Staples of Westport received 21 of 26 votes to earn the No. 1 spot in the final GameTimeCT top 10 football poll of the season of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Staples, which stopped a potential game-winning two-point conversion from West Haven with 1:15 remaining in Saturday’s Class LL championship game, was also voted No. 1 in the Hartford Courant’s coaches poll.
Staples, which won their first state championship since 2005, finished No. 1 in the writer’s poll for the first time since 1975 and No. 1 in the coaches poll for the first time.
Class L champion New Canaan finished at No. 2 with three first place votes with Class MM champion North Haven finishing at No. 3 with a pair of first place votes.
Class S champion Bloomfield (11-1) finished No. 10 in the GameTimeCT poll.
FOOTBALL
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.
Final, Dec. 11, 2023
| Team |
Rec. |
Pts |
LW |
Class |
| 1. Staples (21) |
12-1 |
770 |
1 |
LL |
| 2. New Canaan (3) |
12-1 |
718 |
4 |
L |
| 3. North Haven (2) |
11-2 |
678 |
5 |
MM |
| 4. West Haven |
10-3 |
610 |
7 |
LL |
| 5. Maloney |
10-2 |
484 |
2 |
L |
| 6. Greenwich |
10-2 |
471 |
3 |
LL |
| 7. Darien |
9-4 |
418 |
nr |
L |
| 8. Hand |
12-1 |
403 |
nr |
M |
| 9. Wilton |
10-3 |
380 |
10 |
MM |
| 10. Bloomfield |
11-1 |
316 |
nr |
S |
| Others receiving votes: Windsor (10-2) 284; Masuk (9-3) 185; Newtown (9-3) 179; Cheshire (8-3) 126; Barlow (9-4) 125; Shelton (7-4) 124; Naugatuck (10-1) 86; Rockville (11-2) 78; Cromwell/Portland (10-3) 59; Watertown (7-6) 41; Ansonia (10-2) 34; Fairfield Prep (4-7) 25; Southington (7-5) 14; Holy Cross (8-4) 8; Fitch (9-2) 7; Stamford (7-4) 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, record through Saturday, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis and CIAC classification:
Final, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023
| Team |
Rec. |
Pts |
LW |
Class |
| 1. Staples (9) |
12-1 |
380 |
t1 |
LL |
| 2. New Canaan (2) |
12-1 |
362 |
3 |
L |
| 3. North Haven (2) |
11-2 |
348 |
4 |
MM |
| 4. West Haven |
10-3 |
279 |
9 |
LL |
| 5. Maloney |
10-2 |
264 |
t1 |
L |
| 6. Greenwich |
10-2 |
234 |
5 |
LL |
| 7. Wilton |
10-3 |
224 |
8 |
MM |
| 8. Windsor |
10-2 |
197 |
6 |
MM |
| 9. Darien |
9-4 |
180 |
nr |
LL |
| 10. Hand |
12-1 |
179 |
nr |
M |
| Also receiving votes: Bloomfield (11-1), 149 points; Masuk (9-3), 119; Newtown (9-3), 93; Shelton (7-4), 77; Cheshire (8-3), 71; Naugatuck (10-1), 63; Barlow (9-4), 35; Southington (7-5), 17; Notre Dame-Fairfield (9-3), 15; Ansonia (10-2), 14; Fitch (9-2), 8; Rockville (11-2), 7 |
| Voters: 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. |
