For second consecutive week, there was a smaller than usual slate of high school football games around the state due to mandated byes. There was no change in the top 10 of the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register poll as conducted by sportswriters from around the state or in the New London Day’s coaches poll.
Hand, St. Joseph, Greenwich and Darien remain the top four teams in the state in both polls. But this week, we should see some changes with No. 7 Ridgefield visiting No. 2 St. Joseph and No. 4 Darien visiting No. 3 Greenwich.
Undefeated Simsbury (5-0) has climbed steadily in the last four weeks in the two top 10 polls.
The Trojans are ranked No. 14 in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register top 10 poll with a season high 178 points. They’ve been ranked No. 14 for the past two weeks. In the New London Day’s state coaches poll, Simsbury is ranked No. 12 for the second straight week with a season-high 120 points.
With five games left in the regular season, Simsbury, Granby/Canton and Lewis Mills are eyeing potential spots in the upcoming CIAC football tournaments. The top eight teams in Class LL, L, M and S earn a spot in the playoffs.
Simsbury hasn’t played in the postseason since 2009 while the Bears last advanced to the Class M playoffs in 2015. Lewis Mills has never played postseason football in their program’s 10-year history.
Simsbury, who is ranked No. 1 in the latest CIAC Class LL playoff rankings, looks for their 11th consecutive win when they travel to Manchester High to take on the Red Hawks on Friday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Red Hawks, who got rid of their long-time nickname of Indians last spring, are 2-3 on the year.
Simsbury has won three of the last five games with the two schools including the last two contests.
Granby/Canton (4-1) had a bye last week but the Bears are looking for their fifth win of the season on Friday night when they host Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby (4-1) in a Pequot Conference contest in Granby beginning at 6:30 p.m. Granby/Canton is ranked No. 4 in the latest Class M rankings and have won three straight over the visiting Raiders.
Lewis Mills (4-1) had their best start in program history with four straight wins to begin the season before dropping a 23-8 decision to Berlin last Saturday. But Mills is looking to get back on the winning track when they travel to Manchester to face winless East Catholic (0-5) on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at Cheney Tech. The Spartans are currently ranked No. 11 in Class S.
Avon (1-4) will be looking for their second straight win when they travel to West Hartford to challenge Northwest Catholic (2-3) on Saturday at noon. The Lions earned their second win of the season on Saturday with a 22-14 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield.
The Falcons are looking to build on last Saturday’s 49-0 shutout victory over Bulkeley/HMTCA/Weaver. Avon and Northwest Catholic have split their last four games since the Falcons joined the CCC in 2015.
In Farmington, the Indians (2-3) will be hosting Middletown (3-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the George Bennett Field on the Farmington campus in a CCC Division II contest. The Indians will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak at the hands of the Dragons. Farmington’s last win over Middletown came in 2011 with an 18-12 decision.
GameTimeCT Top 10 football poll
Week 7, Monday, October 21, 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 (22) | 5-0 | 742 | 1 | L |
| 2. St. Joseph (3) | 5-0 | 706 | 2 | L |
| 3. Greenwich | 5-0 | 638 | 3 | LL |
| 4. Darien | 5-0 | 612 | 4 | LL |
| 5. Newtown | 5-0 | 536 | 5 | LL |
| 6. Bloomfield | 5-0 | 463 | 6 | S |
| 7. Ridgefield | 5-0 | 448 | 7 | LL |
| 8. Ansonia | 5-0 | 352 | 8 | S |
| 9. Southington | 4-1 | 434 | 9 | LL |
| 10. Maloney | 5-0 | 300 | 10 | LL |
| Others receiving votes: Sheehan (5-0) 238; Cheshire (4-1) 229; Killingly (5-0) 197; Simsbury (5-0) 178; Naugatuck (4-0) 91; New Canaan (3-2) 74; Shelton (3-2) 56; Wethersfield (4-1) 44; Woodland (5-0) 28; Rockville (5-0) 26; Weston (5-0) 19; Hall (3-2) 17; Notre Dame-West Haven (3-2) 17; Fairfield Prep (2-3) 11; Berlin (4-1) 10; Xavier (3-2) 9. | ||||
| 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 5, October 21, 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 (10) | 5-0 | 384 | 1 | L |
| 2. St. Joseph (2) | 5-0 | 354 | 2 | L |
| 3. Greenwich (1) | 5-0 | 352 | 3 | LL |
| 4. Darien | 5-0 | 312 | 4 | LL |
| 5. Newtown | 5-0 | 276 | 5 | LL |
| 6. Bloomfield | 5-0 | 242 | 6 | S |
| 7. Ridgefield | 5-0 | 239 | 7 | LL |
| 8. Southington | 4-1 | 167 | 8 | LL |
| 9. Ansonia | 5-0 | 164 | 9 | S |
| 10. Sheehan | 5-0 | 154 | 10 | S |
| Others receiving votes: Maloney (5-0), 145; Simsbury (5-0), 120; Cheshire (4-1), 102; Killingly (5-0), 90; Naugatuck (4-0), 60; Shelton (3-2), 44; Weston (5-0), 41; Wethersfield (4-1), 24; New Canaan (3-2), 23; Hall (3-2), 22. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
