Pequot Conference confirms there will be champions in four divisions this year

The Pequot Conference will award championships in football this fall to teams in four divisions –Sassacus South, Sassacus North, Uncas West and Uncas East, athletic directors in the league confirmed in a meeting on Thursday.

The league had hoped to award championships in two divisions – Uncas Division and Sassacus Division. But that plan wasn’t able to work because the teams in the Uncas Division were not scheduled to play every other team in the Uncas Division. It was the same issue for the teams in the Sassacus Division.

The Uncas Division consists of nine teams – Gilbert/Northwestern, Canton, Lewis Mills, Nonnewaug, Stafford/East Windsor/Somers, Ellington, Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton, Granby and Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby.

The Sassacus Division consists of eight teams  — Cromwell/Portland, North Branford, SMSA/University/Classical, Coginchaug, Valley Regional/Old Lyme, Morgan, Old Saybrook/Westbrook and Haddam Killingworth.

For scheduling purposes, teams were placed in four divisions — East, West, North and South. Teams in the West, North and South Divisions had three divisional games while teams in the East got four divisional games.

• Uncas West: Gilbert/Northwestern, Canton, Lewis Mills, Nonnewaug
• Uncas East: Stafford/East Windsor/Somers, Ellington, Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton, Granby, Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby
• Sassacus North: Cromwell/Portland, North Branford, SMSA/University/Classical, Coginchaug
• Sassacus South: Valley Regional/Old Lyme, Old Saybrook/Westbrook, Morgan, Haddam-Killingworth  

Each team in Uncas West plays two games against teams in Uncas East. Each team in Sassacus South plays two games against Sassacus North. In the interest of scheduling competitive games, the remaining games were based on results the past two seasons. The league split the teams into two groups – the top two teams in each division and team 3 and 4.

Gilbert/Northwestern has already clinched the Uncas Western Division title with a 3-0 record, beating Canton, Lewis Mills and Nonnewaug in the first three weeks of the season.

Two years ago, the league had 20 teams. But Avon left after the 2014 season and Hyde-New Haven and Enfield left after the 2015 campaign. Avon went to the Central Connecticut Conference, Hyde, now called Creed, joined the Southern Connecticut Conference and Enfield merged with Fermi and took Fermi’s spot in the CCC.

It was third time in the last four years that the Pequot Conference realigned. In 2015, the league played with three divisions of six teams each (North, West, South) with Enfield playing as an independent team within the league.

In 2014, the Pequot Conference had two divisions (Sassacus, Uncas) of 10 teams each. In 2013, the league had 21 teams and three divisions of seven teams each (North, West, South). From 1993 through 2012, the league was split into two divisions (Uncas and Sassacus).

Pequot Conference standings after week 5
Sassacus North              Div.  Overall    PF     PA
Cromwell/Portland            2-0     4-0       173   33
North Branford                 1-0     1-3        68     133
SMSA/Univ/Classical        1-2     2-3        108   128
Coginchaug                      0-2     1-4        96     172

Sassacus South             Div.  Overall    PF     PA
Valley Regional/OL           2-0     4-1        148   83
Old Saybrook/Westbrook 1-1      3-1        149   69
Morgan                             1-1     3-2        122   128
Haddam-Killingworth        0-2     1-4        106   184

Uncas West                     Div.  Overall    PF     PA
x-Gilbert/Northwestern      3-0    4-1        184   71
Lewis Mills                        1-1     3-2        124   105
Nonnewaug                      1-1     1-4        62     146
Canton                              0-3     0-4        6      146
x-clinched division title

Uncas East                     Div.  Overall    PF     PA
Stafford/EW/Somers        2-0     5-0        168   55
Ellington                           2-0     4-1        135   54
Coventry/WT/Bolton        2-1     3-2        171   125
Granby                            1-3     1-4         65    124
Windsor Locks/Suff/EG   0-3     0-4         52    157