New Canaan has retained its season-long No. 1 ranking while leading a quartet of FCIAC teams ranked among top six in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 Football Poll in which there was plenty of up and down movement from last week’s poll.
Two of those FCIAC teams, third-ranked Wilton and No. 6 St. Joseph, both ascended multiple positions from the previous poll with big victories last weekend.
And, as the Week 9 schedule conveniently has it, they have a big showdown against each other this Friday night with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Wilton High School’s Tom Fujitani Field when the Warriors host the St. Joseph Cadets.
New Canaan’s Rams three-peated in winning their third consecutive Class L state championship with a 35-21 victory over Darien in last December’s Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Football Tournament final. Consequently, New Canaan was voted No. 1 in the Final 2024 GametimeCT Top 10 Football Poll.
That’s where New Canaan was also ranked in this season’s preseason GametimeCT Poll, and coach Lou Marinelli’s undefeated Rams have maintained that ranking with several impressive victories.
After the most recent one, a 28-0 road victory last Friday night (Nov. 7) over a strong Staples team which was ranked No. 10 in the state poll at the time, the 8-0 Rams received 20 of the 22 first-place votes and 656 polling points, 70 more than No. 2 Killingly.
This week’s top three ranked teams all have undefeated 8-0 records.
The Killingly Trailblazers received the other two first-place votes and 586 polling points, just two points more than No. 3 Wilton.
It has been quite the resurgent year for coach E.J. DiNunzio’s Wilton Warriors. The Warriors, who finished 5-5 last year, were still outside of the Top 10 in the GametimeCT state poll after they improved to 4-0 with their 35-23 victory over Fairfield Ludlowe on their own Fujitani Field on Oct. 4.
If there was ever any doubt as to whether Wilton was legit, the Warriors clearly removed all doubt six nights later against a home Staples team which was then ranked fifth in the state. Wilton certainly caught the attention of the voting pollsters with a 41-7 victory which led to them making their debut in the Top 10 a few days later at No. 6.
Last week Wilton came through with a huge 7-3 victory at home over a very good Greenwich team, which was ranked No. 3 at the time. That victory enabled the 8-0 Warriors to vault up from No. 6 last week to No. 3 this week. They leapfrogged over three teams which were beaten last week. Greenwich dropped down to No. 5.
Coach Anthony Morello’s defending Class LL state champion Greenwich Cardinals now have a 6-2 record. Their previous loss occurred Oct. 24 when host New Canaan defeated Greenwich, 14-7, in a Friday night No. 1-versus-No. 2 matchup.
Like Wilton, Daniel Hand’s Tigers also moved up three spots and leapfrogged over the same three teams (Greenwich, Fairfield Prep, Windsor) which were beaten last week. The No. 4 Tigers (7-1) received 520 points and No. 5 Greenwich is 48 points behind them with 472.
Defending Class M state champion St. Joseph ascended two spots to No. 6 to become that fourth FCIAC team among the top six. St. Joseph received 456 polling points, just 16 points less than Greenwich and 64 more than seventh-ranked Fairfield Prep.
St. Joseph’s Cadets gave their respected and beloved veteran coach, Joe DellaVecchia, his milestone 200th career victory last Saturday on their own Dalling Field with a 35-14 triumph over Fairfield Ludlowe. That fourth straight victory improved them to 6-2.
After No. 7 Fairfield Prep (6-2), the three other Top 10 teams in the GametimeCT state poll which was released Nov. 10 are No. 8 New Britain (7-1), No. 9 Windsor (7-1), and No. 10 Cheshire (6-2).
Staples, No. 10 in the previous poll, fell a few spots. The 5-3 Wreckers received the 13th most polling points as one of the three FCIAC teams in the Others Receiving Votes group of 15 teams statewide. Darien (6-2) got the 14th most points and Ridgefield (5-3) got the 25th most as one voter ranked the Tigers 15th.
Each of the 22 voting media members lists their respective top 15 teams, in order, and the polling points are accumulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis.
So, New Canaan’s compilation of 656 points combines the addition of the Rams receiving 600 points from their 20 first-place votes and the other 56 points from the two voters who ranked Killingly No. 1 and New Canaan No. 2.
There is also more clarity in the CIAC Rankings regarding contenders for the highest seeds in each of the six state tournament classes. Eight teams qualify for the opening quarterfinal round in each class.
The 8-0 New Canaan Rams are No. 1 in Class L with 1,430 total points and a points average of 178.8. Cheshire (a 6-2 record) has 1,130 points and an average of 141.3 at No. 2. Third-ranked Newtown (6-2) has 1,035 points with a 129.4 average, while FCIAC member Darien has a 6-2 record and is No. 4 with 980 points and a 122.5 average.
In the Class LL rankings: New Britain (7-1 season record, 1,145 points, 143.1 average) is ranked first; Fairfield Prep is second (6-2, 1,131 points, 141.3 average); FCIAC teams Greenwich (6-2, 1,065 points, 133.1 average) and Staples (5-3, 965 points, 120.6 average) are ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while fellow conference member Danbury (5-3, 835 points, 104.4 average) is No. 7.
Wilton, with the combination of its Schedule Strength of 200 and unbeaten 8-0 record, is a solid No. 1 in Class MM with 1,390 total points and a points average of 173.8.
Windsor (7-1 record, 200 Schedule Strength, 1,220 points and 152.5 average), is No. 2 and followed by 6-2 teams Bunnell at No. 3 and Middletown at No. 4.
In Class M: unbeaten Berlin (8-0) and St. Joseph (6-2) are ranked 1-2, respectively. Berlin has a Schedule Strength of 185, 1,285 points and a points average of 160.6.
Because St. Joseph plays several quality teams in the FCIAC which are in the larger classes predominantly, the Cadets have a Schedule Strength of 285 and they’re close behind Berlin with 1,255 points and a 145.9 points average.
St. Joseph’s two losses were both close games at home against two teams ranked among the top four in the current state poll. The Cadets lost their season opener to Daniel Hand, 30-28, and they hung tough with New Canaan but dropped to 2-2 on Oct. 4 when the No. 1 Rams prevailed by a 7-3 margin.
The FCIAC, which predominantly consists of the largest schools in the state based on male enrollment, has plenty of teams ranked high in the four largest of the six state tournament classes.
Killingly (8-0) is ranked No. 1 in Class SS. Woodland (8-0), which received the 15th most polling points in the current GameimeCT weekly state poll, is No. 1 in Class S.