Ansonia’s Tyler Cafaora(17) celebrates a touchdown with teammates Cyril Jack(56) Luis Santiago(71) and Troy Sanders (39) during their 26-20 NVL win over Woodland. (John Vanacore/For Hearst Connecticut Media)
After another stable week in the GameTimeCT football poll, we’ve got another week where some big matchups could produce some changes in the Top 10.
No. 1 Hand meets preseason No. 6 Shelton at the Surf Club on Friday night. No. 9 Ridgefield gets another crack at a top FCIAC team, visiting No. 4 Greenwich on Saturday. Banged-up Berlin hosts No. 6 Bloomfield on Friday.
WEEK 9 HS FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD | WEEK 10 SCHEDULE
There were no changes in the top 10 this week. Of the eight teams who played, six won by shutout, and another won by 40. The exception was No. 8 Ansonia, which played an instant NVL classic, scoring the winning touchdown in the last 30 seconds to beat Woodland 26-20. The Hawks, whose support had been slowly and steadily increasing, got a surge off that performance.
The big action was, once again, just outside the top 10. With standout running back Terrence Bogan injured, Sheehan’s loss to North Haven dropped the Titans from right on the bubble to a tie for 16th.
Sheehan meets Cheshire this week in a game that might once have been for the Rams’ No. 10 spot (and, well, might still be). Killingly suffered its first loss — Norwich Free Academy came from behind late and won at the buzzer — and dropped from 12th to that tie with Sheehan for 16th.
Those and other results shook up the bottoms of a lot of ballots: 27 teams got a vote this week, the most in a month.
GAMETIMECT WEEK 10 FOOTBALL POLL
TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | CLASS |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. HAND (22) | 8-0 | 744 | 1 | L |
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| Last Week: def. Xavier 46-6. This Week: Friday vs. Shelton, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: This was the game, before the season, that everyone was waiting for. The Gaels are still, by most measures, the best team the Tigers will face this regular season. It's just not the top-10 matchup we'd all hoped for. See how it goes. |
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 | 2. ST. JOSEPH (3) | 7-0 | 706 | 2 | L |
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| Last Week: Off. This Week: Saturday vs. Staples, 1:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Another game that looked shinier in the preseason: The Wreckers have lost four in a row and are 2-6. The Cadets' winning streak is 18. |
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 | 3. DARIEN | 8-0 | 642 | 3 | LL |
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| Last Week: def. Bridgeport Central 36-0. This Week: Friday at Norwalk, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: If you haven't seen it, go to @DHSBWfootball on Twitter and listen to Central coach Derrick Lewis talk to the Blue Wave players at a gathering after their game. Great stuff. |
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 | 4. GREENWICH | 7-1 | 570 | 4 | LL |
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| Last Week: def. Fairfield Ludlowe 58-0. This Week: Saturday vs. Ridgefield, 4 p.m. The Bottom Line: Ludlowe had won four in a row. The Cardinals shut the Falcons down. |
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 | 5. NEWTOWN | 8-0 | 542 | 5 | LL |
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| Last Week: def. Bunnell 42-0. This Week: Friday at Barlow, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: After sweeping through SCC Tier I, the Nighthawks swept through Stratford by a combined 80-0. It gets a little tougher this week against a Barlow team looking to stay in the Class M playoff race. |
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 | 6. BLOOMFIELD | 8-0 | 483 | 6 | S |
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| Last Week: def. Bulkeley/HMTCA/Weaver 74-0. This Week: Friday at Berlin, 6:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Half of the Redcoats could be in actual red coats (which may not be inaccurate) and this would still be Bloomfield's strongest regular-season opponent. The Warhawks haven't let down or let up. |
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 | 7. SOUTHINGTON | 7-1 | 444 | 7 | LL |
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| Last Week: def. Glastonbury 20-0. This Week: Friday vs. New Britain, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Blue Knights' defense has allowed only 20 points in the past four games. New Britain has won two out of three, but both wins came against teams that Southington handled more easily. |
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 | 8. ANSONIA | 8-0 | 372 | 8 | S |
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| Last Week: def. Woodland 26-20. This Week: Thursday at Seymour, 6 p.m. The Bottom Line: What a game Friday night. The Chargers weren't sharp at times, committed penalty after penalty, and still pulled out a victory. Seymour comes in off an overtime thriller over Naugatuck. |
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 | 9. RIDGEFIELD | 7-1 | 348 | 9 | LL |
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| Last Week: def. McMahon 48-0. This Week: Saturday at Greenwich, 4 p.m. The Bottom Line: After their loss to St. Joseph, the Tigers have come back with two handy take-care-of-business wins. A big road win here could take care of playoff-clinching business. |
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 | 10. CHESHIRE | 6-1 | 318 | 10 | LL |
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| Last Week: Off. This Week: Friday vs. Sheehan, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: Had they played last week, this would've been No. 10 vs. No. 11. No such luck. |
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| Dropped out: None. 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. |
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| Others receiving votes: Maloney (7-1) 255; Simsbury (7-1) 165; New Canaan (6-2) 163; Shelton (5-2) 111; Rockville (7-0) 108; Killingly (7-1) 76; Sheehan (6-1) 76; Woodland (7-1) 75; Berlin (7-1) 52; Hall (6-2) 36; Fairfield Prep (5-3) 23; Newington (6-2) 19; Norwich Free Academy (5-3) 18; Seymour (6-2) 8; North Haven (4-4) 7; Weston (7-1) 7; Wilton (6-2) 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; Ryan Lacey, Danbury News-Times; 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. Compiled by Michael Fornabaio. |
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