went for the tie (and a second overtime) and missed the extra point.
Unofficially, 95 percent of overtime in the current high school format come down to a missed extra point one way or the other, so it seems like the wise thing to do is move the start back to the 25-yard line like college. At least it won't be so easy to score.
Foran's opener last season also came down to kicking. After tying Lyman Hall 20-20, Joe Capalbo missed an extra point that probably would have won the game, but redeemed himself by drilling a field goal on the game's last play to win 23-20.
Ironically, later in the year, Capalbo wasn't so lucky against Branford last season. After the Lions had cut the Hornets' lead to 21-20 in the second overtime last season, his kick was blocked to end the game (meaning it was in the 95 percent decided by the kicking game).
And put in the same situation again, it's probably safe to say that you'll see the Hornets go for the jugular when they have the chance.
EXTRA POINTS: If you thought some unique matchups in this week's crossover games, you weren't hullicanating. Three of the games feature teams that have never met (Foran-Xavier, Jonathan Law-Wilbur Cross, and Hillhouse-Cheshire). Guilford-West Haven haven't met since 1997, when the SCC was nothing but a babbling toddler. Sheehan and Shelton - division rivals in most sports - will meet for the first time since 2003. According to SCC commissioner Al Carbone (who also supplied those facts), The league’s Scheduling Committee and Athletic Directors last winter voted to eliminate the scheduling rule that avoided Division I West/Division II East and Divison I East/Division II West matchups during crossover weeks. Doesn't mean the games will be any better, but they'll be different at least, I guess ... East Haven was indeed able to field a team (and had decent numbers) and put up a fight against Guilford before falling 27-6. It will still be a struggle for the Easties, but I think they should be able to beat Platt Tech and might, just might be able to shock someone else before the season is done ... The other winless team from a year ago - Fairfield Prep - also put in a solid performance, albeit in a losing effort, falling 28-14 to Hand. Prep misses out on the crossover fun, but gets to take on Griswold this week. That's a long Friday trip on I-95 for Griswold ... For the second straight year, Wilbur Cross went on the road against a traditional power and hung a big number in an easy win, this time beating Shelton 32-21. Their schedule is much easier in the next two games than it was after last year's upset win over Xavier, with Jonathan Law and Fairfield Prep coming up before they get into the heart of their Division I schedule. Last season, they finished 5-5 ... Did I say 5-5? Just like my record last week in the picks. Yikes.
Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
James Ward, Wilbur Cross - Ward ran the opening kickoff for a touchdown and rushed for 142 yards and three more TDs on just nine carries as Wilbur Cross rolled to a 32-21 win over Shelton., the second straight year the Governors have won on the road in Division I in the opening week. Ward also added an interception to round out his day of being everywhere on the field.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Hillhouse at Cheshire, Friday, 7 p.m. - Both teams made statements in games that were played over two days in the opening week, and both teams posted a shutout, which means points might be at a premium at the Maclary Complex. The Maclary Complex is brand new to Hillhouse, these teams have never played each other in their history, which adds to the intrigue of this contest. Both teams also still have some question marks which will probably be answered in this one.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3
Number of interceptions thrown by Notre Dame quarterback Sean Goldrich in the opener, after throwing only a single one in all of the 2009 season. Xavier remains the only team to pick Goldrich off in the last two seasons, the Falcons recorded the interception last year against him as well.
POWER RANKINGS
1) Xavier (1-0; Last Week 2) – Don' t think it will be too much fun for Foran this Friday at Palmer Field.
2) Notre Dame (0-1; LW 1) – Knights have a lot of work to do on the lines, but should be fine in the end.
3) Cheshire (1-0; LW 3) – Again, the two-headed QB system pays dividends, but defense the story.
4) Wilbur Cross (1-0; LW 5) – Let's hope the Governors learned lesson after first game last season.
5) Hillhouse (1-0; LW 4) - Might be a little high, but we'll know exactly where to place Acs after Friday.
6) Shelton (0-1; LW 4) – Georgalas will return, but it might be a struggle against best SCC has to offer.
7) Hand (1-0; LW 6) – Not exactly an inspiring performance, but it goes in the win column for later use.
8) West Haven (1-0; LW 8) – Blue Devils had to wait until Sunday, but got season off on right foot.
9) Hamden (0-1; LW 7) – Offense was nonexistent against Cheshire, and they'll have to figure that out.
10) Lyman Hall (1-0; LW 3) - Highest Trojans have been in a while here, and they might be able to climb.
11) Foran (1-0; LW 5) - The Lions and Schumitz will most certainly battle you, especially at their place.
12) Branford (0-1; LW 1) - Tough loss to open campaign. Hornets surely hope doesn't cost them playoffs.
13) North Haven (0-1; LW 2) - Schwab was forced to leave opener. Indians could use him on field this week.
14) Sheehan (1-0; LW 6) - Gannon threw for 4 TDs, good start for a young quarterback in this league.
15) Amity (0-1; LW 9) – Tremendous defensive effort, but Spartans end up with nothing to show for it.
16) Fairfield Prep (0-1; LW 10) - Some things to build on, especially with Griswold coming to town Friday.
17) Jonathan Law (0-1; LW 7) - Didn't really see Lawmen giving up 37 points, but I didn't see a lot of things.
18) Guilford (1-0; LW 8) - Got a win, but Indians know things will only get a whole lot tougher from there.
19) East Haven (0-1; LW 9) - Played hard, played tough. What else can you ask for out of a team?
Showing posts with label SCC football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SCC football. Show all posts
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
SCC football - Division I preview: ND's world and everybody else is just visiting
"To whom much is given, much is required." - John F. Kennedy
People forget that prior to last fall, the Notre Dame football team was coming off three consecutive losing seasons, and many people (including someone whose picture lies somewhere on this page) didn't really believe that last season was going to be the one that the Green Knights returned to glory.
Of course, 20/20 hindsight shows outstanding lines on both sides of the ball, speed to burn, and an outstanding leader and winner in Conor Keniry.
Notre Dame hopes that there won't be any hindsight needed in December. They will begin the season this week No. 1 in the Courant poll, the Register poll, the WELI poll, and - presumably - the Gallup polls.
Rumors of their preseason beatdowns of other traditional powers have spread like wildfire through the football underground.
But, unlike last season, the hype comes with a giant target on their back, one that Notre Dame will have to embrace if they want to avoid the snipers.
"We don't talk too much about last season," Notre Dame coach Tom Marcucci said. "It's a new story, a new group. We graduated eight starters on offense, seven on defense. We have some skill players back and we have some talent, but it is a different team."
No one will be feeling the heat more than senior quarterback Sean Goldrich, because he's the most heralded player returning from last year's Class L title squad, throwing for 20 touchdowns with just 1 interception last season and completing nearly 69 percent of his passes.
However, his role will almost surely be increased this season. Goldrich never threw more than 15 passes in a game last season, and although the Knights should still run plenty, there will be times where the game may rest on Goldrich's strong right arm.
"I just want to win games, that's what's most important to me," Goldrich said. "I know interceptions will happen from time to time, so I'm not worried about it. Coach (Marcucci) has told me we're probably going to throw a little bit more, which is obviously exciting as a quarterback, but as long as we're winning, I'm fine."
You want an example of how things have changed for Goldrich? At a recent visit to Notre Dame, I was told I couldn't talk to him. After explaining that it was set up through Coach Marcucci, the message came back, "Well, he can't talk to college coaches during school."
For whatever reason, major colleges have been slow to warm to Goldrich. He had looked at Iowa, but they grabbed another QB. The same appears to have happened at Villanova.
What makes it doubly strange is trying to find someone with something negative to say about Goldrich, either on or off the field, is darn near impossible.
"In my opinion, he is a Division I quarterback," Marcucci said. "He has a big-time arm and he's faster than people give him credit for. He's a good runner. And he's a fantastic kid. He does everything the coaches ask, and it's always the team first."
You can tell the college thing stings Goldrich a little, but while he's not exactly a tragic figure, he has had his share of adversity growing up in West Haven.
When he was in seventh grade, his mother, Tara, died suddenly, and therefore never saw him play a down in high school.
"It dawned upon me a couple of times last season," Goldrich said. "It was a little emotional in the playoffs that she couldn't see the success that we had. In the end, although I wish she could be here, it's nice to know that there's someone up there looking out for me, and she'll always be a big part of who I am."
You want weapons? Goldrich (who somehow didn't even make first team Division I last season, as he was beaten out by Xavier's Alex Pace, Hamden's Jason Lassiter, and Cheshire's Greg Palmer) has weapons. Phil Bentley and Tirrell Young-Williams, who each had big plays in big games last season, were 1-2 in the 100-meter dash in Class MM track last spring. Running back David Rose was not spectacular, but consistent and should be stronger with a year of experience under his belt.
Sometimes it's not the most fun position to be in, anything but a repeat as state champion will likely be a disappointment.
However, it certainly beats having a losing record.
"We have a lot of things we can still do to get better," Marcucci said. "This won't be easy."
STEWART LEADS FALCONS: As of Sunday, there was only one name on the MaxPreps roster for Xavier: Graham Stewart.
The linebacker spurned UConn (yeah) and Syracuse (boo) to play at Boston College, ending a fairly contentious recruiting period and allowing him to concentrate on football.
Stewart and fellow linebacker Austin Ahern are among the top 10 recruits coming out of Connecticut this season, which alone means the Falcons should be a handful (Just YouTube Stewart and you'll see some pretty good hits against Division I opposition).
Xavier also won their final nine regular season games last season, including a win over Notre Dame, before giving Staples all it could handle in the Class LL semifinals.
But it was a strange season for the Falcons defense, which posted three shutouts and nearly had two others, but was run off the field by Wilbur Cross (37-19, their only regular season loss), and gave up 20 or more points five times, including to Staples.
Will they have enough to unseat Notre Dame atop the SCC? We won't have long to find out, will we?
EXTRA POINTS: Tony Martone returns to Hamden, and he might have his work cut out for him with a brutal schedule and losing 24 players to graduation. He does have running back Jordan Teague (who, strangely, didn't play any running back in the final scrimmage against Greenwich) and he should have enough athletes to be competitive. But how competitive? ... Yea, I was the one that put Cheshire 8th in Division I to start last season. All they did was win the Class LL state championship. Oops. I'm semi-inclined to look at the fact that they look likely to use two quarterbacks again (Michael John Ecke and Max Slade) to prove that the might have some problems, but it's worked for them in the past, and they should have enough talent to be in position for a possible playoff berth ... Shelton will be without Mike Georgalas for its opener against Wilbur Cross after he was ejected from last Thanksgiving's game against Derby (the CIAC never forgets). They will also miss Ryan Deangelis for the season with an ACL tear, so the Gaels may take some time to get going, and that may be enough to cost them a postseason run ... Wilbur Cross has Dontay Long (QB) and James Ward (RB), but it's hard to tell what else this early. Last season, they started with an 18-point win at Palmer Field, but later in the season lost by 24 points at home to West Haven. They finished 5-5, and you expect you might see more of the same this season ... Hand has some players returning, but it's hard to see them having the athleticism to keep up with the Notre Dames and Xaviers of the world ... West Haven is another mystery, they haven't looked particularly good in the preseason, but they never do, do they? ... Fairfield Prep and Amity, both with new coaches (Tom Shea and Bert Mozealous, respectively), appear to be swimming upstream in Division I, at least for this season ... Couldn't fit this into Inside the Numbers, but the least amount of points Notre Dame scored last season: 28.
Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GAME OF THE WEEK
Xavier at Notre Dame, Friday, 7 p.m. - By all preseason accounts, this should be the game of the season as well in front of what figured to be a giant crowd in West Haven. Is Notre Dame's offense that good? Is Graham Stewart that good? Is the SCC that good? All questions we've been waiting months to answer will finally begin to be come this week, thankfully.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
32
Number of playoff teams in the CIAC football playoffs this season, up from 24 last season. Seeing that I was one of the ones that was pushing for a change, obviously I like it, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I surmise there will still be some teams that feel they should get in and don't, but that's the way it goes.
D-I POWER RANKINGS
1) Notre Dame (11-1; Opener: vs. Xavier) – Knights don't have to leave West Haven until October 22. Nice scheduling.
2) Xavier (9-2; at Notre Dame) – Have to survive ND and Cheshire (both away) in the season's first three weeks.
3) Cheshire (11-1; at Hamden) – Usually, they lose to Hamden, then go on big win streak. Tough to do that this year.
4) Shelton (7-3; vs. Wilbur Cross) – Won last six games last season, will know much more after Friday's opener.
5) Wilbur Cross (5-5; at Shelton) – Ward will take them as far as he can, but he's going to need some help somewhere.
6) Hand (5-5; at Fairfield Prep) – Less cool storylines for opener, same amount of rush-hour traffic on I-95.
7) Hamden (7-3; vs. Cheshire) – Dragons don't play Wilbur Cross this season. Seems kind of wrong, doesn't it?
8) West Haven (5-5; at Amity) – Fairly kind opening to schedule may give the Westies much-needed confidence.
9) Amity (3-7; vs. West Haven) – Mght be a little bit of a rough start to the new regime, but they'll battle in D-I.
10) Fairfield Prep (0-10; vs. Hand) - Well, it really can't get much worse, can it?
People forget that prior to last fall, the Notre Dame football team was coming off three consecutive losing seasons, and many people (including someone whose picture lies somewhere on this page) didn't really believe that last season was going to be the one that the Green Knights returned to glory.
Of course, 20/20 hindsight shows outstanding lines on both sides of the ball, speed to burn, and an outstanding leader and winner in Conor Keniry.
Notre Dame hopes that there won't be any hindsight needed in December. They will begin the season this week No. 1 in the Courant poll, the Register poll, the WELI poll, and - presumably - the Gallup polls.
Rumors of their preseason beatdowns of other traditional powers have spread like wildfire through the football underground.
But, unlike last season, the hype comes with a giant target on their back, one that Notre Dame will have to embrace if they want to avoid the snipers.
"We don't talk too much about last season," Notre Dame coach Tom Marcucci said. "It's a new story, a new group. We graduated eight starters on offense, seven on defense. We have some skill players back and we have some talent, but it is a different team."
No one will be feeling the heat more than senior quarterback Sean Goldrich, because he's the most heralded player returning from last year's Class L title squad, throwing for 20 touchdowns with just 1 interception last season and completing nearly 69 percent of his passes.
However, his role will almost surely be increased this season. Goldrich never threw more than 15 passes in a game last season, and although the Knights should still run plenty, there will be times where the game may rest on Goldrich's strong right arm.
"I just want to win games, that's what's most important to me," Goldrich said. "I know interceptions will happen from time to time, so I'm not worried about it. Coach (Marcucci) has told me we're probably going to throw a little bit more, which is obviously exciting as a quarterback, but as long as we're winning, I'm fine."
You want an example of how things have changed for Goldrich? At a recent visit to Notre Dame, I was told I couldn't talk to him. After explaining that it was set up through Coach Marcucci, the message came back, "Well, he can't talk to college coaches during school."
For whatever reason, major colleges have been slow to warm to Goldrich. He had looked at Iowa, but they grabbed another QB. The same appears to have happened at Villanova.
What makes it doubly strange is trying to find someone with something negative to say about Goldrich, either on or off the field, is darn near impossible.
"In my opinion, he is a Division I quarterback," Marcucci said. "He has a big-time arm and he's faster than people give him credit for. He's a good runner. And he's a fantastic kid. He does everything the coaches ask, and it's always the team first."
You can tell the college thing stings Goldrich a little, but while he's not exactly a tragic figure, he has had his share of adversity growing up in West Haven.
When he was in seventh grade, his mother, Tara, died suddenly, and therefore never saw him play a down in high school.
"It dawned upon me a couple of times last season," Goldrich said. "It was a little emotional in the playoffs that she couldn't see the success that we had. In the end, although I wish she could be here, it's nice to know that there's someone up there looking out for me, and she'll always be a big part of who I am."
You want weapons? Goldrich (who somehow didn't even make first team Division I last season, as he was beaten out by Xavier's Alex Pace, Hamden's Jason Lassiter, and Cheshire's Greg Palmer) has weapons. Phil Bentley and Tirrell Young-Williams, who each had big plays in big games last season, were 1-2 in the 100-meter dash in Class MM track last spring. Running back David Rose was not spectacular, but consistent and should be stronger with a year of experience under his belt.
Sometimes it's not the most fun position to be in, anything but a repeat as state champion will likely be a disappointment.
However, it certainly beats having a losing record.
"We have a lot of things we can still do to get better," Marcucci said. "This won't be easy."
STEWART LEADS FALCONS: As of Sunday, there was only one name on the MaxPreps roster for Xavier: Graham Stewart.
The linebacker spurned UConn (yeah) and Syracuse (boo) to play at Boston College, ending a fairly contentious recruiting period and allowing him to concentrate on football.
Stewart and fellow linebacker Austin Ahern are among the top 10 recruits coming out of Connecticut this season, which alone means the Falcons should be a handful (Just YouTube Stewart and you'll see some pretty good hits against Division I opposition).
Xavier also won their final nine regular season games last season, including a win over Notre Dame, before giving Staples all it could handle in the Class LL semifinals.
But it was a strange season for the Falcons defense, which posted three shutouts and nearly had two others, but was run off the field by Wilbur Cross (37-19, their only regular season loss), and gave up 20 or more points five times, including to Staples.
Will they have enough to unseat Notre Dame atop the SCC? We won't have long to find out, will we?
EXTRA POINTS: Tony Martone returns to Hamden, and he might have his work cut out for him with a brutal schedule and losing 24 players to graduation. He does have running back Jordan Teague (who, strangely, didn't play any running back in the final scrimmage against Greenwich) and he should have enough athletes to be competitive. But how competitive? ... Yea, I was the one that put Cheshire 8th in Division I to start last season. All they did was win the Class LL state championship. Oops. I'm semi-inclined to look at the fact that they look likely to use two quarterbacks again (Michael John Ecke and Max Slade) to prove that the might have some problems, but it's worked for them in the past, and they should have enough talent to be in position for a possible playoff berth ... Shelton will be without Mike Georgalas for its opener against Wilbur Cross after he was ejected from last Thanksgiving's game against Derby (the CIAC never forgets). They will also miss Ryan Deangelis for the season with an ACL tear, so the Gaels may take some time to get going, and that may be enough to cost them a postseason run ... Wilbur Cross has Dontay Long (QB) and James Ward (RB), but it's hard to tell what else this early. Last season, they started with an 18-point win at Palmer Field, but later in the season lost by 24 points at home to West Haven. They finished 5-5, and you expect you might see more of the same this season ... Hand has some players returning, but it's hard to see them having the athleticism to keep up with the Notre Dames and Xaviers of the world ... West Haven is another mystery, they haven't looked particularly good in the preseason, but they never do, do they? ... Fairfield Prep and Amity, both with new coaches (Tom Shea and Bert Mozealous, respectively), appear to be swimming upstream in Division I, at least for this season ... Couldn't fit this into Inside the Numbers, but the least amount of points Notre Dame scored last season: 28.
Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GAME OF THE WEEK
Xavier at Notre Dame, Friday, 7 p.m. - By all preseason accounts, this should be the game of the season as well in front of what figured to be a giant crowd in West Haven. Is Notre Dame's offense that good? Is Graham Stewart that good? Is the SCC that good? All questions we've been waiting months to answer will finally begin to be come this week, thankfully.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
32
Number of playoff teams in the CIAC football playoffs this season, up from 24 last season. Seeing that I was one of the ones that was pushing for a change, obviously I like it, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I surmise there will still be some teams that feel they should get in and don't, but that's the way it goes.
D-I POWER RANKINGS
1) Notre Dame (11-1; Opener: vs. Xavier) – Knights don't have to leave West Haven until October 22. Nice scheduling.
2) Xavier (9-2; at Notre Dame) – Have to survive ND and Cheshire (both away) in the season's first three weeks.
3) Cheshire (11-1; at Hamden) – Usually, they lose to Hamden, then go on big win streak. Tough to do that this year.
4) Shelton (7-3; vs. Wilbur Cross) – Won last six games last season, will know much more after Friday's opener.
5) Wilbur Cross (5-5; at Shelton) – Ward will take them as far as he can, but he's going to need some help somewhere.
6) Hand (5-5; at Fairfield Prep) – Less cool storylines for opener, same amount of rush-hour traffic on I-95.
7) Hamden (7-3; vs. Cheshire) – Dragons don't play Wilbur Cross this season. Seems kind of wrong, doesn't it?
8) West Haven (5-5; at Amity) – Fairly kind opening to schedule may give the Westies much-needed confidence.
9) Amity (3-7; vs. West Haven) – Mght be a little bit of a rough start to the new regime, but they'll battle in D-I.
10) Fairfield Prep (0-10; vs. Hand) - Well, it really can't get much worse, can it?
Sunday, October 18, 2009
SCC report - Week 5 (the crossovers)
SCC Commissioner Al Carbone and I don't always see eye to eye on issues regarding the league, but - at the end of the day - we're both out for the same thing, to make the league the best it could possibly be. We both also do this thing part-time, which means that we're not doing this for the money, but for the kids, and to make high school sports something: a) they can take a positive experience out of, and b) they can learn lessons they can take into their adult lives.
Although we sometimes joke with him that he's a little like Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, ubiquitous to the point of overkill, as a commissioner, Al Carbone has been nothing short of stupendous. The league has run so smoothly that people forget what it was like before its inception. And they also don't realize how disjointed some of the other leagues around the state can be.
But Al's job is to promote the league, while mine is to is report, a subtle but significant difference that often results in us looking at the same thing in different ways.
Like the just completed crossover week, for instance. Al sees it as a necessary way to keep the a giant league together and under one roof. I see it as a colossal cop-out and waste of time. Al points out that some of the Division II schools quite regularly competed well against the Division I teams before the SCC, and the fact that they say they can't compete is the real cop-out.
Fair enough, I retort, but the numbers (I don't want to waste space here) speak for themselves. Too many blowouts to not play all the teams in your division first before worrying about the other division.
So, expecting the usual round of blowouts, I watched Notre Dame dismantle Naugatuck out of the NVL, and waited for the scores to come in. But some of the Division II teams had seen some of this argument transpiring in the media and elsewhere, and they decided to make a stand, seemingly together.
Guilford used a pair of onside kicks and some inspired defense to take a halftime lead over Xavier. Foran - which gave up 50 in the first half to West Haven last season - gave up none in the first quarter and trailed the Westies only 7-3 at the half. Branford, 49-0 losers the week before to Xavier, was only down 12-7 to top-ranked Hamden. Sheehan was battling Cheshire score for score. Hand couldn't move the ball at home against North Haven.
Division II had risen as one. And it's likely that no one had a bigger smile on his face than Al Carbone.
In the end, Division I prevailed in all seven of Friday night's contests, with Xavier, West Haven, and Hamden all winning comfortably, and Cheshire and Hand hanging on, but the point had been made, they play some football in Division II as well.
For those that have read my stuff for a while, you probably know I'm not afraid to admit when there is some wiggle room in what I say. I still maintain that not playing all nine (or eight in Division II's case) teams in your division is silly and doesn't give you a true champion (instead of these silly four division champions when no one knows who and who is not in your division, anyway).
But one thing you have to remember about this whole situation is that all teams - not just Division I and not just the top teams - put in hard work all summer and all fall in an effort to win games. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, but while people like me focus on mostly the best of the best, it shouldn't diminish the rest. In a long-term view, the journey is more important than the final destination.
And I think that's where people like Al Carbone are coming from. They see the big picture that sometimes people like me miss. They look out for the little guys, the teams that may be struggling, and understand that they may be working just as hard as the top teams, they just may not have the talent to keep up in a given season.
As we head down the stretch, it's something to remember.
Perhaps Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi said it best (to the Meriden Record-Journal) after his team's tough 30-24 loss to Cheshire. The Titans are one of three current SCC teams to have never won a crossover game, but gave it everything they had last Friday and had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
"I'm tremendously proud of my team," Ferrazzi said. "I said to them before the game, 'You need to put in an effort tonight where you leave the field proud to be a Titan'. They're leaving here proud to be Titans. I'm proud to be their coach. We just came up one score short."
EXTRA POINTS: Hopefully, Notre Dame quieted the argument that the NVL is just as good as the SCC argument for the time being. I understand Naugatuck is only 2-3 and they were slightly beaten up going into the game, but it was about as lopsided a game as you could possibly have, It was 42-0 with four minutes left in the half, and Naugy never did stop Notre Dame's first-string offense. Ansonia did beat Hillhouse fairly badly, but other than Fairfield Prep (which the Acs beat handily last Saturday), I don't know if there's another Division I team that they can beat right now. So it would seem to try to rank any NVL team in the Top 10 right now would be silly. I think Hamden, Notre Dame, Xavier, and Cheshire could all win the NVL this season with ease ... For reasons known only to them, Wilbur Cross and East Haven moved their game up a day, and played in hideous weather on Cross' grass field. The Governors led 48-0 at half, and after a fumble return for a score, actually led 54-0 after three quarters, but allowed two late touchdowns to prevent a 50-point debacle. Can we get rid of the rule already, please? ... Hamden was playing without running back Jordan Teague, but at some point are going to be made to pay for their sluggish starts (maybe this week against Xavier?). The Dragons led only 12-7 at half before outscoring Branford 30-0 in the second half of a 42-7 win. But stiffer tests await ... Of course, Xavier's start was worse than Hamden's last week. Guilford - second-to-last going into the week in the Power Rankings - recovered an onside kick and, after getting a field goal, decided it was so much fun, they'd do it again. Most disturbing, Xavier couldn't put up a point in the first half, and led only 6-3 after three quarters before finally putting the game away with 21 points in the fourth. Kudos to Guilford for a fine effort, though ... And although West Haven eventually put Foran away, the Westies were left shaking their heads about a rejuvenated Lions' squad ... There were a couple of Division I teams that took care of business rather easily, Shelton and Amity, beating Jonathan Law and Lyman Hall, respectively.
Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Kalanta, Amity - Kalanta ran for 207 yards and four touchdowns as the Spartans won their second straight game, beating Lyman Hall 34-16. All of Kalanta's touchdown runs came in the first three quarters of the game.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Xavier at Hamden, Friday, 7 p.m. - This was a close call, as Wilbur Cross-Notre Dame has plenty of intrigue as well, but with the Dragons undefeated and the Falcons one of the prime competitors, this game wins out. One of the questions Hamden faces is if running back Jordan Teague is healthy. Their defense has been solid pretty much all season, and they'll probably have to carry them again here.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2
Number of SCC teams which have never lost a crossover game, Notre Dame and West Haven. Part of that is due to scheduling, neither one has played Hillhouse or Branford, the Division II teams that have claimed the most Division I scalps. By the way, Lyman Hall, Sheehan, and East Haven have never won a crossover game, for some of the same reasons.
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POWER RANKINGS
1) Hamden (5-0; Last Week 1) – Get a sneaky feeling they may unleash the hounds on Xavier this week.
2) Notre Dame (4-1; LW 2) – Cross' defense is very good, but they will be severely tested Friday.
3) Xavier (4-1; LW 3) – Still some question marks, they will be answered against Hamden.
4) Cheshire (4-1; LW 4) – Speaking of question marks, Rams haven't stopped too many people this year.
5) Shelton (2-3; LW 5) – Senior class would show a lot of guts by running the table rest of way.
6) Wilbur Cross (3-2; LW 7) – Well, I think it's time to put up or shut up for the Governors against ND.
7) West Haven (2-3; LW 6) – Blue Devils showed they are still young and mistake-prone last week.
8) Hand (3-2; LW 8) – Tough to say, but really don't appear to be going too far, too fast in 2009.
9) Amity (2-3; LW 9) – Two straight wins and playing pretty good football. Could be a spoiler.
10) Branford (3-2; LW 10) - Does 8-2 get the Hornets a playoff berth? We may get to find out.
11) North Haven (3-2; LW 11) - Little tougher road home for the Indians, but you never know?
12) Sheehan (3-2; LW 12) - Titans may actually be ranked a little low here. Both losses to D-I.
13) Jonathan Law (3-2; LW 13) - Lawmen can now concentrate on the Division II portion of slate.
14) Hillhouse (2-3; LW 14) - Jones continues to put up monster stats as Acs have improved.
15) Foran (3-2; LW 15) - Might have been the most surprising first half out there. Lot of props to Lions.
16) Guilford (1-4; LW 18) - Well, second most surprising. Too bad for Indians couldn't stop it at half.
17) Lyman Hall (1-4; LW 17) - Respectable performance against Amity, but couldn't keep it real close.
18) Fairfield Prep (0-5; LW 16) - All Division I games left for Jesuits. Doesn't look good.
19) East Haven (0-5; LW 19) - Losing streak marches to 26 and counting.
Although we sometimes joke with him that he's a little like Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, ubiquitous to the point of overkill, as a commissioner, Al Carbone has been nothing short of stupendous. The league has run so smoothly that people forget what it was like before its inception. And they also don't realize how disjointed some of the other leagues around the state can be.
But Al's job is to promote the league, while mine is to is report, a subtle but significant difference that often results in us looking at the same thing in different ways.
Like the just completed crossover week, for instance. Al sees it as a necessary way to keep the a giant league together and under one roof. I see it as a colossal cop-out and waste of time. Al points out that some of the Division II schools quite regularly competed well against the Division I teams before the SCC, and the fact that they say they can't compete is the real cop-out.
Fair enough, I retort, but the numbers (I don't want to waste space here) speak for themselves. Too many blowouts to not play all the teams in your division first before worrying about the other division.
So, expecting the usual round of blowouts, I watched Notre Dame dismantle Naugatuck out of the NVL, and waited for the scores to come in. But some of the Division II teams had seen some of this argument transpiring in the media and elsewhere, and they decided to make a stand, seemingly together.
Guilford used a pair of onside kicks and some inspired defense to take a halftime lead over Xavier. Foran - which gave up 50 in the first half to West Haven last season - gave up none in the first quarter and trailed the Westies only 7-3 at the half. Branford, 49-0 losers the week before to Xavier, was only down 12-7 to top-ranked Hamden. Sheehan was battling Cheshire score for score. Hand couldn't move the ball at home against North Haven.
Division II had risen as one. And it's likely that no one had a bigger smile on his face than Al Carbone.
In the end, Division I prevailed in all seven of Friday night's contests, with Xavier, West Haven, and Hamden all winning comfortably, and Cheshire and Hand hanging on, but the point had been made, they play some football in Division II as well.
For those that have read my stuff for a while, you probably know I'm not afraid to admit when there is some wiggle room in what I say. I still maintain that not playing all nine (or eight in Division II's case) teams in your division is silly and doesn't give you a true champion (instead of these silly four division champions when no one knows who and who is not in your division, anyway).
But one thing you have to remember about this whole situation is that all teams - not just Division I and not just the top teams - put in hard work all summer and all fall in an effort to win games. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't, but while people like me focus on mostly the best of the best, it shouldn't diminish the rest. In a long-term view, the journey is more important than the final destination.
And I think that's where people like Al Carbone are coming from. They see the big picture that sometimes people like me miss. They look out for the little guys, the teams that may be struggling, and understand that they may be working just as hard as the top teams, they just may not have the talent to keep up in a given season.
As we head down the stretch, it's something to remember.
Perhaps Sheehan coach John Ferrazzi said it best (to the Meriden Record-Journal) after his team's tough 30-24 loss to Cheshire. The Titans are one of three current SCC teams to have never won a crossover game, but gave it everything they had last Friday and had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
"I'm tremendously proud of my team," Ferrazzi said. "I said to them before the game, 'You need to put in an effort tonight where you leave the field proud to be a Titan'. They're leaving here proud to be Titans. I'm proud to be their coach. We just came up one score short."
EXTRA POINTS: Hopefully, Notre Dame quieted the argument that the NVL is just as good as the SCC argument for the time being. I understand Naugatuck is only 2-3 and they were slightly beaten up going into the game, but it was about as lopsided a game as you could possibly have, It was 42-0 with four minutes left in the half, and Naugy never did stop Notre Dame's first-string offense. Ansonia did beat Hillhouse fairly badly, but other than Fairfield Prep (which the Acs beat handily last Saturday), I don't know if there's another Division I team that they can beat right now. So it would seem to try to rank any NVL team in the Top 10 right now would be silly. I think Hamden, Notre Dame, Xavier, and Cheshire could all win the NVL this season with ease ... For reasons known only to them, Wilbur Cross and East Haven moved their game up a day, and played in hideous weather on Cross' grass field. The Governors led 48-0 at half, and after a fumble return for a score, actually led 54-0 after three quarters, but allowed two late touchdowns to prevent a 50-point debacle. Can we get rid of the rule already, please? ... Hamden was playing without running back Jordan Teague, but at some point are going to be made to pay for their sluggish starts (maybe this week against Xavier?). The Dragons led only 12-7 at half before outscoring Branford 30-0 in the second half of a 42-7 win. But stiffer tests await ... Of course, Xavier's start was worse than Hamden's last week. Guilford - second-to-last going into the week in the Power Rankings - recovered an onside kick and, after getting a field goal, decided it was so much fun, they'd do it again. Most disturbing, Xavier couldn't put up a point in the first half, and led only 6-3 after three quarters before finally putting the game away with 21 points in the fourth. Kudos to Guilford for a fine effort, though ... And although West Haven eventually put Foran away, the Westies were left shaking their heads about a rejuvenated Lions' squad ... There were a couple of Division I teams that took care of business rather easily, Shelton and Amity, beating Jonathan Law and Lyman Hall, respectively.
Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Kalanta, Amity - Kalanta ran for 207 yards and four touchdowns as the Spartans won their second straight game, beating Lyman Hall 34-16. All of Kalanta's touchdown runs came in the first three quarters of the game.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Xavier at Hamden, Friday, 7 p.m. - This was a close call, as Wilbur Cross-Notre Dame has plenty of intrigue as well, but with the Dragons undefeated and the Falcons one of the prime competitors, this game wins out. One of the questions Hamden faces is if running back Jordan Teague is healthy. Their defense has been solid pretty much all season, and they'll probably have to carry them again here.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
2
Number of SCC teams which have never lost a crossover game, Notre Dame and West Haven. Part of that is due to scheduling, neither one has played Hillhouse or Branford, the Division II teams that have claimed the most Division I scalps. By the way, Lyman Hall, Sheehan, and East Haven have never won a crossover game, for some of the same reasons.
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POWER RANKINGS
1) Hamden (5-0; Last Week 1) – Get a sneaky feeling they may unleash the hounds on Xavier this week.
2) Notre Dame (4-1; LW 2) – Cross' defense is very good, but they will be severely tested Friday.
3) Xavier (4-1; LW 3) – Still some question marks, they will be answered against Hamden.
4) Cheshire (4-1; LW 4) – Speaking of question marks, Rams haven't stopped too many people this year.
5) Shelton (2-3; LW 5) – Senior class would show a lot of guts by running the table rest of way.
6) Wilbur Cross (3-2; LW 7) – Well, I think it's time to put up or shut up for the Governors against ND.
7) West Haven (2-3; LW 6) – Blue Devils showed they are still young and mistake-prone last week.
8) Hand (3-2; LW 8) – Tough to say, but really don't appear to be going too far, too fast in 2009.
9) Amity (2-3; LW 9) – Two straight wins and playing pretty good football. Could be a spoiler.
10) Branford (3-2; LW 10) - Does 8-2 get the Hornets a playoff berth? We may get to find out.
11) North Haven (3-2; LW 11) - Little tougher road home for the Indians, but you never know?
12) Sheehan (3-2; LW 12) - Titans may actually be ranked a little low here. Both losses to D-I.
13) Jonathan Law (3-2; LW 13) - Lawmen can now concentrate on the Division II portion of slate.
14) Hillhouse (2-3; LW 14) - Jones continues to put up monster stats as Acs have improved.
15) Foran (3-2; LW 15) - Might have been the most surprising first half out there. Lot of props to Lions.
16) Guilford (1-4; LW 18) - Well, second most surprising. Too bad for Indians couldn't stop it at half.
17) Lyman Hall (1-4; LW 17) - Respectable performance against Amity, but couldn't keep it real close.
18) Fairfield Prep (0-5; LW 16) - All Division I games left for Jesuits. Doesn't look good.
19) East Haven (0-5; LW 19) - Losing streak marches to 26 and counting.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
SCC column - Week 1
The first week of the football season is the chance for everyone to make their opening statement, the chance to not necessarily plead their case, but give some kind of inkling to what they're about.
At this point, we've heard plenty from almost every SCC team, but there is no way to know if much of the information we got in the preseason was accurate. We still may not know everything, but at least we have a blueprint for how the rest of the campaign. Six teams made a solid opening statement that proved they may be looking to bring the SCC their first state title in three years.
Hamden
You can talk about schemes and spread offenses and discipline, and all of those have contributed to Hamden's rise to the top of the state polls (where they most certainly belong, by the way), but Hamden's complete domination of Hand to me came down to the Isaac Newton rule, or more precisely Mr. Newton's second law of motion, which as you young scholars know is F=ma, or Force = mass times acceleration.
Isaac may not have been a huge fan of the pigskin, but if he watched Hamden play Hand at the Surf Club last week, he would know that the Dragons had both the mass and acceleration edge over the Tigers. They were bigger, stronger, faster, and with some solid coaching, eventually that's going to show through.
Hand quarterback Nick Merullo showed plenty of guts, rushing for 137 yards on 26 carries and generally taking a beating for two-and-a-half hours. At times, the Tigers were even able to move the ball. But their longest play of the night was 19 yards, and Hamden's secondary was too fast, and line - led by 6-foot-1, 285 pound lineman Jo-Von Ladson - was too big.
Meanwhile, Jordan Teague may not have the mass, but he certainly has the acceleration, rushing for 134 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown, while having a pair of 60+ yard TDs called back because of blocks in the back. Quite simply, he was a threat to score every time he touched the ball, and one Hand did not have. After one of those called back scores, Hamden decided to show off a couple of other weapons on the next play, Jason Lassiter hitting a flying Frank Greene for a 63-yard touchdown that, for all intents and purposes, put the game away.
On Hamden's third score, they decided to unleash Jahmaal Harris, who went 66 yards on only his third carry of the evening.
"Offensively, Hamden could have scored 35 easy," Hand coach Steve Filippone said. "We were fortunate. I thought they were legitimate penalties, but they didn't affect the play that much. We weren't tackling the kid anyway."
A team that's a traditional power, whose team was ranked in some polls, whose team was at home in front of a huge crowd on Opening Night, telling us his team was "fortunate" not to get beat worse, when his team lost 21-0.
That, my friends, is a strong opening statement.
Wilbur Cross
Shhhh, don't say it too loudly, but Wilbur Cross is good, very good, as good as anyone not named Hamden, at least by their flawless opening statement.
How flawless? At Palmer Field, a place where no one wins, the Governors led 21-0 before Xavier even ran a play. They took the opening kickoff, scored, recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, scored, rinse, repeat, and it was 21-0 with 9:02 left in the first quarter. Talk about stunned.
The headline in the Middletown Press said "Surprise!", but with a team that features Maurice Morrison and James Ward, we really shouldn't be surprised at anything they do this season. Equally as impressive, Cross held Xavier to just 18 yards rushing in the contest, and as long-time writer Jim Bransfield of the Press aptly put, "Cross was quicker across the board".
Ah, Mr. Newton strikes again. And he may be striking many times for the Governors before people figure out that this Wilbur Cross team may not be just "good story" good, they might be state playoff good.
Notre Dame
Reports were that Notre Dame was very good, and that Fairfield Prep was going to struggle mightily in Division I this season.
But, sometimes your instincts kick in and your brain tells you that ND was only 4-6 last season and hasn't been a real threat since the divisions were realigned. It also tells you that Prep is a massive private school and must have something for the rest of the SCC, especially in a home opener against one of its biggest rivals.
Final score: Notre Dame 48, Fairfield Prep 6.
Early reports 1, Instincts 0.
In reality, it wasn't even that close, it was 35-0 at halftime, 28-0 after one quarter. An opening statement that proves that they have to be in any discussion of the top teams in the SCC.
Shelton
The Gaels may not have the mass that Newton would have wanted, especially compared to the first three teams here, but they do have accomplished, veteran skill position players that will make life difficult for everyone.
Shelton did make a couple of defensive mistakes that kept West Haven in the game, but they did win the game, and showed that when their offense is rolling, it will be tough to stop. Ray Pendagast has size and can throw a ball as well as anyone in the league, and he also has players like senior Paul Piccirillo to fire the ball to.
The key for the Gaels seems to be whether they can deal with the size of teams like Hamden, but in a fortuitous scheduling quirk, the two Division I teams Shelton will not play this season are Notre Dame and Wilbur Cross.
Cheshire
The Rams, Class LL finalists last season, are almost an afterthought this season. Of course, that's because all-everything quarterback Billy Ragone has graduated, but Cheshire - after a sluggish start - took care of business in Woodbridge last week, 41-13.
It's not quite as dramatic an opening statement as the ones before them, but we'll know much more about the Rams after they take on Shelton this week.
Branford
Well, we had to put a Division II team in here somewhere, and the Hornets just might be the team to beat after their 19-3 win over North Haven and Hillhouse's troubles - albeit against Ansonia.
The score doesn't look terribly impressive, but the Indians are a good Division II team, and the Hornets' defensive effort was obviously eyebrow-raising after North Haven had given Notre Dame fits in their final scrimmage.
Branford gets a breather with Platt Tech this week, before a Hillhouse-Xavier-Hamden stretch in Weeks 3-5. The Hillhouse game, next Friday, at Bowen Field, may tell the tale in Division II this season.
With the opening statements complete, let the trial that is the 2009 SCC football season commence. The court will recess until Friday.
EXTRA POINTS: It was quite an Opening Night for Foran's Joe Capalbo. After the Lions tied the game against Lyman Hall 20-20, Capalbo missed an extra point that would have given his team the lead. But not to worry, Capalbo got a second chance and made it count when he drilled a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Lions a 23-20 victory in their first game without Jake White and Tyler Hames. Foran has a chance to be 3-0 in two weeks.
...Good crowds around the SCC in the first week, especially at the Hamden-Hand and Shelton-West Haven contests, which were almost full. Of course, trying to get out of the Surf Club on a Thursday (school) night was a disaster as usual. I love the atmosphere there, but I'm beginning to think that there has to be a better place for the Tigers to play, at least for big games. It took me the same amount of time to get from the I-95 exit to my parking spot as it did to get from all the way in Hamden to the exit. Silliness. Meanwhile, with the same crowd, I was in and out of Ken Strong Stadium in seconds. By the way, the parking/traffic issues at Veterans Stadium in West Haven for Hillhouse-Ansonia were not quite as bad as expected, maybe the blowout sent some fans home early.
...Speaking of the Ansonia rout, it has brought some of the NVL supporters out of the woodwork. Regular readers of this know how strong the SCC is, but this week might not be a great time to chirp.
....East Haven not only had to deal with Law last week, but some suspensions for a non-football related matter last weekend that involved several players. The Easties hung in, but fell 26-13 to the Lawmen
... West Haven's new turf looked fabulous, unfortunately, the lifespan of the new types of turf does not seem too long, some of the "older" ones that were put down, like Hamden and East Haven are showing their age a little. However, they're still better than torn up grass and the groups that are worried to the point of legislation about their causing cancer would be better served putting their time and resources in a non-smoking campaign.
....Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Maurice Morrison, Wilbur Cross - Morrison caught only four balls, but20three of them were for touchdowns, and he had 161 yards receiving in all as Wilbur Cross went to Palmer Field and won rather easily, 37-19. The Governors are a force to be reckoned with in Division I in the early going.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Cheshire at Shelton, Friday, 7 p.m. - I'm sure the Rams, as defending Class LL runners-up, aren't terribly happy with how they have been dismissed this season, at least as far as the top teams in the SCC are concerned. But, after taking care of Amity last week, here is their chance to put themselves back near the top. The Gaels shook off West Haven in the season's first week and are expected to win here. But expected doesn't do the job on its own.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
295
Combined rushing yards for Cheshire's Max Slade (163) and Greg Palmer (132) as the Rams blew open a close game in the second half to beat up on Amity in their opener. Cheshire will look to use multiple people to replace Billy Ragone, who is currently playing at the University of Pennsylvania this season.
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POWER RANKINGS
1) Hamden (1-0; Last Week 1) – Dragons look good. Very good. Scary good. State title good. But it's early.
2) Wilbur Cross (1-0; LW 4) – Still have plenty to prove, but the Governors are not just a flash in the pan.
3) Notre Dame (1-0; LW 5) – Will be interesting to see how they fare at Palmer Field after last week.
4) Shelton (1-0; LW 3) – Slightly shaky against young Westie s, but showed signs of being very good.
5) Cheshire (1-0; LW 8) – Bombed Amity, but would prove a lot more if they could do the same to Shelton.
6) Hand (0-1; LW 2) – Merullo needs to get some help if Hand is to be any kind of factor in Division I.
7) Xavier (0-1; LW 6) – Fluky loss or a sign of things to come? Falcons fans had better hope it's the former.
8) West Haven (0-1; LW 7) – Former stars Lymon and Demorro helping McCarthy on staff. Makes me feel old.
9) Branford (1-0; LW 2) - Evidently, all that scouting paid off for Branford. Don't think Platt Tech will be any problem.
10) Hillhouse (0-1; LW 1) - Acs will consider themselves fortunate they're in D-II where they can tinker a little.
11) Sheehan (1-0: LW 4) - Took care of Guilford, but bigger tests await Biestek and the Titans.
12) Amity (0-1; LW 9) – Were actually tied with Cheshire early in third before things started to fall apart.
13) Fairfield Prep (0-1; LW 10) - On the plus side, there's nowhere to go but up after a dreadful opener.
14) North Haven (0-1; LW 3) - Indians hoped for better in opener, they'll have to regroup in a hurry.
15) Jonathan Law (1-0: LW 5) - Lawmen took care of business, but hard to get a read on them after one game.
16) Foran (1-0: LW 7) - Good comeback win for Lions after falling behind to Lyman Hall. Tougher foes await.
17) Guilford (0-1: LW 6) - Didn't really recognize any of the names for Ind ians in opener. Maybe not a great sign.
18) Lyman Hall (0-1: LW 8) - Might want to get it done this week if they want to get in win column this season.
19) East Haven (0-1: LW 8) - See Lyman Hall.
At this point, we've heard plenty from almost every SCC team, but there is no way to know if much of the information we got in the preseason was accurate. We still may not know everything, but at least we have a blueprint for how the rest of the campaign. Six teams made a solid opening statement that proved they may be looking to bring the SCC their first state title in three years.
Hamden
You can talk about schemes and spread offenses and discipline, and all of those have contributed to Hamden's rise to the top of the state polls (where they most certainly belong, by the way), but Hamden's complete domination of Hand to me came down to the Isaac Newton rule, or more precisely Mr. Newton's second law of motion, which as you young scholars know is F=ma, or Force = mass times acceleration.
Isaac may not have been a huge fan of the pigskin, but if he watched Hamden play Hand at the Surf Club last week, he would know that the Dragons had both the mass and acceleration edge over the Tigers. They were bigger, stronger, faster, and with some solid coaching, eventually that's going to show through.
Hand quarterback Nick Merullo showed plenty of guts, rushing for 137 yards on 26 carries and generally taking a beating for two-and-a-half hours. At times, the Tigers were even able to move the ball. But their longest play of the night was 19 yards, and Hamden's secondary was too fast, and line - led by 6-foot-1, 285 pound lineman Jo-Von Ladson - was too big.
Meanwhile, Jordan Teague may not have the mass, but he certainly has the acceleration, rushing for 134 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown, while having a pair of 60+ yard TDs called back because of blocks in the back. Quite simply, he was a threat to score every time he touched the ball, and one Hand did not have. After one of those called back scores, Hamden decided to show off a couple of other weapons on the next play, Jason Lassiter hitting a flying Frank Greene for a 63-yard touchdown that, for all intents and purposes, put the game away.
On Hamden's third score, they decided to unleash Jahmaal Harris, who went 66 yards on only his third carry of the evening.
"Offensively, Hamden could have scored 35 easy," Hand coach Steve Filippone said. "We were fortunate. I thought they were legitimate penalties, but they didn't affect the play that much. We weren't tackling the kid anyway."
A team that's a traditional power, whose team was ranked in some polls, whose team was at home in front of a huge crowd on Opening Night, telling us his team was "fortunate" not to get beat worse, when his team lost 21-0.
That, my friends, is a strong opening statement.
Wilbur Cross
Shhhh, don't say it too loudly, but Wilbur Cross is good, very good, as good as anyone not named Hamden, at least by their flawless opening statement.
How flawless? At Palmer Field, a place where no one wins, the Governors led 21-0 before Xavier even ran a play. They took the opening kickoff, scored, recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, scored, rinse, repeat, and it was 21-0 with 9:02 left in the first quarter. Talk about stunned.
The headline in the Middletown Press said "Surprise!", but with a team that features Maurice Morrison and James Ward, we really shouldn't be surprised at anything they do this season. Equally as impressive, Cross held Xavier to just 18 yards rushing in the contest, and as long-time writer Jim Bransfield of the Press aptly put, "Cross was quicker across the board".
Ah, Mr. Newton strikes again. And he may be striking many times for the Governors before people figure out that this Wilbur Cross team may not be just "good story" good, they might be state playoff good.
Notre Dame
Reports were that Notre Dame was very good, and that Fairfield Prep was going to struggle mightily in Division I this season.
But, sometimes your instincts kick in and your brain tells you that ND was only 4-6 last season and hasn't been a real threat since the divisions were realigned. It also tells you that Prep is a massive private school and must have something for the rest of the SCC, especially in a home opener against one of its biggest rivals.
Final score: Notre Dame 48, Fairfield Prep 6.
Early reports 1, Instincts 0.
In reality, it wasn't even that close, it was 35-0 at halftime, 28-0 after one quarter. An opening statement that proves that they have to be in any discussion of the top teams in the SCC.
Shelton
The Gaels may not have the mass that Newton would have wanted, especially compared to the first three teams here, but they do have accomplished, veteran skill position players that will make life difficult for everyone.
Shelton did make a couple of defensive mistakes that kept West Haven in the game, but they did win the game, and showed that when their offense is rolling, it will be tough to stop. Ray Pendagast has size and can throw a ball as well as anyone in the league, and he also has players like senior Paul Piccirillo to fire the ball to.
The key for the Gaels seems to be whether they can deal with the size of teams like Hamden, but in a fortuitous scheduling quirk, the two Division I teams Shelton will not play this season are Notre Dame and Wilbur Cross.
Cheshire
The Rams, Class LL finalists last season, are almost an afterthought this season. Of course, that's because all-everything quarterback Billy Ragone has graduated, but Cheshire - after a sluggish start - took care of business in Woodbridge last week, 41-13.
It's not quite as dramatic an opening statement as the ones before them, but we'll know much more about the Rams after they take on Shelton this week.
Branford
Well, we had to put a Division II team in here somewhere, and the Hornets just might be the team to beat after their 19-3 win over North Haven and Hillhouse's troubles - albeit against Ansonia.
The score doesn't look terribly impressive, but the Indians are a good Division II team, and the Hornets' defensive effort was obviously eyebrow-raising after North Haven had given Notre Dame fits in their final scrimmage.
Branford gets a breather with Platt Tech this week, before a Hillhouse-Xavier-Hamden stretch in Weeks 3-5. The Hillhouse game, next Friday, at Bowen Field, may tell the tale in Division II this season.
With the opening statements complete, let the trial that is the 2009 SCC football season commence. The court will recess until Friday.
EXTRA POINTS: It was quite an Opening Night for Foran's Joe Capalbo. After the Lions tied the game against Lyman Hall 20-20, Capalbo missed an extra point that would have given his team the lead. But not to worry, Capalbo got a second chance and made it count when he drilled a 21-yard field goal as time expired to give the Lions a 23-20 victory in their first game without Jake White and Tyler Hames. Foran has a chance to be 3-0 in two weeks.
...Good crowds around the SCC in the first week, especially at the Hamden-Hand and Shelton-West Haven contests, which were almost full. Of course, trying to get out of the Surf Club on a Thursday (school) night was a disaster as usual. I love the atmosphere there, but I'm beginning to think that there has to be a better place for the Tigers to play, at least for big games. It took me the same amount of time to get from the I-95 exit to my parking spot as it did to get from all the way in Hamden to the exit. Silliness. Meanwhile, with the same crowd, I was in and out of Ken Strong Stadium in seconds. By the way, the parking/traffic issues at Veterans Stadium in West Haven for Hillhouse-Ansonia were not quite as bad as expected, maybe the blowout sent some fans home early.
...Speaking of the Ansonia rout, it has brought some of the NVL supporters out of the woodwork. Regular readers of this know how strong the SCC is, but this week might not be a great time to chirp.
....East Haven not only had to deal with Law last week, but some suspensions for a non-football related matter last weekend that involved several players. The Easties hung in, but fell 26-13 to the Lawmen
... West Haven's new turf looked fabulous, unfortunately, the lifespan of the new types of turf does not seem too long, some of the "older" ones that were put down, like Hamden and East Haven are showing their age a little. However, they're still better than torn up grass and the groups that are worried to the point of legislation about their causing cancer would be better served putting their time and resources in a non-smoking campaign.
....Check us out on Twitter, www.twitter.com/currenscc. If you have any story ideas or scores you want to get across, let me know.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Maurice Morrison, Wilbur Cross - Morrison caught only four balls, but20three of them were for touchdowns, and he had 161 yards receiving in all as Wilbur Cross went to Palmer Field and won rather easily, 37-19. The Governors are a force to be reckoned with in Division I in the early going.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Cheshire at Shelton, Friday, 7 p.m. - I'm sure the Rams, as defending Class LL runners-up, aren't terribly happy with how they have been dismissed this season, at least as far as the top teams in the SCC are concerned. But, after taking care of Amity last week, here is their chance to put themselves back near the top. The Gaels shook off West Haven in the season's first week and are expected to win here. But expected doesn't do the job on its own.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
295
Combined rushing yards for Cheshire's Max Slade (163) and Greg Palmer (132) as the Rams blew open a close game in the second half to beat up on Amity in their opener. Cheshire will look to use multiple people to replace Billy Ragone, who is currently playing at the University of Pennsylvania this season.
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POWER RANKINGS
1) Hamden (1-0; Last Week 1) – Dragons look good. Very good. Scary good. State title good. But it's early.
2) Wilbur Cross (1-0; LW 4) – Still have plenty to prove, but the Governors are not just a flash in the pan.
3) Notre Dame (1-0; LW 5) – Will be interesting to see how they fare at Palmer Field after last week.
4) Shelton (1-0; LW 3) – Slightly shaky against young Westie s, but showed signs of being very good.
5) Cheshire (1-0; LW 8) – Bombed Amity, but would prove a lot more if they could do the same to Shelton.
6) Hand (0-1; LW 2) – Merullo needs to get some help if Hand is to be any kind of factor in Division I.
7) Xavier (0-1; LW 6) – Fluky loss or a sign of things to come? Falcons fans had better hope it's the former.
8) West Haven (0-1; LW 7) – Former stars Lymon and Demorro helping McCarthy on staff. Makes me feel old.
9) Branford (1-0; LW 2) - Evidently, all that scouting paid off for Branford. Don't think Platt Tech will be any problem.
10) Hillhouse (0-1; LW 1) - Acs will consider themselves fortunate they're in D-II where they can tinker a little.
11) Sheehan (1-0: LW 4) - Took care of Guilford, but bigger tests await Biestek and the Titans.
12) Amity (0-1; LW 9) – Were actually tied with Cheshire early in third before things started to fall apart.
13) Fairfield Prep (0-1; LW 10) - On the plus side, there's nowhere to go but up after a dreadful opener.
14) North Haven (0-1; LW 3) - Indians hoped for better in opener, they'll have to regroup in a hurry.
15) Jonathan Law (1-0: LW 5) - Lawmen took care of business, but hard to get a read on them after one game.
16) Foran (1-0: LW 7) - Good comeback win for Lions after falling behind to Lyman Hall. Tougher foes await.
17) Guilford (0-1: LW 6) - Didn't really recognize any of the names for Ind ians in opener. Maybe not a great sign.
18) Lyman Hall (0-1: LW 8) - Might want to get it done this week if they want to get in win column this season.
19) East Haven (0-1: LW 8) - See Lyman Hall.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Howdy
Howdy all,
Trying to keep up with the news of the SCC daily this season, rather than weekly. Of course, we'll still have the weekly column, but come here to see any tidbits that didn't make the column or information on some other sports, especially as it gets close to the postseason. The passing leagues are wrapping up and the football season is just a couple of weeks away. You can also check out our twitter page at www.twitter.com/currenscc for quick news and links.
We will miss Billy Ragone (right), is there anyone to fill his shoes both on the field and off in the SCC this season? We'll find out.
Let us know if you have any story ideas or links that SCC fans may want to see.
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