Brendan Gaffney (3) carries the ball in Simsbury’s win over South Windsor on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Michele Wingfield)
There was little change in the state high school top 10 football polls this week. Hand received 23 of 24 first place votes to remain on top of the GameTimeCT sportwriters poll. The Tigers received 12 of 13 first place votes to remain first in the state coaches poll as compiled by the Day of New London.
Both polls have the same 10 teams. Both have Hand, St. Joseph, Greenwich and Darien as the top four teams in the state.
Simsbury (3-0) is off to their best start since 2012. The Trojans received one vote in the sportswriters top 10 poll but got much more support in the state coaches poll. Simsbury is ranked No. 16 in the coaches poll with 47 votes.
The Trojans will have a good test on Friday when they host New Britain (2-1) at Holden Field beginning at 7 p.m.
Granby/Canton travels to Hartford on Friday to face the SMSA/University/Classical Magnet co-op team at 3:30 p.m. at Anne Fisher Middle School. Originally scheduled to be played at night, the gametime was moved to avoid mosquitos that could be carrying the EEE virus.
Wethersfield (2-1) is traveling to Farmington for a game on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Avon (0-3) will host Lewis Mills (3-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in their first meeting at Central Connecticut Conference rivals on the new turf field.
GameTimeCT Top 10 football poll
Week 4, Monday, September 30, 2019
| First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis. | ||||
| Team | Record | Pts. | LW | Class |
| 1. Hand (23) | 3-0 | 716 | 1 | L |
| 2. St. Joseph (1) | 3-0 | 668 | 2 | L |
| 3. Greenwich | 3-0 | 616 | 3 | LL |
| 4. Darien | 3-0 | 584 | 4 | LL |
| 5. Shelton | 3-0 | 520 | 5 | LL |
| 6. Newtown | 3-0 | 440 | 6 | LL |
| 7. Bloomfield | 3-0 | 410 | 7 | S |
| 8. Ridgefield | 3-0 | 359 | 8 | LL |
| 9. New Canaan | 2-1 | 247 | 9 | L |
| 10. Ansonia | 3-0 | 283 | 10 | S |
| Others receiving votes: Southington (2-1) 258; Maloney (3-0) 177; Sheehan (3-0) 169; Fairfield Prep (2-1) 163; Killingly (3-0) 151; Norwich Free Academy (2-1) 76; Naugatuck (3-0) 65; Rockville (3-0) 23; Wethersfield (2-1) 18; Notre Dame-West Haven (1-2) 17; Woodland (3-0) 11; Berlin (2-1) 10; Cheshire (2-1) 8; Middletown (2-1) 8; North Haven (1-2) 8; Weston (3-0) 8; Simsbury (3-0) 7 | ||||
| The following voted: Bill Bloxsom, Hearst Connecticut Media; Sean Patrick Bowley, GameTimeCT; Bryant Carpenter, Record-Journal of Meriden; Ryan Chichester, Bristol Press/New Britain Herald; Gerry deSimas Jr., Collinsville Press; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Scott Ericson, Stamford Advocate; Michael Fornabaio, Connecticut Post; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; Mark Jaffee, Republican-American of Waterbury; Gabby Lucivero, NBC CT; Mike Madera, Walter Camp Football Foundation; Kyle Maher, Journal-Inquirer of Manchester; Shawn McFarland, Hartford Courant; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; Keith O’Brien, GameDay CT Sports; Pete Paguaga, GameTimeCT; Dave Phillips, Shoreline Newspapers; John Pierson, WTNH-8; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Rich Zalusky, The Chronicle of Willimantic; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin; Joe Zone, WFSB-3. | ||||
New London Day’s state coaches top 10 football poll
Week 2, September 30, 2019
| First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis. | ||||
| Team | Record | Pts. | LW | Class |
| 1. Hand (12) | 3-0 | 388 | 1 | L |
| 2. St. Joseph (1) | 3-0 | 358 | 2 | L |
| 3. Greenwich | 3-0 | 332 | 3 | LL |
| 4. Darien | 3-0 | 316 | 4 | LL |
| 5. Newtown | 3-0 | 264 | 5 | LL |
| 6. Shelton | 3-0 | 260 | 6 | LL |
| 7. Bloomfield | 3-0 | 231 | 7 | S |
| 8. Ridgefield | 3-0 | 222 | 8 | LL |
| 9. Ansonia | 3-0 | 145 | 9 | S |
| 10. New Canaan | 2-1 | 138 | 10 | L |
| Others receiving votes: Sheehan (3-0) 125 points; Southington (2-1) 124; Maloney (3-0) 107; Fairfield Prep (2-1) 78; Killingly (3-0) 72; Simsbury (3-0) 47; Naugatuck (3-0) 41; Weston (3-0) 35; Rockville (3-0) 14; Wethersfield (2-1) 11; Norwich Free Academy (2-1) 7 | ||||
| The following coaches voted: Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Craig Bruno, Amity; Joe Della Vecchia, St. Joseph; Mike Drury, Southington; Mike Ellis, Fitch; Rob Fleeting, Windsor; Tanner Grove, Montville; Andy Guyon, Xavier; Tim King, Valley Regional/Old Lyme; Joe Lato, Masuk; Bryan Muller, Brookfield; Marce Petroccio, Trumbull; Jeff Roy, Shelton. | ||||
