Boo!
It’s October already. The leaves are changing colors, Halloween will be here soon, and homecoming games are on the schedule for many of the CIAC’s football teams.
October also means byes, with reduced slates of 46 and 34 games over the next two weeks.
The majority of Week 4’s games are complete and some separation has begun.
On Friday, we saw some statement wins, a few playoff-caliber matchups, and perhaps a number of setbacks. As of Saturday morning, 23 teams remain unbeaten, with 19 of those now 4-0. Greenwich and Masuk, both 3-0, are in action Saturday afternoon.
Both Class M and Class SS feature five unbeaten teams apiece, with the Class SS group of Law, Hand, Plainville, Ansonia and Waterford all 4-0. There are two more Class SS teams with one loss each, and also four 2-2 teams, so a .500 record places a team in the thick of the race. Right now, the eight spot is held by Rocky Hill.
In Class M, the top eight is a bit more complicated, with 11 teams either undefeated (5) or having one loss (6).
Class S is similar, with three unbeatens and another eight teams with just one loss.
At the opposite end is Class LL, where just four teams are above .500. Greenwich, Staples (4-0) and Southington (4-0) are unbeaten. And in a surprise, Stamford currently ranks fourth with a 3-1 record after going 1-9 last season.
There’s obviously a long, long way to go between here and the playoffs, but we’re at least beginning to get a semblance of what the races are going to look like.
Then again, maybe not.
An A+ performance
We’ve already mentioned the logjam at the top of Class SS. And smack dab in the middle of things is Plainville.
The Blue Devils are off to their first 4-0 start in 21 years. The 2005 season didn’t end well, as Plainville lost five of its next six games to end at 5-5.
This year is shaping up to be different, however, and after beating Tolland to the tune of 40-0 on Friday, senior quarterback Anthony Abarno is giving the Blue Devils much more than just a passing grade.
“You know, we worked so hard in the offseason, even in-season practices we worked so hard,” Abarno told GametimeCT’s Bryant Carpenter. “We try to be A+ every practice, every conditioning (session). Everything, we try to be A+. So, yeah, we expected to be 4-0.”
The Blue Devils’ latest win, a battle of unbeatens with Tolland, was total domination, and Abarno continued to have a hot hand, passing for 266 yards and four touchdowns, while adding one more TD on the ground. That gives him 1,166 yards and 16 touchdowns with just one pick this season, after putting up 2,531 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior.
“We wanted to make a statement tonight and wanted to create some separation with some of the teams on our schedule, and I thought we did that,” said Plainville coach Tim Shea. “Every week, there’s always new challenges. We were more beat up than people think, so I’m real proud of how the kids stepped up tonight.”
Turnabout
No. 7-ranked Staples outscored its first two opponents by a combined score of 109-0, jumping to 2-0 in a relative breeze.
Its last two games? Not so much.
After defeating Ridgefield by three points last week, the Wreckers rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat No. 6 Cheshire 14-10 in one of the Alliance’s premier games Friday night in Westport.
Quarterback Grant Bozeman passed for 229 yards and connected with Lucas Kuliga and Noah Sandrew for touchdowns. Sandrew, who had 11 catches for 112 yards, scored the game-winner on a stunning dive to the pylon with 5:39 remaining.
The game was a dramatic turnabout after Cheshire had used its tough running attack to dominate the time of possession while building a 10-0 lead in the first half.
Staples found its rhythm in the second half to get the win, with the defense shutting out the Rams in the final 24 minutes.
“Our guys care so deeply and they’re so passionate about our program and each other and wanting to fight side-by-side,” Staples coach Matty Jacowleff told GametimeCT. “We knew (Cheshire) was trying to possess but we felt confident that over the course of the game, we were going to be able to hit our shots and cash in on some big opportunities.”
Bullet points
- Pomperaug defeated Bunnell 49-21 behind its “flexbone” offense, improving to 4-0 with three wins over perennial SWC contenders Brookfield, Newtown and now Bunnell.
- Hand
continued its streak against Fairfield Prep, beating the Jesuits for the fourth consecutive time 35-13 at the Surf Club in Madison. As GametimeCT’s Joe Morelli pointed out, none of the current Tigers players have ever lost a game to Prep. - No. 1-ranked New Canaan finally gave up points, but still defeated No. 9 New Britain 47-14 for its state-leading 27th consecutive win. The Rams had shut out their first three opponents.
- Berlin, which had its 15-game winning streak snapped by South Windsor in Week 3, lost a second straight, falling to North Haven 24-7. That was also the Nighthawks’ first win of the campaign.
- Bridgeport Central
defeated Bassick 40-16 for its second win, doubling its win total from the previous seven seasons combined. The Hilltoppers were 1-9 last year and snapped a 61-game losing streak last fall. Not a bad start at all for first-year coach Ryan Ayers. - Stamford shut out Stratford 25-0 to push its winning streak to three and jump to fourth place in the Class LL rankings. The Black Knights were 1-9 in each of the past two seasons.
- Defending Class MM champion Windsor blasted East Hartford 50-0 to get its first victory of the year. The Warriors opened the year with games against three Top 10-ranked teams in New Britain, St. Joseph and Glastonbury.
- Simsbury romped over Bloomfield 55-20 on Thursday and, under new head coach Jim Caouette, improved to 3-1 after finishing 1-9 last season.
Up next
We’ve nearly reached the midpoint of the CIAC football season and that means … bye weeks.
There are reduced slates the next two weeks with 46 games scheduled for Week 5 and another 34 in Week 6.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t some interesting matchups ahead.
The SCC has some key contests, led by a battle of teams ranked in the GametimeCT Top 10 poll when No. 6 Cheshire visits No. 4 Hand on Friday at the Surf Club at 7 p.m. Last season, the Rams rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit and won 28-27 in OT.
We’ll also get a look at Law at Xavier and Sheehan at Shelton, with both of those games also kicking off Friday at 7 p.m.
The Pequot also features a showdown with perennial power Rockville playing at unbeaten North Branford on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Other Week 5 games to watch:
Friday, Oct. 9
- Platt at Windsor, 6 p.m.
- Branford at Wilbur Cross/Career, 6 p.m.
- Guilford at West Haven, 6 p.m.
- New Britain at Glastonbury, 6:30 p.m.
- Conard at Berlin, 6:30 p.m.
- Fitch at New London, 6:30 p.m.
- Ansonia at Holy Cross, 6:30 p.m.
This article originally published at Inside Week 4 of CIAC football: Unbeatens, an A+ grade and a turnabout.
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