The WEEK 7 GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll: Midseason calm before the storm

Nothing crazy happened. Nothing big changed.

Now we’ll see what happens in a week.

The GameTimeCT Top 10 remained intact, with five of the 10 taking the week off. The five who played had it relatively easy in the end, from No. 1 Hand’s 41-6 win at Norwalk to No. 7 Ridgefield’s 21-0 win to keep its long unbeaten streak over Wilton alive.

THE WEEK 7 SCHEDULE / SCOREBOARD

But there are some intriguing matchups this week as the whole state gets back at it. Early Saturday afternoon, Ridgefield visits No. 2 St. Joseph. A few hours later, No. 3 and defending Class LL champion Greenwich hosts No. 4 and former Class LL champ Darien.

No. 5 Newtown comes back off the bye to face Danbury. No. 6 Bloomfield faces Tolland. No. 8 Ansonia welcomes Derby, No. 9 Southington plays host to East Hartford and No. 10 Maloney visits Newington.

The tweaks came below the top 10 once again. Shelton dropped a few spots even with a week off, heading to Xavier to try to end a two-game losing streak against a home team that has won three in a row. Cheshire picked up some votes after a powerful win over Masuk.

		TEAM (1st place votes)			REC	PTS	LAST	CLASS
		1. HAND (22)			5-0	742	1	L
Last Week: def. Norwalk 41-6. This Week: Friday vs. East Lyme, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: East Lyme is 4-1, but with no disrespect intended toward the Vikings, none of the four are exactly Hand. The Tigers return to SCC Tier I play next week at West Haven.
		2. ST. JOSEPH (3)			5-0	706	2	L
Last Week: def. Fairfield Prep 42-13. This Week: Saturday vs. Ridgefield, 1:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Cadets' past four opponents have all earned votes in the GameTimeCT poll this year, each of them for at least two weeks; two have been in the top 10 at some point. Average margin of victory: 37.5 points.
		3. GREENWICH			5-0	638	3	LL
Last Week: Off This Week: Saturday vs. Darien, 4 p.m. The Bottom Line: It's not yet entirely clear whether Danbury wasn't operating at full capacity on opening weekend, if Greenwich was just 49-3 better than the Hatters, or if it's a combination of factors. Either way, the Cardinals did that to their top opponent of the first half. The second begins with an even bigger one.
		4. DARIEN			5-0	612	4	LL
Last Week: def. Trinity Catholic/Wright Tech 51-20. This Week: Saturday at Greenwich, 4 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Blue Wave beat Southington 24-8 in Week 2, the toughest game on either their or Greenwich's schedule to date. Darien and Greenwich have two common opponents, Trumbull and Westhill, beating both handily. They've been adjacent, Greenwich-Darien, in every poll to date. Let's go.
		5. NEWTOWN			5-0	536	5	LL
Last Week: Off This Week: Friday vs. Danbury, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: After sweeping the SCC Tier I portion of their scheduling-alliance slate, the Nighthawks get in a local FCIAC contest before returning home to the SWC for the stretch run. The Hatters are fresh off their biggest win, Saturday night's 34-13 win over Trumbull.
		6. BLOOMFIELD			5-0	463	6	S
Last Week: def. Rocky Hill 68-0. This Week: Friday at Tolland, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: This was a game you might've looked at as a test for the Warhawks, and maybe it will be, but the Eagles lost to Plainville on Saturday, a Plainville team that Bloomfield beat 47-0 on Oct. 4. The Warhawks' last and only points against came on Sept. 21, 14 blank quarters ago.
		7. RIDGEFIELD			5-0	448	7	LL
Last Week: def. Wilton 21-0. This Week: Saturday at St. Joseph, 1:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: Since New Canaan took a 14-7 lead on the Tigers in the last minute of the third quarter in Week 2, Ridgefield has outscored opponents 80-0 in 13 quarters. Keeping that up against St. Joe's will be a task and a half, but still.
		8. ANSONIA			5-0	352	8	S
Last Week: Off This Week: Friday vs. Derby, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: It's a one-turn ride of under two miles from Ryan Field to Nolan Field, from the gleaming and gorgeous new facility in Derby to venerable Jarvis Stadium at the edge of Ansonia. (Won't suggest the Raiders walk this one.) The Chargers play there three weeks in a row, then are away for two games before coming home for the playoffs.
		9. SOUTHINGTON			4-1	334	9	LL
Last Week: Off This Week: Friday vs. East Hartford, 7 p.m. The Bottom Line: This week will be the middle of three consecutive home games. Three of East Hartford's five losses have come by a total of four points, but even so, next week against Simsbury looks like the most interesting of those three Southington home games.
		10. MALONEY			5-0	300	10	L
Last Week: Off This Week: Friday at Newington, 6:30 p.m. The Bottom Line: The Spartans' points-against, by game: 13, 14, 14, 21, 27. Only the second 14 was particularly close (North Haven, 18-), though the 21 required a comeback (at Middletown, 34-).
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.
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; 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.