By Kyle Brennan
After a light week of action headlined by three favorites winning the three conference championship games, there aren’t too many changes in this week’s state polls entering Thanksgiving week.
Here is what both polls look like heading into the holiday’s slate of games, along with the ballot I submitted for the New Haven Register’s media rankings.
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Other local teams receiving votes in media/coaches polls: Naugatuck (No. 18 media), Woodland (No. 22 media)
Local voters of interest: Republican-American’s Kyle Brennan and Mark Jaffee (media poll), Ansonia’s Tom Brockett and Naugatuck’s Craig Bruno (coaches poll)
The skinny
I was among the few who took in all three league championship games—Ansonia’s romp over Woodland in the Naugatuck Valley League final, Newtown’s victory over Brookfield in the South-West Conference championship and New Canaan’s win over St. Joseph in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference title game. None of the three winners were surprises, but the strong effort by St. Joseph compared to the somewhat lackluster outing by Newtown begged for a shakeup in my rankings.
Here are my two cents on each of the top 15 teams in my poll, along with their current trends.
1. New Canaan (11-0, trending even): The Rams played one of their worst games of the season and still knocked off St. Joseph by two scores in their rematch. New Canaan turned over the ball three times, and if that happens again in the Class L playoffs then the Rams won’t be so invincible. St. Joe moved the ball well all night, leaving some teams a glimmer of hope.
2. Ansonia (11-0, trending even): Hey, maybe that Ansonia secondary isn’t too bad. The Chargers picked off Tanner Kingsley three times in a 48-7 win over Woodland. What’s it going to take to beat Ansonia? Don’t ask me, but nobody in Class S is going to do it.
3. West Haven (9-1, trending even): The Westies can clinch a home quarterfinal in the Class LL playoffs with a Thanksgiving win over Fairfield Prep, and they may well be the favorite in that division when the postseason begins next week. Ervin Philips is just that good.
4. St. Joseph (9-2, trending up): The Cadets couldn’t match their first-half performance Friday night against New Canaan after the break. St. Joseph has to feel good about its chances in Class M, though, where it will be the No. 2 seed and be the overwhelming favorite. As long as Jordan Vazzano doesn’t overthrow the ball—he did that often in the second half against New Canaan—no Class M team is going to slow down the Cadets. They are awfully good.
5. Newtown (11-0, trending even): St. Joseph did a lot to impress me, and Newtown did not. The Nighthawks weren’t bad against Brookfield, but they allowed the Bobcats to run down the field more than once and looked lost a few times on offense. With the depth in Class LL, I don’t see Newtown as the divisional favorite without some tweaking on that side.
6. Glastonbury (10-1, trending even): The Tomahawks rolled through the second half of their schedule and are a late Southington touchdown away from being undefeated. Glastonbury has to be considered among the Class LL favorites.
7. Darien (9-1, trending even): OK, Darien. Let’s see what you’ve got on Thanksgiving against a New Canaan team that looked a lot more human last Friday.
8. Platt (10-0, trending even): As Platt prepares to enter the Class L playoffs—likely with an undefeated record—we have to wonder whom the Panthers have beaten. Rocky Hill? Bloomfield? Sure, we can wonder that with a lot of squads, but not most of those trying to win a Class L crown. The No. 2 seed will probably be a sizeable underdog.
9. Norwich Free Academy (8-1, trending even): NFA has a habit of keeping teams around for at least a half, which has been both good and bad. The Wildcats will have been tested in close situations, but taking so long to put away a game is a risky proposition in the playoffs. Still, they can run the ball as well as anybody.
10. Middletown (9-1, trending even): The Blue Dragons’ loss to New London a few weeks ago will make a lot of folks hesitant to get back on their bandwagon come the playoffs. Not that it matters, but it takes away any of the maybe-Middletown-can-beat-New Canaan thoughts.
11. Southington (8-1, trending even): Stephen Barmore has played some of the most mistake-free football of any quarterback in the state, and that’s a big plus when it comes to postseason play. Southington can’t overlook Cheshire on Thanksgiving enough, as the Rams oftentimes give the Blue Knights a lot of trouble.
12. Fairfield Prep (8-2, trending even): Prep can’t ask for much more than the situation in which it finds itself on Thanksgiving. If the Jesuits beat West Haven, they will be all but in the Class LL playoffs. Plenty of coaches think Prep can do it, and there’s no doubt that the Jesuits are one of those teams that can win on any given night.
13. Valley Regional/Old Lyme (10-0, trending up): We know that Valley Regional is Pequot-good. We’re about a week away from finding out whether the Warriors are state-good. They will enter Class M as the No. 1 seed with a tremendous defense, but St. Joseph and some strong SWC teams are among those that stand in the way.
14. North Haven (8-2, trending even): The Indians squandered a great opportunity a couple of weeks ago against Darien, and now they have to sweat on Thanksgiving—even with a win over a better-than-usual Amity squad. If North Haven squeezes in, though, it will be a team that no opponent wants to see.
15. Hall (9-1, trending up): Hall has had some really good efforts (see: Southington) and some really worrisome efforts (see: Hartford Public). The Warriors will likely be on the road in the Class LL quarterfinals and are the one team in the division about which nobody is talking. Maybe that’s the way they like it.