CIAC Class LL Final...

[joey3$trike$]

My question is why didn't Shelton go into the NVL with their rivalries with Ansonia and Derby? I don't remember the why exactly but do remember that Prep was seen as a no brainer to going into the FCIAC when the MBIAC folded and then some news came out about some conflict about them going into the FCIAC so they ended up in the SCC.

I think Shelton is a much bigger school than Ansonia and Derby/ I think it goes by how many students they have hence their in class LL and Ansonia S but I can be wrong on that one.

 

[huskymedic]

I think Shelton is a much bigger school than Ansonia and Derby/ I think it goes by how many students they have hence their in class LL and Ansonia S but I can be wrong on that one.

You're right as far as determining which "class" they are in:

LL-702 and over
L-531-701
M-388-530
S-Up to 387

 

[joey3$trike$]

IMO I saw New Canaan vs st.joes fciac championship game, and Ansonia vs Masuk this year. I believe NC would beat Ansonia and possibly St. Joes. I think NC will wear them down with the quick pass attack like what they did to St. Joes. St. Joes line is huge and would put up alot of points. I think Ansonia would score alot vs both, but NC defense is better than St. Joes so have to give them an edge there. Ansonia kids plays both ways and in the 2nd half with those crazy offenses I think they would tire. Newsome is incredible though and their skill positions are fast, I liked their fb/MLB he was a good player as well. Good team and well coached, too bad they didn't play vs better teams, but for a small school their pretty damn good. Lots of credit for winning what 3 in a row..

 

[huskyrob1]

IMO I saw New Canaan vs st.joes fciac championship game, and Ansonia vs Masuk this year. I believe NC would beat Ansonia and possibly St. Joes. I think NC will wear them down with the quick pass attack like what they did to St. Joes. St. Joes line is huge and would put up alot of points. I think Ansonia would score alot vs both, but NC defense is better than St. Joes so have to give them an edge there. Ansonia kids plays both ways and in the 2nd half with those crazy offenses I think they would tire. Newsome is incredible though and their skill positions are fast, I liked their fb/MLB he was a good player as well. Good team and well coached, too bad they didn't play vs better teams, but for a small school their pretty damn good. Lots of credit for winning what 3 in a row..

I think Darien would beat Ansonia also. Remember that in the FCIAC championship game won by New Canaan over St Joes, Cascione was not 100% like he was in the 1st game they played during the regular season, and in that game they blew out St Joe's 62-21.

 

[FAIRTIDES]

I agree that it is confusing. Fairfield Prep and Shelton are two Fairfield country teams that play in the SCC and not the FCIAC. No idea why Prep is in the SCC (maybe due to rivalries with Xavier and ND West Haven?); but, Shelton was in the H0usy before the SCC absorbed the Housy (except for Seymour and later Derby, both of whom went to the NVL).
Congrats to the Knight, though I do not believe that they are the best overall team THIS year. That would likely be between Ansonia, St. Joe's and New Canaan.

Prep wanted to join the FCIAC in late 80's/early 90's. I remember Mike Ornato (Greenwich) being disappointed when it couldn't be worked out. My recollection is that Prep's lack of females made scheduling sports other than football a problem. Some how, the SCC handles the issue.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

My question is why didn't Shelton go into the NVL with their rivalries with Ansonia and Derby? I don't remember the why exactly but do remember that Prep was seen as a no brainer to going into the FCIAC when the MBIAC folded and then some news came out about some conflict about them going into the FCIAC so they ended up in the SCC.

Shelton makes more sense in the SCC as it is LL and the NVL, with 14 schools, only has 3 in LL (Crosby, Kennedy, Wilby) and 2 in L (Naugatuck & Torrington) and none except for Naugatuck are powers in in either division. Their traditional rivals from the Housy are all in the SCC now, though they still play Derby on Thanksgiving with Shelton having won the last 11 years (they have played for 100+ years). It’s also a compromise between the two cultures as Shelton is the valley while Huntington is Fairfield county.

 

[kris1]

I think Darien would beat Ansonia also. Remember that in the FCIAC championship game won by New Canaan over St Joes, Cascione was not 100% like he was in the 1st game they played during the regular season, and in that game they blew out St Joe's 62-21.

WAS Cascione cleared to play? DID he not play in the FCIAC Championship Game the week prior? IF he was not healthy enough to play, then why was he out there? Furthermore, their back up QB has plenty of varsity experience. AND, as many of you like to bring up, they're a Class L school with depth, plug someone else on that 90-man roster in. STOP making excuses. New Canaan is very good, but they lost. They were fortunate to get a shot at redemption and they won a state title. Under the old playoff format, NC would have been out of the playoffs and not even in the conversation for #1.

New Canaan played their worst game of the year against Darien. They were 9-yards and seconds away.....and LOST. Ansonia turned the ball over 6-times against Seymour, their worst game. Seymour missed two FGs, the latter would have possibly won the game. But what people forget is that there was plenty of time left on the clock, when Ansonia got the ball back following the second miss. Seymour needed to get a stop to have a chance. McKnight scampered for a big first down, to seal it. Ansonia was lucky, YES. But, they found a way to WIN.

Ansonia year-after-year lines up and says "Here's what we do, try to stop it.". Coaches and players have tried, for the last 43 games (15 this year). These are high school kids, who hear and read the in the papers, on blogs, on forums like this. They are told to stay grounded, stay the course, ignore the outside distractions. It's hard to do regardless who you play. This season Ansonia, worried about Ansonia and became the first team in state history to win 15 games and earned a state record fifth #1 final ranking (1983, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2013). New Canaan (with the help of Mike Quick) thumped their chest, bought into their own hype, and tripped over their egos on Thanksgiving. They won the L title, but ask them to a man if they're satisfied with 14 -1. Football season is a mental and physical grind, in any league...at any level. Going 15-0, is far from easy. It takes a special group. You can speculate all you want about who could or would beat Ansonia, because they don't care. They have the hardware and made history. New Canaan is just a very good 14-1 team, who won an L title, and didn't get it done.

Happy Holidays to all!!

 

[kris1]

Prep wanted to join the FCIAC in late 80's/early 90's. I remember Mike Ornato (Greenwich) being disappointed when it couldn't be worked out. My recollection is that Prep's lack of females made scheduling sports other than football a problem. Some how, the SCC handles the issue.

The SCC added Lauralton Hall (formerly in the SWC), an all girls school in Milford, as a full fledged member in October 2013.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Prep wanted to join the FCIAC in late 80's/early 90's. I remember Mike Ornato (Greenwich) being disappointed when it couldn't be worked out. My recollection is that Prep's lack of females made scheduling sports other than football a problem. Some how, the SCC handles the issue.

Valid point. Xavier/Mercer and ND West Haven/Sacred Heart act as pair, so that likely helps with SCC scheduling, too. Not sure who Fairfield Prep is paired with, though. In the FCIAC, both Trinity Catholic and St. Joe’s are co-ed.

 

[CTBasketball]

They should do conferences by geography. That makes most sense for high school (and college to an extent)..

 

[kris1]

Southington was very impressive last night. Barmore is legit. Yale is getting a great player. I think he also locked up the QB slot for 1st Team All State. Southington's defense was outstanding in the second half. But the most impressive player on the field last night was Southington's, junior WR, Alex Jamele. He's the best WR I've seen this season. Catches everything with his hands, is elusive, and runs well. He's a kid I'll keep an eye on this off-season. His TD catch in the second half, when he snatched it out of a Prep defenders hands at the goal line was ridiculous.

 

[huskysupporter]

Shelton makes more sense in the SCC as it is LL and the NVL, with 14 schools, only has 3 in LL (Crosby, Kennedy, Wilby) and 2 in L (Naugatuck & Torrington) and none except for Naugatuck are powers in in either division. Their traditional rivals from the Housy are all in the SCC now, though they still play Derby on Thanksgiving with Shelton having won the last 11 years (they have played for 100+ years). It’s also a compromise between the two cultures as Shelton is the valley while Huntington is Fairfield county.

Huh? When I played at Shelton, we all had Shelton on our jerseys. Not a Huntington or Valley designation.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Huh? When I played at Shelton, we all had Shelton on our jerseys. Not a Huntington or Valley designation.

Tue; but, there is definitely a cultural difference between the folks living along the river in Shelton and those living in the hills above. I grew-up in the Valley and worked a bit in the Valley and have family and friends in Shelton (both sides), Derby, Ansonia, and Seymour. Maybe it is less now with all of the Valley transplants from Ansonia and Derby looking for better schools and Fairfield county transplants looking for cheaper housing.

 

[huskyrob1]

WAS Cascione cleared to play? DID he not play in the FCIAC
Ansonia year-after-year lines up and says "Here's what we do, try to stop it.". Coaches and players have tried, for the last 43 games (15 this year). These are high school kids, who hear and read the in the papers, on blogs, on forums like this. They are told to stay grounded, stay the course, ignore the outside distractions. It's hard to do regardless who you play. This season Ansonia, worried about Ansonia and became the first team in state history to win 15 games and earned a state record fifth #1 final ranking (1983, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2013). New Canaan (with the help of Mike Quick) thumped their chest, bought into their own hype, and tripped over their egos on Thanksgiving. They won the L title, but ask them to a man if they're satisfied with 14 -1. Football season is a mental and physical grind, in any league...at any level. Going 15-0, is far from easy. It takes a special group. You can speculate all you want about who could or would beat Ansonia, because they don't care. They have the hardware and made history. New Canaan is just a very good 14-1 team, who won an L title, and didn't get it done.

Happy Holidays to all!!

What a lotta horsesh!t Kris….If you're trying to make a case for Ansonia being a better team than New Canaan you could not be more full of it. If Ansonia had played in the FCIAC this past year, at best they would have been 11-4 or 12 -3, and for an S class school that would have been quite a feat. If they had played, New Canaan would have beaten them and it would not have been close. St Joes would have beaten them, as would have Darien, and possibly Staples, Ridgefield or Greenwich.

Do you remember Sandy Osiecki? He was one of the greatest players in state history and arguably the greatest player ever to come out of Ansonia High. That was IMO one of the greatest teams Ansonia ever had. His senior year his coach and other Ansonia boosters began believeing their own press clippings and asked the CIAC for a bump up from Class S to Class LL, because the previous year they lost out on the state poll to an LL school (I forget who). Anyway, they made it to the Class LL final and as good as they were, they got their ass kicked. They did not stay in Class LL very long after that fiasco, IMO they should have stayed in Class S where they belonged and the Sports Writers would have voted them the top team anyway, because going into the Class LL final they were undefeated and the team that beat them in the Class LL final already had one loss or one tie (can't remember), and especially with Osiecki making splashy headlines with the top college coaches in the nation coming to Ansonia to see him play.

http://www.rep-am.com/sports/redzone/767726.txt


BTW…Stamford High won the state sportswriters poll 7 times…Merry Christmas

 

[FDNY99]

I see Rob had to confer with Marinelli before writing his response...but Lou was still pouting over UCONN firing his boys P and GDL so it took him a little while. How much does Marinelli pay you to come on here and spout about New Canaan fb?

 

[huskyrob1]

I see Rob had to confer with Marinelli before writing his response...but Lou was still pouting over UCONN firing his boys P and GDL so it took him a little while. How much does Marinelli pay you to come on here and spout about New Canaan fb?

Hey, I'm no great fan of Marinelli with respect to UCONN either. OK? But that doesn't mean I'm gonna short change what I think is the best team in the state and the young players on that team, like you seem to want to do. Give credit where credit is due. OK? Players and their parents from Fairfield County do read this board, so stop the hate mongering. Just because there might be one problem coach in the FCIAC with respect to UCONN is no reason to denigrate the entire league OR the kids on that coaches team.Lets hope HCBD can start attracting some of the better players from Fairfield County. Palazzollo from Prep might be a good start, though I hear he's high on BC.

 

[joey3$trike$]

All you need right here! Think this is the last time Ansonia played a top fciac team? I could be wrong but more or less this is what would happen.

 

[FDNY99]

Hey, I'm no great fan of Marinelli with respect to UCONN either. OK? But that doesn't mean I'm gonna short change what I think is the best team in the state and the young players on that team, like you seem to want to do. Give credit where credit is due. OK? Players and their parents from Fairfield County do read this board, so stop the hate mongering. Just because there might be one problem coach in the FCIAC with respect to UCONN is no reason to denigrate the entire league OR the kids on that coaches team.Lets hope HCBD can start attracting some of the better players from Fairfield County. Palazzollo from Prep might be a good start, though I hear he's high on BC.

You have to understand...growing up in Eastern CT and having family Darien and Wilton it was pretty easy to see how kids in certain Fairfield Cnty towns look down their noses at others. Heck they even look down at kids from other Fairfield County towns (Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport, Danbury among others). The fact that New Canaan and Darien wanted to play their game at Boyle stadium even before the storm caused the CIAC to move it there was a PERFECT example of how they think they are above everyone else and should be treated special! My issue is with Marinelli and his HIGH horse view of UCONN after P and GDL were fired. Same with Petruccio at Staples! I also feel the same way about Fillipone of Hand. If you are going to hold a grudge because 2 people were fired for doing a flat out poor job...then I have to question your ability as an educator. If guys like Marinelli , Petruccio, and Filipone spent half as much time getting their fellow coaches together to petition the CIAC to loosen the off season team activities rules and put CT HS programs on even footing with NJ and PA schools the HS football product would dramatically improve. But instead they sit back and make snide comments about UCONN football and who the HC and staff are! And one last thing about Marinelli...bringing up Connor Hanratty being recruited by UCONN is a FLAT OUT JOKE!!! My dentist is not only a New Canaan resident BUT a ND grad who's son and Connor are the same age. He and Terry Hanratty took the boys to games together as each has season tickets. According to him UCONN did inquire about Connor...BUT he was destined to play football at ND the day he was born. Same with the other schools that inquired about him. Lou Marinelli may be a VERY good HS coach...but he has put 1 maybe 2 kids into FBS level football. Guys like Greg Toal from Don Bosco in NJ put 10-15 kids into FBS schools EVERY year. For a guy who regularly places kids at D-2 and D-3 schools he thinks awfully high of himself! One last thing...Albonizio has Greenwich play schools like Bosco and other out of state schools. I'd have a bit more respect for Marinelli if he played games like that. But he doesn't because he knows his team will get blown off the field, so it is easier for him to stay in CT and maybe go into Westchester for a game instead.

 

[huskyrob1]

You have to understand...growing up in Eastern CT and having family Darien and Wilton it was pretty easy to see how kids in certain Fairfield Cnty towns look down their noses at others. Heck they even look down at kids from other Fairfield County towns (Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport, Danbury among others). The fact that New Canaan and Darien wanted to play their game at Boyle stadium even before the storm caused the CIAC to move it there was a PERFECT example of how they think they are above everyone else and should be treated special! My issue is with Marinelli and his HIGH horse view of UCONN after P and GDL were fired. Same with Petruccio at Staples! I also feel the same way about Fillipone of Hand. If you are going to hold a grudge because 2 people were fired for doing a flat out poor job...then I have to question your ability as an educator. If guys like Marinelli , Petruccio, and Filipone spent half as much time getting their fellow coaches together to petition the CIAC to loosen the off season team activities rules and put CT HS programs on even footing with NJ and PA schools the HS football product would dramatically improve. But instead they sit back and make snide comments about UCONN football and who the HC and staff are! And one last thing about Marinelli...bringing up Connor Hanratty being recruited by UCONN is a FLAT OUT JOKE!!! My dentist is not only a New Canaan resident BUT a ND grad who's son and Connor are the same age. He and Terry Hanratty took the boys to games together as each has season tickets. According to him UCONN did inquire about Connor...BUT he was destined to play football at ND the day he was born. Same with the other schools that inquired about him. Lou Marinelli may be a VERY good HS coach...but he has put 1 maybe 2 kids into FBS level football. Guys like Greg Toal from Don Bosco in NJ put 10-15 kids into FBS schools EVERY year. For a guy who regularly places kids at D-2 and D-3 schools he thinks awfully high of himself! One last thing...Albonizio has Greenwich play schools like Bosco and other out of state schools. I'd have a bit more respect for Marinelli if he played games like that. But he doesn't because he knows his team will get blown off the field, so it is easier for him to stay in CT and maybe go into Westchester for a game instead.

I hear what you're saying about New Canaan kids always going to Notre Dame, I think in part that tradition goes back many, many, years to the late and great Peter Demmerlee, his 1st team all-american years at ND playing for Ara, winning a national championship, the whole bit. Kurt Horton followed him there the next year.

As to Don Bosco in NJ, and keep in mind I'm not trying to make excuses for Marinelli, but Bosco is a huge Catholic school and recruits from all over NJ. Any local public school football coach is at a huge disadvantage in the D1 talent area.

 

[FDNY99]

I hear what you're saying about New Canaan kids always going to Notre Dame, I think in part that tradition goes back many, many, years to the late and great Peter Demmerlee, his 1st team all-american years at ND playing for Ara, winning a national championship, the whole bit. Kurt Horton followed him there the next year.

As to Don Bosco in NJ, and keep in mind I'm not trying to make excuses for Marinelli, but Bosco is a huge Catholic school and recruits from all over NJ. Any local public school football coach is at a huge disadvantage in the D1 talent area.

Connor would have gone to ND no matter where he went to HS...he was a legacy there because of who his father is. I think that is cool as hell...to play on the same field and dress in the same locker room your father did!

 

[kris1]

What a lotta horsesh!t Kris….If you're trying to make a case for Ansonia being a better team than New Canaan you could not be more full of it. If Ansonia had played in the FCIAC this past year, at best they would have been 11-4 or 12 -3, and for an S class school that would have been quite a feat. If they had played, New Canaan would have beaten them and it would not have been close. St Joes would have beaten them, as would have Darien, and possibly Staples, Ridgefield or Greenwich.

Do you remember Sandy Osiecki? He was one of the greatest players in state history and arguably the greatest player ever to come out of Ansonia High. That was IMO one of the greatest teams Ansonia ever had. His senior year his coach and other Ansonia boosters began believeing their own press clippings and asked the CIAC for a bump up from Class S to Class LL, because the previous year they lost out on the state poll to an LL school (I forget who). Anyway, they made it to the Class LL final and as good as they were, they got their ass kicked. They did not stay in Class LL very long after that fiasco, IMO they should have stayed in Class S where they belonged and the Sports Writers would have voted them the top team anyway, because going into the Class LL final they were undefeated and the team that beat them in the Class LL final already had one loss or one tie (can't remember), and especially with Osiecki making splashy headlines with the top college coaches in the nation coming to Ansonia to see him play.

http://www.rep-am.com/sports/redzone/767726.txt


BTW…Stamford High won the state sportswriters poll 7 times…Merry Christmas

Lmao. Thanks for the history lesson. Talk about horse$h!t. Really were talking about 30+ years ago to justify your hypothetical point. Well, I can't beat that one. But, ahh what the hell. You might want to double check your CTHS football history. Yes, Stamford High won seven "Waskowitz Awards". An award given to the team the Associated Press recognized as the state's top team. The award ended in 1971. Unfortunately, they are all pre-CIAC and aren't recognized by the CIAC, as noted in the record book. The AP poll ended in 1954. The New Haven Register Poll began in 1961 and has continued to be the poll that recognizes the state's top team. Stamford finished #1 in 1970 and 1971. They haven't sniffed the poll since. The state playoffs began in 1976. Ansonia petitioned to play up in 1978, after two undefeated seasons prior. They lost to Amity, 35-20, to snap their, at the time, state record 36-game win streak. Ansonia beat Seymour for the M Title, 28-14, in 1979. Ansonia petitioned up again in 1980, where they lost 28-14 to defending LL champ Newington. I would hardly call those ass-kickings and those who were there will tell you how competative the contests were. It was also a very different era of football. Following that season the CIAC, amid pressure from the larger schools, voted to disallow smaller schools from petitioning up. The larger school didn't want Ansonia taking their LL playoff spot. For what it's worth, The Hartford Courant Poll began in 1984.

Thanks for playing.

 

[kris1]

All you need right here! Think this is the last time Ansonia played a top fciac team? I could be wrong but more or less this is what would happen.

That's funny too. A senior laden St. Joe's, that played for a championship the year before, beat a team of sophomores and Montrell Dobbs. Shocking!!! Ansonia still gave them all they could handle. Dobbs rushed for over 300 yards and Ansonia cut it to a one score game with just over 4-minutes remaining when St. Joe's tacked on two late scores. That was the best thing that happened to Ansonia, they haven't lost since. How'd St. Joe's do the following year? If you think that Ansonia team is as good as this one, I want what your smokin'. The 2013 St. Joe's team doesn't hold a candle to their 2010 team either.

 

[huskyrob1]

Connor would have gone to ND no matter where he went to HS...he was a legacy there because of who his father is. I think that is cool as hell...to play on the same field and dress in the same locker room your father did!

Rudy!!! RUDY!!!

 

[uconnfan68]

Prep wanted to join the FCIAC in late 80's/early 90's. I remember Mike Ornato (Greenwich) being disappointed when it couldn't be worked out. My recollection is that Prep's lack of females made scheduling sports other than football a problem. Some how, the SCC handles the issue.

There are several single-sex schools in the SCC. Boys: Xavier, ND-WH, FP; Girls: Mercy, Lauralton Hall.

 

[joey3$trike$]

That's funny too. A senior laden St. Joe's, that played for a championship the year before, beat a team of sophomores and Montrell Dobbs. Shocking!!! Ansonia still gave them all they could handle. Dobbs rushed for over 300 yards and Ansonia cut it to a one score game with just over 4-minutes remaining when St. Joe's tacked on two late scores. That was the best thing that happened to Ansonia, they haven't lost since. How'd St. Joe's do the following year? If you think that Ansonia team is as good as this one, I want what your smokin'. The 2013 St. Joe's team doesn't hold a candle to their 2010 team either.

Congrats on beating the small schools, but won't win in the Fciac or SCC for that matter IMO. They would get worn down just like in 2010. 15-0 only can give props for that. #1 ranking by default.. but unbeaten years is a great accomplishment. Good to see Southington win, I remember they would throw the ball like crazy vs us/Trumbull in 97. The offenses now remind me of that team. Still can't believe how much offense has changed over the years. I enjoyed watching Newsome run vs Masuk and the soph kid.