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Greenwich remains No. 1 in both state top 10 football polls

Rockville QB Brady Ramsdell (7) fires a pass last Friday against Granby/Canton. The game was suspended due to lightning.

Greenwich earned 23 of 26 votes to remain No. 1 in the GameTimeCT top 10 football poll as voted by sportwriters and broadcasters from across the state. The Cardinal beat Fairfield Prep, 35-21 in their season-opening contest.

Four new teams joined the poll in the GameTimeCT poll this week with Shelton, West Haven, Cheshire and Newtown moving into the top 10. Southington, Maloney, Shelton and West Haven round out the top five.

Greenwich is also No. 1 in the Hartford Courant’s state coaches poll, which made its season debut. West Haven, Shelton, Southington and Maloney round out the top five in the coaches poll.

The Courant was the first paper to conduct a state top 10 football coaches poll from 1985 to 2000. The New London Day sponsored the coaches poll from 2003 through 2022. Ned Griffen, who coordinated the poll at The Day, is coordinating the poll on behalf of the Courant.

Before the Courant began the coaches poll in 1985, there was just one poll of sportswriters from around the state coordinated by the New Haven Register. It began in 1961. There was also a period when the Associated Press had a top 10 football poll for five years from 1950-54.

Only twice have the sportswriters and coaches differed on who should be No. 1 in the final polls. In 1991, the sportswriters chose New London (12-0) as the No. 1 team in the state while the coaches chose Notre Dame-West Haven (11-0-1). A year later in 1992, the sportswriters selected Darien (11-0-1) while the coaches went with Cheshire (11-0).

In 2010, there were three polls being conducted — the New Haven Register’s poll of sportswriters, the New London Day’s poll of coaches and the Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance, who was also conducting a poll of sportswriters.

The two sportswriters polls came up with different No. 1 teams. The New Haven Register poll chose Xavier (14-0) over Masuk (13-0) with a 14-10 edge in first place votes and an eight-point lead. The Alliance poll went with Masuk, who received 19 first place votes compared to 12 for Xavier. Masuk won by eight points. In the coaches poll, Xavier beat Masuk by two points and had a 7-6 edge in first place votes.

 


The GameTimeCT Top 10 high school football poll as voted by sportwriters and broadcasters. 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.
Week 1, Sept. 11, 2023

Team Rec. Pts. LW Class
1. Greenwich (23) 1-0 772 1 LL
2. Southington (1) 1-0 662 6 LL
3. Maloney 1-0 608 5 L
4. Shelton 1-0 527 nr L
5. West Haven 1-0 482 nr LL
6. Fairfield Prep 0-1 390 3 LL
7. Ansonia (1) 1-0 385 7 S
8. New Canaan 0-1 357 2 L
9. Cheshire 1-0 328 nr MM
10. Newtown 1-0 278 nr L
Others receiving votes: Windsor (1) (1-0) 269; Masuk (1-0) 236; Hamden (1-0) 225; Staples (0-1) 198; Darien (1-0) 165; North Haven (0-1) 141; Trumbull (0-1) 91; Bloomfield (1-0) 86; St. Joseph (0-1) 80; Barlow (1-0) 59; Xavier (1-0) 56; Notre Dame-West Haven (0-1) 36; Naugatuck (1-0) 35; Cromwell/Portland (1-0) 33; Holy Cross (1-0) 30; New London (1-0) 29; Berlin (0-1) 25; Wilton (1-0) 18; Rockville (0-0) 17; Sheehan (1-0) 12; Killingly (0-1) 9; Seymour (1-0) 9; Danbury (1-0) 8; Fitch (1-0) 8; Guilford (1-0) 7.
The following voted: Will Aldam, GameTimeCT; Nkwa Asonye, WFSB-3; Serenity Bishop, Bristol Press; Sean Patrick Bowley, GameTimeCT; Bryant Carpenter, Record-Journal; Gerry deSimas Jr., Collinsville Press; Justin DeVellis, News 12 Connecticut; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Scott Ericson, GameTimeCT; Michael Fornabaio, GameTimeCT; Rob Gullo, New Britain Herald; Mark Jaffee, Republican-American of Waterbury; Tim Jensen, Patch Media Corp.; Jonah Karp, Fox61; Greg Lederer, Cheshire Herald; Myer Lee, GameTimeCT; Gabby Lucivero, NBC CT; Mike Madera, Walter Camp Football Foundation; Joe Morelli, GameTimeCT; Pete Paguaga, GameTimeCT; Dave Phillips, GameTimeCT correspondent; Lori Riley, Hartford Courant; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Dave Stewart, GameTimeCT; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin

 


The Hartford Courant’s top 10 high school football poll as voted by state coaches. First place points in parentheses, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis and CIAC classification:
Week 1, Sept. 11, 2023

Team Rec Pts LW Class
1. Greenwich (13) 1-0 390 LL
2. West Haven 1-0 297 LL
3. Shelton 1-0 288 L
4. Southington 1-0 264 LL
5. Maloney 1-0 246 L
6. Masuk 1-0 200 MM
7. Newtown 1-0 186 L
8. Windsor 1-0 177 MM
9. Cheshire 1-0 167 MM
10. Ansonia 1-0 162 S
Also receiving votes: New Canaan (0-1), 131 points; Fairfield Prep (0-1), 127; Hamden (1-0), 125; Staples (0-1), 98; Bloomfield (1-0), 90; Wilton (1-0), 74; Darien (1-0), 53; Trumbull (0-1), 43; St. Joseph (0-1), 40; Naugatuck (1-0), 39; North Haven (0-1), 38; Barlow (1-0), 18; Xavier (1-0), 15; Bunnell (1-0), 11; Tie, Killingly (0-1) and Sheehan (1-0), 10; New Milford (1-0), 9; Holy Cross (1-0), 7.
Coaches voting: 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; Joe Lato; Woodland; Brian Mazzone; Stafford/East Windsor/Somers; Bryan Muller; Brookfield; Marce Petroccio; Trumbull; Nathan Tyler, Stratford.
Compiled by Ned Griffen

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.

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