High school football players from 15 of the 16 FCIAC teams will compete in a combined eight games during the Thanksgiving holiday to conclude their respective regular seasons of this 2025 season.
Most of these games are considered the season’s rivalry games for the conference teams as the schedule includes four games with teams from either the same city or same town squaring off against each other.
In addition to the Thanksgiving games generally being rivalry games throughout the state, they are also consequential to determining which teams qualify for any of the eight berths in the six Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference state football tournaments and where those teams get seeded in those tourneys.
The FCIAC schedule begins with one huge game on Wednesday night in a matchup of two teams with identical 6-3 records when the Ridgefield Tigers travel northbound and across the border to play at Danbury (6 p.m.).
The host Danbury Hatters have already secured their berth in the CIAC Class LL Football Tournament as they are currently ranked No. 7 with their average of 111.1 points, an average which is 15 points more than the 96.1 average of No. 8 Norwich Free Academy (5-4).
The game is vital for Ridgefield’s Tigers because they are ranked No. 8 as the fourth of four FCIAC teams ranked among the top eight in the current CIAC Class L Tournament Rankings. Ridgefield’s points average is 108.9 and No. 9 Platt (5-4) has a 107.2 average.
The other seven FCIAC games involving 13 FCIAC teams will be played on Thanksgiving morning – all of them with 10 o’clock kickoffs.
Darien (6-3) plays at New Canaan (9-0) in yet another Turkey Bowl showdown that seemingly is always vital toward determining both teams eventual seedings for the Class L tourney.
In this year’s Class L State Tournament Rankings going into Thursday’s games: New Canaan is ranked No. 1 with 1,650 total points and a points average of 183.3. Second-ranked Cheshire has a 7-2 record, 1,355 total points and a points average of 150.6.
New Canaan and Cheshire are followed in the top five by Newtown (7-2 record, 138.9 average), No. 4 Weaver/Hartford Public/Classical (7-2, 137.2) and Abbott Tech/Immaculate (7-2, 123.9).
The next three teams ranked 6-through-8 in Class L are FCIAC teams Darien (6-3, 118.9 average), No. 7 Fairfield Ludlowe (6-3, 115.6), and Ridgefield (6-3, 108.9).
The Greenwich-Staples showdown has become another great Thanksgiving Day rivalry because it has been a huge game for both programs regarding their eventual seedings in several recent Class LL state tournaments.
Staples (5-4) travels southbound down I-95 this year to play a host 7-2 Greenwich team which is ranked No. 3 in the Class LL Tournament Rankings.
New Britain (8-1) is ranked first with an average of 152.8 points and Fairfield Prep (7-2 record, 151.1 average) is No. 2.
The third-ranked Greenwich Cardinals have a 143.9 average, and fellow FCIAC teams Staples (113.3 average) and Danbury (111.1) are ranked sixth and seventh, respectively.
St. Joseph (7-2) will try to maintain its No. 1 ranking in the CIAC Class M Football Tournament Rankings at Trumbull (3-6).
Unbeaten and second-ranked Berlin (10-0) has 1,665 total points and a 166.5 average. St. Joseph’s Cadets have 1,520 total points but the strength of their schedule which includes many larger FCIAC schools has them with an average of 168.9 for the No. 1 ranking.
In the three other FCIAC games involving showdowns of teams from either the same city or same town, with the teams season records in parenthesis: the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons (6-3) have a goal of a second consecutive appearance in the Class L tournament when they play at Fairfield Warde (5-4), Norwalk (5-4) takes a two-game winning streak into its game at Brien McMahon (3-6), and Westhill (1-9) travels down to Boyle Stadium to play host Stamford (0-9).
Bridgeport Central (1-8) from the FCIAC has city rivalry road game against former FCIAC member Warren Harding (2-7) in the 102nd matchup of these two Bridgeport high schools.
Wilton is the only FCIAC team not in action this week. The Warriors rebounded from their first loss of the year on Nov. 14, a 24-12 loss at home to St. Joseph, when they rolled to a 42-0 home victory over Hillhouse on Nov. 21 to finish their regular season with a 9-1 record.
Wilton is ranked No. 2 in the Class MM Tournament Rankings with an average of 157.0 points which is 2.5 less than No. 1 Windsor (a 9-1 record with a 159.5 average) and well ahead of No. 3 Bunnell (7-2 record, 133.9 average).
Greenwich, New Canaan and St. Joseph are all defending state champions in their respective classes.
Coach Anthony Morello’s Greenwich Cardinals captured the Class LL crown for the second time in the previous three years with a 14-0 victory over West Haven.
Coach Lou Marinelli’s New Canaan Rams have their team goal of a fourth consecutive Class L state championship this year as they three-peated last year with a 35-21 victory over Darien.
Coach Joe DellaVecchia and his St. Joseph Cadets won a 21-20 thriller over Brookfield last year for the program’s fourth state championship since 2017.
DellaVecchia’s 2017 Cadets copped the Class S state championship. They moved up to Class M the next year and won that, and St. Joseph moved up another class the following season when there were still four state tournaments and those 2019 Cadets became the Class L state champions.
New Canaan was ranked No. 1 in the 2024 Final GametimeCT Top 10 Football Poll. The Rams were ranked No. 1 in this year’s preseason poll and every weekly poll since then. The 9-0 Rams received 19 of the 21 first-place votes to lead a contingent of four FCIAC schools ranked in the top six.
Second-ranked Killingly (9-0) got the other two first-place votes and Daniel Hand (8-1) is No. 3.
FCIAC teams St. Joseph (7-2), Greenwich (7-2) and Wilton (9-1) are ranked 4-through-6, respectively.
The other four teams in the Top 10 poll which was released Nov. 24 are Fairfield Prep (7-2), New Britain (8-1), No. 9 Windsor (9-1), and Cheshire (7-2).
There are four FCIAC teams in the “Others Receiving Votes” category in the format in which the 21 voting members of the media rank their top 15 teams in order.
Darien (6-3) received the 16th most polling points, Staples (5-4) got the 18th most, Fairfield Ludlowe (6-3) received the 22nd most, and one voter ranked Ridgefield 15th so the 6-3 Tigers got the 27th most points.