When Southington scored a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter at top-ranked Greenwich on Sept. 24 to pull out a dramatic 29-28 comeback victory, that resulted in Southington vaulting up five spots to No. 1 in the state poll which was released two days later.
Southington still maintains that No. 1 ranking.
Southington and New Canaan both have unbeaten 6-0 records and are ranked 1-2 for the fifth consecutive week in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll which was released Oct. 24.
New Canaan leads a trio of FCIAC teams ranked among the top six as Greenwich is No. 4 and St. Joseph is No. 6.
Southington received 16 first-place votes and 672 polling points while New Canaan got the other seven first-place votes and 642 polling points.
Maloney (6-0) maintained its No. 3 ranking.
Greenwich (5-1) remained No. 4, West Haven (6-0) remained No. 5, and St. Joseph (5-1) moved up one spot to No. 6.
Hamden (6-0), Ansonia (6-0), Shelton (4-2) and North Haven (5-1) are ranked 7-10.
Staples, Trumbull, and Darien are the three FCIAC teams in the “Also receiving votes” category. Staples (5-1) received the 12th most polling points, Trumbull (4-2) got the 18th most, and one media member put Darien 15th on their ballot so the 4-2 Blue Wave got the 17th most polling points as the final team which received points.
The season is now at the point where every game in which one ranked team plays another is a pivotal game toward determining the seedings for any of the six state playoffs.
This week’s biggest game features two FCIAC teams when St. Joseph coach Joe DellaVecchia and his sixth-ranked Cadets travel down to New Canaan High School’s Dunning Stadium to play coach Lou Marinelli’s second-ranked Rams.
This game is especially pivotal because both teams are currently positioned very well for high seedings in the Class L playoffs.
St. Joseph goes into the game ranked No. 1 in the 2022 Class L Football Point Rankings with 890 total points and a Points Average of 148.33. New Canaan is No. 2 with 875 points and a Points Average of 145.83.
Maloney (840 total points/140.00 points average) is No. 3 and followed by Cheshire (780/130.00), Naugatuck (770/128.33), Newtown (730/121.67), seventh-ranked Darien (705/117.50), and Shelton (165/107.50).
Greenwich, Staples, Trumbull, and Danbury are all ranked among the top eight in the Class LL rankings.
West Haven (915/152.50) is No. 1, Southington (890/148.33) is No. 2, and Greenwich (875/145.83) is ranked third.
Hamden (83/138.33) is No. 4 and followed by Staples (770/138.33), Glastonbury (670/111.67), seventh-ranked Trumbull (645/107.50), and 4-2 Danbury (605/100.83).
The state playoffs have expanded this year with the addition of the Class MM and Class SS playoffs. There will be 48 teams qualifying for six class playoffs – eight teams in each class.
There were 32 teams who qualified for Class LL, Class L, Class M, and Class S playoffs from 2010-2013, and from 2015-2021.
This season’s four quarterfinal games in each class are scheduled for Nov. 29, a Tuesday which is five days after Thanksgiving.
The semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 4, a Sunday, and the championship games are six days later Dec. 10, a Saturday.
Listed below is this weekend’s schedule of the eight FCIAC games, including the teams’ overall and FCIAC divisional records in parenthesis:
Friday
Westhill (1-5, 0-4) at Bridgeport Central (0-6, 0-4), 6 p.m.
St. Joseph (5-1, 3-1) at New Canaan (6-0, 4-0), 7 p.m.
Fairfield Ludlowe (3-3, 2-2) at Trumbull (4-2, 2-2), 7 p.m.
Norwalk (1-5, 1-3) at Staples (5-1, 3-1), 7 p.m.
Wilton (5-2, 2-2) at Ridgefield (3-3, 2-2), 7 p.m.
Saturday
Brien McMahon (2-4, 1-3) at Stamford (2-4, 0-4), 1 p.m.
Greenwich (5-1, 4-0) at Darien (4-2, 4-0), 2 p.m.
Fairfield Warde (3-2, 2-2) at Danbury (4-2, 2-2), 6 p.m.