State Finals are set

[Oxford Bob]

Class LL: Fairfield Prep v. Southington
Class L: New Canaan v. Darien
Class M: St. Joseph's v. Brookfield
Class S: Ansonia v. Wooldland

The fighting Coach Caps of Southington have looked awfully good in their 2 State games, while Prep has played 2 very tough games. Preps Colton Smith will have to run the ball well to keep Southington's Barmore off the field. I'm still sticking with Prep in a close game.

New Canaan and Darien met two weeks ago with Darien handing NC their only loss. The NC defense hasn't given up a point in the playoffs, while Darien has played 2 close games. Darien tends to turn the ball over a little too much, New Canaan should win this by double digits.

St. Joe's offense has been unstoppable registering 146 points in their 2 games, while Brookfield needed late TDs to win both of theirs. St. Joes should win this in a blowout. Hopefully St. Joes RB Bashir is ok after being taken off the field on a stretcher in the first quarter today against Barlow.

Ansonia, need i say more. Maybe Kris knows, but when was the last time Woodland played Ansonia close. Ansonia won 48-7 the last time these two NVL rivals played this year. While I expect a little closer game Ansonia should still win in a blowout.

This years finals definitely have a Western Ct flair to them. Southington is the only school east of Route 8, not counting Ansonia whose field is about 50 yds from Route 8.

Breakdown:
3 teams from the FCIAC
2 teams from the NVL
1 team each from SWC, SCC, CCC

 

[Jimdish255]

St. Joe's offense has been unstoppable registering 146 points in their 2 games, while Brookfield needed late TDs to win both of theirs. St. Joes should win this in a blowout. Hopefully St. Joes RB Bashir is ok after being taken off the field on a stretcher in the first quarter today against Barlow.

All true and I hope the young man recovers quickly.

That said I saw some of the game today and St. Joe's reminded me of Xavier a couple of years ago. Huge, fast and athletic. Not like many HS teams I have ever seen.

Now some people may take issue with this but I feel there should be some parameters in place that would apply to a team like St. Joes that apparently recruits extensively throughout the region. Maybe there should be at least a radius or formula that would take into account the amount of athletes residing outside a certain area that would "bump" teams up a class or 2 if those numbers are exceeded (including those moving in with "surrogates"). Judging by what I saw today, nobody including Brookfield in that division belongs on the field with St. Joes nor are they likely to in most years. The only thing that will hold them back might be 2 or more losses in the FCIAC against large or well resourced schools. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's a bad joke watching them play Class M schools in this tournament..

 

[kris1]

Ansonia, need i say more. Maybe Kris knows, but when was the last time Woodland played Ansonia close. Ansonia won 48-7 the last time these two NVL rivals played this year. While I expect a little closer game Ansonia should still win in a blowout.

2010 -- Montrell Dobbs led Ansonia to a hard fought 41-36 win @ Woodland in the season opener for both teams. Woodland won back-to-back meeting against the Chargers in '04 and '05 (21-0 and 35-28, respectively). Their only victories in the series. The teams did not meet in 2009.

Woodland is well-coached. They will be prepared for this game. They did not have their starting RB, Sean McAllen (concussion) in today's win over Bloomfield and they lost their back up RB to a knee injury today. I expect record-setting QB, Tanner Kingsley to sling it all over the field. He broke the CT state record for career TD passes (113) in today's victory.

 

[Oxford Bob]

I agree Jim, to an extent all of the catholic schools recruit. Some recruit in football (Xavier) some in basketball (Trinity Catholic and Northwest Catholic) some for everything (St. Joe's). They tried years ago to have a catholic school league, but it wasn't travel efficient for most teams. They should have a division for all these schools. Allow them to play in whatever league they are apart of, then in playoffs/tournaments they get put into their own class. We shall see how St. Joes does in the future without their AD Olayas. He was the guy who really turned them into a competitive school in all sports, plus he was a Montelli guy. He is now at ND-Fairfield. It wouldn't shock me to see ND become more competitive and St. Joes take a step back.