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Buzzkill!! We all know that commitments can change
2018 CIAC Football Playoffs
- Thread starter huskymedic
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I was unimpressed with Newtown all year. any of the Ben Mason teams would have beat them handily. I was shocked they beat Darien.
Agree on Greenwich, best team in the state since Darien with Evanchik and Stueber, drilled Southington and Jasen Rose, and then demolished Shelton.I support Ansonia, but I’m pretty honest about how “good” they are from year to year. This isn’t a great Ansonia team. However the Ansonia/Bloomfield matchup was a sloppy (literally) but an exciting one to watch. It could have gone either way. Bloomfield made some big plays down the stretch that allowed them to squeak this one out after giving Ansonia an opportunity to tie or win in the final minutes. Crazy ending to this one. Both teams were evenly matched. Bloomfield made a few more plays . Neither team is great to be honest. Ansonia returns a lot of players from this team next year. They’ll be back next year. Bloomfield should beat H-K for the S title. I think this game was a perfect example of Ansonia’s NVL schedule hurting them. They’re not tested in the NVL and they have a hard time winning (finishing) close games in the state playoffs.
Greenwich is scary good. Arguably the best team I’ve seen in a long time. They’re clearly the best team in CT and it’s not even close (sorry Hand fans). I know NC is on fire right now and they’ll have a chance to win, but Greenwich’s defense gets after you and sets them apart from everyone else. They’d beat UConn too!!
By the way....I hope The staff is recruiting Mozi Bici. That kid is an absolute stud.
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Running clock for second half.
I saw them play three times and I was impressed. Yes, they didn't have Been Mason, but they were better than the Ben Mason teams, more athletes, more size. As a team, a notch better. I just didn't think Marinelli's seniors could blow them out like they did. Comizio, Muir, Bici, and one or two of their lineman will be all state. The depth that Greenwich has in the trenches was undoubtedly a factor.
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The 2014 team would have blown their doors off. That line averaged something like 280lbs.
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Looks like just a three good games - Bloomfield over Ansonia, Maloney over Platt, H-K over S/S/EW) and blowouts everywhere else. Greenwich looks crazy good this year. New Canaan will pose a bigger challenge for them just due to familiarity; but, I don;t think anyone can bet them in CT this year. In L, I think Hand will roll by Maloney as the Spartans have not faced a team like Hand yet (their two closest games was a Turkey day loss to Platt and a TD win over Windsor). Bloomfield should run over H-K in the S final, espeically if its on a turf field free of mud. St Joe's, who should really play in Class L or even LL due to their 'recruiting' area, will likeley win M over Berlin or Sheehan.
As for FCIAC, yes, they are having a good year, especially at the large school classes, which makes sense as they have 6 of the largest 10 and 12 of the largest 25 high schools in CT by enrollment. But, all has a lot do with the resources that many FCIAC high schools have in and outside of school that many others do not have. Now, if teams like Norwalk, Westhill, and Bridgeport Central were also getting into and winning football titles along with Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Staples, I would be more impressed. Plus, its also cyclical. While FCIAC has been a huge presence the last few years, especially in LL, L and M when St. Joe's has been classified as M, in 2012 no FCIAC team made a football championship game, in 2011. In 2011 and 2010, the FCIAC did nto win a title with Staples (LL) and Trumbull (LL) and New Canaan (L both years) losing title games. Further back, in 1992, the FCIAC won one title, Darien in Class SS, while Greenwich was hammered by New Britain in LL. Things change.
As for FCIAC, yes, they are having a good year, especially at the large school classes, which makes sense as they have 6 of the largest 10 and 12 of the largest 25 high schools in CT by enrollment. But, all has a lot do with the resources that many FCIAC high schools have in and outside of school that many others do not have. Now, if teams like Norwalk, Westhill, and Bridgeport Central were also getting into and winning football titles along with Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Staples, I would be more impressed. Plus, its also cyclical. While FCIAC has been a huge presence the last few years, especially in LL, L and M when St. Joe's has been classified as M, in 2012 no FCIAC team made a football championship game, in 2011. In 2011 and 2010, the FCIAC did nto win a title with Staples (LL) and Trumbull (LL) and New Canaan (L both years) losing title games. Further back, in 1992, the FCIAC won one title, Darien in Class SS, while Greenwich was hammered by New Britain in LL. Things change.
It hasn't always been New Canaan, Darien, Greenwich, and St Joe's dominating the FCIAC. Roger Ludlowe was a state power from 1960 to about 1973, Trumbull dominated the FCIAC through many intervals starting around 1975. Trumbull's 1986 team was ranked #21 nationally. Trinity Catholic has had several state championships over the years. Stamford High also was dominant. Central High in Bridgeport had some great teams in the early 2000's. I think your theory about rich towns having an advantage is BS, quite the contrary it's all about coaching, coaching, coaching. Tom Fujitani at Wilton, Bob Lynch at Trinity Catholic, Jerry McDougall at Trumbull, the Marinelli's at New Canaan and Greenwich, the Emil Taft years at Ludlowe, Bobby Trifone at Darien whose father Al Trifone was a football coach at Warde, Ed McCarthy and Christy Hayes. If your rich town theory held water where has Joel Barlow, Weston, Amity, and Wilton been in the State playoffs the past 40 years? While the millionaires in Ansonia, Derby, West Haven, and Naugatuck have scooping up titles for years. It's all about coaching, coaching, coaching. Always has and always will be.
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Looks like we both agree than teams are cyclical, which they clearly all. I also agree that coaching is tremendously important. While money is a factor, it is just one of many. The money issue from my view point is what is spent off of school grounds and applies to sports on the whole and not just football. Within the last 20 years or so, high school sports have become a business, a business that parents are spending serious coin for their sons and daughters on for private clubs, individualized coaching, conditioning & weight training, nution counseling, etc. 365 days a year well beyond the actual high school sponsored program. That gives towns of certain demographics an advantage over those who can't afford such. I see it a lot in soccer, lacrosse and baseball where I live in NJ. Can coaching overcome such advantages, absolutely. But, it does tilt the field before the season even begins.
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Yes it is cyclical, but again my point is it's cyclical because of coaching, parents involvement, youth football development, etc.
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Greenwich is currently ranked # 47 in the country by Calpreps. Darien finished at #40 in 2015. I don't think people have really appreciated just how good this Greenwich team is. That Darien team got a lot more press, and this Greenwich team has a chance to be finish the season ranked higher.
calpreps.com
calpreps.com
Exit 4
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I dont know much about young Marinelli, but if there ever was a time to explore the move to college football coaching its after this season. I think you get past 32 ish and HS coach is all you will ever be, which is certainly fine, we need great HS coaches, just saying that window gets harder to open.
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I agree. Twenty years ago, the youth program, which is parent driven, was a key factor. Ansonia has always had a great youth development program (this is hard for a kid from another Valley town to say), which has enabled them to be consistently field a very good HS team every year. When I was in high school, my town's middle school level football program (forgot what the actual title is) was dominating. Just after I graduated, the High School team began to bring home state titles. Today, that is still important. What I am saying, is off-season and after-school activies that I mentioned, which can cost a lot of money, are a key factor now.
Then we should see Joel Barlow, Weston, Amity, and Wilton winning state titles, but none of them have in ages. They all suck in football. The common denominator with them is not that they are wealthy towns, but that they do not have good coaching, or coaches who hang around for a few years.
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A strong youth program and numbers are the two most important things. I'd put coaching third. When you have success at the HS level it makes football the biggest game in town. Parents put their kids in football. It's then up to the youth program to make it fun enough to keep kids playing, and nothing is more fun than winning. You also need synergy. Those kids that win at Brookfield? Over the last 15-20 years many of them were coached by former and current brookfield high school coaches, players, or coaches that are friends with the high school staff. Someone retires from the HS staff? Then the high school takes another up and coming youth coach for their freshman or JV teams. Rinse and repeat.
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I am agreeing with you. Money is one key factor. So is good coaching, which is the biggest factor, and a youth development program.
Amity has been competitive in football from time to time (they actually lost the 1978 LL title to Ansonia, Ansonia was LL?); but, they lack a solid youth program, which, from what I have heard, is hampered from having 3 separate towns with different philosophies. Now, their baseball program bottom to top is solid with 6 LL titles since 2000.
Barlow has always been a small, exclusive pair of towns with no football history to them. Nevertheless, they have won 17 state titles since 2000 from classes S to L in Tennis, Soccer, Lacrosse, and Cross Country. Every school is different.
Wilton is a basically a lager vesion of Barlow with only a single town invovled, though Wilton did lose 4 football finals in the 1970's and 1980's in classes M and L. But, they have won 14 Girls' Soccer titles in program history and 71 State Titles across all sports since 2000. So, they have something that works for them.
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Agree. I live in a smallish town in North Jersey (12K population) that has a solid youth football program which is well supported by parents and boosters and its teams regularly beats the two neighboring towns and others. By 8th grade, many of those kids are also going to a speciic gym on a daily basis that costs $250 a month (the other gym that I go to in town costs $60). My town feeds into a regional high school district (covers about 40K people) that allows kids from the all participating towns to pick between two high schools. One has gone through 5 coaches since 2007, hasn't been good since the 1980's and went 3-7 in 2018, which was an improvement from 2017. That is the high school physically located in my town. The other is a perennial state power and went undefeated this year with a state (sectional) title. Guess where all of the top football players from my town go to (the elite football kids don't go to either, they go to the big Catholic powers in North Jersey such as DePaul, Don Bosco, Bergen Catholic, etc.)? Thus, as stated, its a range of factors.
On a related note, in Central Jersey, which has less of a football history, even schools with numbers and resources are going down hills as the injury issue, especially concussions, is scaring away a lot of parents. In 2018, West Windsor Plainsboro North with 1,400 kids had to merge their program with West Windsor Plainsboro South with 1,600 kids because neither could field a full football team on their own. North does have several ultimate Frisbee championships to its name, though.
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Amity also continues to lose +/- dozen/dozen and a half Orange/Woodbridge/Bethany football kids annually to Notre Dame WH, Hopkins and Hamden Hall.
Wilton has not done much of anything in football once Coach Fujitani left. Same thing happened when their Ct Championship LaCrosse Coach Whitten retired. Never replaced them with decent coaches.
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....and St Joe’s
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A dozen/dozen and a half is a little strong but the point is still valid. Its tough to be competitive in the SCC when you are only dressing only 30-40 kids for varsity games. That is horrible for a LL school. They hired Craig Bruno this year and they went 5-5, the first non-losing season since 2007. The hope is that things will turn around and winning will bring kids out to play, both at the high school level and the youth level. Its not like there aren't a lot of athletes in the building.
And for the record, Amity BEAT a Sandy Osiecki-led Ansonia 35-20 for the 1978 LL championship. They forced Ansonia to play in LL that year because they were beating up on Class S. Ansonia agreed because they were tired of getting slighted by the pollsters at the end of the year. Amity broke Ansonia's then state record 36 game winning streak.
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My appologies, must have red the webpage too fast. Amity did win that game. With a lot of family from Derby, thanks to Amity for that.
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Point taken... it was a quick look @ rosters from this year and I was at about a dozen. I admittedly didn't check St. Joe's and the one from Cheshire Academy I flipped through didn't list hometowns so I went high.
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Cheshrie Academy is a boarding school like Choate, Avon Old Farms, etc, and pulls in kids from all over the northeast with only a few locals going there. Those Preps do a number on local hockey programs, though. St. Joe's pulls in kids from the lower Valley, and both the Bridgeport and New Haven areas.
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Quite familiar w/ Cheshire Academy demographics - its a few miles from home. They have reinvented themselves from decades ago. If you have talent/aspirations (especially football) they will have you (CJ Holmes - Hamden, Tarek Black - Hamden, Verdi Brothers - Southington, Sebastian Brothers - West Haven, CJ Lewis- Hamden, Burby-Berlin, Travis Ecke - Cheshire, Roberge - Newtown, recent examples off the top of my head).
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Roberge was Masuk (Monroe) but same deal. A lot of these schools are taking local talent now
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Eh... Monroe/Newtown - knew it was over that way
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