The opening kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Greenwich’s Cardinal Stadium for a huge Friday night rematch of the two top-ranked teams in the state when No. 2 Greenwich hosts No. 1 New Canaan.
These two proud programs and perennially strong teams are both undefeated at 5-0 and defending state champions in their respective classes going into their second straight No. 1-vs.-No. 2 game in the last two years.
New Canaan’s top-ranked Rams won last year’s game on Oct. 24, 2025, 14-7, on their own Dunning Field en route to their perfect 13-0 season.
In a slight difference from the four previous weekly polls when New Canaan and Greenwich were ranked 1-2, a trio of FCIAC teams are again ranked atop the poll, but Greenwich now shares the No. 2 ranking with St. Joseph in the GametimeCT Top 10 Football Poll which was released Oct. 19.
In contrast to the previous poll when Greenwich received 572 polling points, 32 more than third-ranked St. Joseph (540), St. Joseph accumulated 32 more points this week so Greenwich and St. Joseph both have 572 points.
New Canaan received the maximum 660 points as the unanimous choice for the No. 1 ranking with 22 first-place votes.
Coach Lou Marinelli’s New Canaan Rams, coach Anthony Morelli’s Greenwich Cardinals, and coach Joe DellaVecchia’s St. Joseph Cadets are three of the five FCIAC teams ranked among the top seven. Fairfield Ludlowe and Staples are No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
The top six teams of New Canaan, Greenwich, St. Joseph, No. 4 Daniel Hand, No. 5 Southington, and Fairfield Ludlowe all have identical 5-0 records.
Seventh-ranked Staples is 5-1. Nine of the Top 10 teams are unbeaten at 5-0. Eighth-ranked Pomperaug, No. 9 New London and No. 10 Masuk complete the Top 10.
Coach Marty Jacowleff’s Staples Wreckers got their lone loss at Danbury by a 17-10 margin Oct. 9 before they bounced back with a 20-0 home victory Oct. 16 against Darien.
Greenwich was idle last week with its 5-0 record, while New Canaan and St. Joseph each improved to 5-0 with their victories. New Canaan, Greenwich, and St. Joseph have won all five of their games in impressive fashion.
New Canaan’s Rams shut out four of their five opponents as they average 42.4 points per game on offense and have allowed an average of 2.8 points on defense. New Britain was the only team which has scored against them in New Canaan’s 47-14 road victory Oct. 2.
Greenwich’s Cardinals have shut out three foes and the Cardinals average 33.4 offensive points and have allowed an average of 2.6 on defense. St. Joseph has a pair of shutout victories with PPG averages of 38.6 on offense and 6.4 on defense.
And there is also that other unbeaten FCIAC team off to that 5-0 start – the Fairfield Ludlowe program which coach Mitchell Ross has guided to the best start to a season in school history.
The Falcons, who have scored 38 points per game and allowed an average of 13.2 points, are coming off a very big win to give credence to the fact that they are indeed a very good team.
Senior quarterback Ryan Love fired three touchdown passes to help lead them to a 30-15 home victory Oct. 15 over a Ridgefield team which was ranked No. 8 in last week’s state poll.
Ludlowe’s Falcons maintained the same No. 6 ranking they had in the previous poll, but this week’s total of 442 points is a significant increase of 62 points from the 380 they got in the previous poll.
Ridgefield dropped three spots from the previous poll. The 3-2 Tigers received the 11th most polling points so they’re the first team listed in the Others Receiving Votes category. The 3-2 Danbury Hatters received the 18th most polling points as the other FCIAC team in that category.
Fairfield Ludlowe’s Falcons are amid a challenging three-game run as they travel up to play a solid Danbury squad Friday (7 p.m.) before their Oct. 30 road game at New Canaan (7 p.m.).
St. Joseph is idle this week along with fellow FCIAC teams Staples, Wilton (3-2 overall record), Norwalk (1-5) and Bridgeport Central (2-4).
In three other games this Friday night pitting FCIAC teams against each other: Stamford visits Fairfield Warde for a 6 p.m. kickoff between two teams with 3-2 records, while (Darien (2-3) plays at Brien McMahon (1-4) and Ridgefield (3-2) travels to Trumbull (1-4) in games that begin at 7 p.m.
There was a doubleheader sweep of FCIAC victories in two state tournament championship games last Dec. 13 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New Britain.
New Canaan won its fourth consecutive Class L state championship in the afternoon with a 34-13 victory over Cheshire, and that was followed by Greenwich defending its Class LL crown in the evening with a convincing 45-6 victory over Southington.
New Canaan and Greenwich have combined to win seven state championships in the 2022-25 four-year span. Greenwich won the Class LL title in 2022 prior to going back-to-back in 2024 and last year.
New Canaan and Greenwich each have three more games against fellow FCIAC teams ranked in the current Top 10 state poll, including Friday night’s game.
New Canaan’s Rams have a pair of huge games within eight days of each other as they host Fairfield Ludlowe Oct. 30 at Dunning Field (7 p.m.).
As is the case seemingly every year, the Greenwich-Staples Thanksgiving showdown at Staples will be pivotal in finalizing where both teams end up in the final Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference rankings which determine the seedings for the 2026 CIAC Class LL Football Tournament.
Greenwich is ranked first in the Class LL Tournament Rankings with a points total of 770 and a points average of 154.0.
The Cardinals are followed by Southington (5-0 record, 144.0 points average), third-ranked Staples (5-1, 125.0), No. 4 Danbury (3-2, 108.0), New Britain (3-2, 99.0), and No. 6 Stamford (3-2, 87.0) as the fourth FCIAC team among the top six.
Naugatuck is ranked No. 1 in the CIAC Class L tournament (5-0 record, 149.0 points average) and followed by New Canaan (5-0, 147.0), No. 3 Fairfield Ludlowe (141.0), Shelton (119.0), Simsbury (119.0) and No. 6 Ridgefield (3-2, 10.0)
St. Joseph is ranked first as the only FCIAC team in the Class MM tourney. The 5-0 Cadets have a points average of 154.0 and are followed by Middletown (5-0, 138.0), Pomperaug (5-0, 137.0) and Holy Cross (4-1, 121.0).
New Canaan and Greenwich each have three more games against fellow FCIAC teams ranked in the current Top 10 state poll, while St. Joseph, Fairfield Ludlowe and Staples have two such games.
The schedule of the six remaining matchups involving the five FCIAC teams ranked in the Top 10 is listed below:
Oct. 23: New Canaan at Greenwich, 7 p.m.
Oct 30: Fairfield Ludlowe at New Canaan, 7 p.m.
Nov. 6: St. Joseph at New Canaan, 7 p.m.
Nov. 13: Fairfield Ludlowe at Staples, 7 p.m.
Nov. 14: Greenwich at St. Joseph, noon
Nov. 26: Greenwich at Staples, 10 a.m.