The Canton High football team has a little more time to come back to earth after its thrilling 16-13 win over Avon last week. It was the first win ever by the Warriors over Avon. The Warriors have a bye this week as they prepare to host Housatonic/Wamogo next Saturday at 1 p.m. at the high school in the first home game of the season.
The remaining five Farmington Valley teams are in action with Simsbury and Farmington hosting games on Friday night and Lewis Mills hosting Avon on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. at historic Muzzy Field in Bristol. Granby travels to Winsted to face explosive Gilbert/Northwestern.
Friday, Sept. 20
East Hartford (0-1) at Simsbury (0-1), 7 p.m.
Outlook: Simsbury continues to fine tune its triple option veer offense and will have to deal with East Hartford, which dropped a 20-13 decision to Bloomfield last week. Norvel Steward scored with 1:21 left to lift Bloomfield to the win. Mirajsh Barnes had an 80-yard kickoff return for East Hartford. All-State running back and linebacker Brad Helmkamp ran for a team-high 183 yards in the 26-14 loss to Farmington. … Simsbury has won the last eight games in the series although they just get credit for seven victories. A one-point victory in 2006 was erased due to an ineligible player suiting up for the Trojans.
Series: Began 1910. Simsbury leads series 16-13-3
RHAM (0-1) at Farmington (1-0), 7 p.m.
Outlook: Farmington faces another running-based offense in RHAM on Friday night. The best defense may be a solid performance from the Indian offense including QB Jeremy Buck, RB Ivan Guadalupe and WR Kenny Jones. Taking the early lead will force RHAM out of its preferred running offense. The Sachems fell to Ledyard 42-6 last week while Farmington made plenty of big plays on defense last week to stop Simsbury, 26-14 in a game that took two days to play due to lightning and rain. Guadalupe clinched the game with a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown. … Farmington is the only valley team getting votes in the state top 10 polls. The Indians are ranked 23rd in the New Haven Register sportswriter poll with 19 votes. In the New London Day’s coaches poll, Farmington is ranked 18th with 48 votes.
Series: Began 2004. Farmington leads, 5-1
Saturday, Sept. 21
Granby (0-1, 0-0 Pequot West) at Gilbert/NW Regional (1-0, 1-0 Pequot West), 1 p.m.
Outlook: The Bears face a big challenge as they travel to Van Why Field to take on the explosive Yellowjackets. A week ago, Gilbert’s Tony Ortiz ran for 234 yards and two long TDs (74 and 66 yards) while QB John Lippincott ran for 170 yards and 2 TDs (50, 76) in a thrilling 34-27 win over Cromwell. Granby dropped a 28-10 decision to Enfield on Sunday as Enfield’s Jason Davis ran for 2 TDs and Tom Watson had an 80-yard kickoff return. Granby QB Curtis Field completed 18-of-34 passes for 193 yards, 1 TD and two interceptions.
Series: Began 2010. Gilbert/NWR leads, 3-0
Avon (0-1, 0-1 Pequot West) vs. Lewis Mills (0-1, 0-0 Pequot West), 10:30 a.m. at Muzzy Field, Bristol
Outlook: Lewis Mills hasn’t caught many scheduling breaks in its short tenure in the Pequot Conference. They spent the first three years in the league playing in the Sassacus Division,.primarily with teams from southern Connecticut. This year, they open the season with three very challenging games. Mills dropped a 40-8 decision to Morgan last week in its season opener and now face Avon, which was 10-0 a year ago. Next week, Mills faces Gilbert/Northwestern, another Pequot West contender. Avon was stung last week by Canton, which beat the Falcons for the first time, 16-13, on a last-second touchdown by Terrance Brophy. Avon played solid defense but turned the ball over three times (2 fumbles, interception), leading to nine Canton points. Look for the Falcons to dominate the game with a strong running game (Stephen Griffin, Jimmy Murphy) and a quick and speedy defense. …. Lewis Mills has lost 11 games in a row. … Avon last played at Muzzy Field in 2009 when they lost to Berlin in the Class L semifinals, 35-28.
Series: 0-0, first meeting.
State football polls
SPORTSWRITERS
The New Haven Register’s top 10 sportswriters high school football poll. First-place votes in parentheses, record, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7, and last season’s final ranking:
Week 2, Sept. 16, 2013
Team Rec. Pts. LW
1. Ansonia (14) 1-0 802 2
2. Xavier (12) 1-0 798 1
3. New Canaan (2) 1-0 730 3
4. NFA 0-0 644 4
5. Middletown 1-0 555 6
6. Southington 1-0 512 7
7. St. Joseph 1-0 493 8
8. Newtown 1-0 442 9
9. Greenwich 1-0 411 NR
10. Masuk 1-0 306 NR
Others receiving votes: 11. Windsor (1-0), 275; 12. Shelton (1-0), 216; 13. West Haven (0-1), 214; 14. New London (1-0), 194; 15. Fairfield Prep (1-0), 80; 16. Staples (0-1), 74; 17. Hand (0-1), 71; 18. Glastonbury (0-1), 64; 19. Valley Regional/Old Lyme (1-0), 44; 20. Naugatuck (1-0), 35; 21. Darien (1-0), 34; 22. Capital/Classical/Achievement (1-0), 22; 23. Farmington (1-0), 19; 24. Ledyard (1-0), 18; 25. Oxford (1-0), 17; 26. Gilbert/NW Regional (1-0), 14; 27. Wolcott (1-0), 11; 28. Hillhouse (0-1), 10; t29. Foran (1-0), Platt (1-0) and Ridgefield (1-0), 9; 32. Woodland (1-0), 8.
The following voted: Mary Albl, Fairfield Minuteman; Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam-Acorn; Doug Bonjour, Connecticut Post; Sean Patrick Bowley, New Haven Register; Jim Bransfield, Middletown Press; Kyle Brennan, Waterbury Republican-American; Chris Brodeur, Danbury News-Times; George DeMaio, WELI; Gerry deSimas, The Collinsville Press; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Scott Ericson, Stamford Advocate; Francesco Graziano, CPTV Sports; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; John Holt, WFSB-3; Mark Jaffee, Waterbury Republican-American; Ken Lipshez, Meriden-Record Journal; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Kevin Nathan, WVIT-30; Pete Paguaga, Torrington Register Citizen; Dave Phillips, Shore Line Newspapers; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Kevin Roberts, Bristol Press; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Tom Yantz, Hartford Courant; Jimmy Zanor, Middletown Press
COACHES
The Day of New London Top 10 state coaches’ football poll. First-place votes in parentheses, record, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7, and last season’s final ranking:
Week 1, Sept. 16, 2013
Team Rec. Pts. Lst yr
1. Xavier (4) 1-0 364 3
2. Ansonia (4) 1-0 352 2
3. New Canaan (2) 1-0 350 NR
4. NFA (2) 0-0 280 6
5. St. Joseph 1-0 231 NR
6. Greenwich (1) 1-0 227 NR
7. Southington 1-0 215 NR
8. Middletown 1-0 160 NR
9. Windsor 1-0 134 5
10. West Haven 0-1 128 NR
Also receiving votes: Newtown (1-0), 123 points; Shelton (1-0), 114; Masuk (1-0), 107; Ledyard (1-0), 82; Fairfield Prep (1-0), 55; Darien (1-0), 54; New London (1-0), 52; Farmington (1-0), 48; Staples (0-1), 45; Glastonbury (0-1), 41; Platt-Meriden (1-0), 29; Naugatuck (1-0), 21; North Haven (1-0), 19; Valley Regional/Old Lyme (1-0), 14; Newington (1-0), 12; Ridgefield (1-0), 10; Tie, Hand (0-1) and Rocky Hill (1-0), 9; Tie, Foran-Milford (1-0) and Notre Dame-West Haven (0-1), 8; Tie, Capital/Classical/Achievement-Hartford (1-0) and Woodland-Beacon Falls (1-0), 7.
The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Jim Buonocore, Ledyard; Craig Bruno, Naugatuck; Scott Daniels, Glastonbury; Joe DellaVecchia, St. Joseph-Trumbull; Steve Filippone, Hand-Madison; Rob Fleeting, Windsor; Steve George, Newtown; Tanner Grove, Montville; Tim King, Valley Regional-Deep River; Sean Marinan, Xavier-Middletown; John Murphy, New Milford; Marce Petroccio, Staples-Westport.
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