Top-ranked Staples, Greenwich, New Canaan, and Wilton were all ranked among the Top 10 in both state polls prior to the CIAC playoffs and all four of them, along with fellow FCIAC member Darien, won their quarterfinal games Tuesday and advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
Top-seeded Staples nipped eighth-seeded Fairfield Prep, 13-12, and Greenwich’s second-seeded and defending champion Cardinals pulled away from fellow conference member and seventh-seeded Stamford for a 47-21 victory in the 2023 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class LL Football Playoffs.
Defending champion and second-seeded New Canaan rolled to a 49-14 victory over seventh-seeded Killingly and Darien gave credence to the strength of the FCIAC as the eighth-seeded Blue Wave traveled to Naugatuck and impressively defeated the top seeded and previously undefeated Greyhounds, 42-28, in the CIAC Class L Football Playoffs. Darien improved to 8-3 and Naugatuck finished 10-1.
Wilton is the only FCIAC team in the CIAC Class MM Football Playoffs and the third-seeded Warriors defeated sixth-seeded Platt, 35-15, on their own Tom Fujitani Field to improve 9-2.
When St. Joseph won its Thanksgiving rivalry showdown at Trumbull, 16-7, that enabled the Cadets to move up three spots to snatch the eighth seed and final berth in the Class M playoffs and that ensured that seven FCIAC teams made the state playoffs. The Cadets traveled up to Madison and top-seeded Daniel Hand defeated them, 29-14. St. Joseph finished 6-5.
The first two rounds of the state football playoffs are hosted by the higher-seeded teams and the Saturday championship games on Dec. 9 will be played at neutral sites to be determined.
The two FCIAC teams in the Class LL semifinals and two conference teams in the Class L semifinals are in opposite brackets.
The 10-1 Staples Wreckers host fifth-seeded Southington (7-4) at 12:30 p.m. at their own Paul Lane Stadium and that is a rematch of this year’s Sept. 22 game at Southington which Staples won by a 34-27 margin. Greenwich (10-1) hosts third-seeded West Haven (9-2) with a 1:30 kickoff at Cardinal Stadium in Sunday’s Class LL semifinals.
In Sunday’s Class L semifinals: Darien plays at fourth-seeded Newtown for a 12:30 kickoff, and New Canaan hosts third-seeded Maloney at 1:30 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s Class L championship which New Canaan won, 16-13. New Canaan and Maloney both have 10-1 records.
Wilton plays at 12:30 p.m. at third-seeded Masuk in Sunday’s Class MM semifinals.
Greenwich had been ranked No. 1 all season in both state Top 10 polls, one voted on by the media and the other is the coaches’ poll.
But the Staples Wreckers traveled 21 miles down to Cardinal Stadium on Thanksgiving morning to play then-No. 1 Greenwich and they got out of town with a 24-13 victory which affected the seedings for the state playoffs.
Staples is now ranked No. 1 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll (Postseason) voted on by 25 media members, and coach Adam Behrends’ Wreckers are tied with Maloney for the No. 1 ranking in the Hartford Courant Top 10 State Football Coaches’ Poll. Both polls were released Nov. 27.
The Wreckers ascended four spots from their No. 5 ranking in both polls the previous week and they snatched the No. 1 seeding in the CIAC Class LL Football Playoffs. They were ranked third and Greenwich was first in the previous CIAC Class LL rankings.
Staples leads a contingent of three FCIAC teams ranked among the top five and four conference teams in the Top 10 in both polls.
Staples received 11 first-place votes and 698 polling points in the GameTimeCT media poll to finish with 10 more polling points than second-ranked Maloney (688), which got 10 first-place votes. Maloney got first-place votes from five of the 13 coaches, Staples got four first-place votes, and both teams received 360 polling points to share the No. 1 ranking in the Courant’s coaches’ poll.
Greenwich and New Canaan are those other two FCIAC teams ranked among the top five in both polls, while Wilton is No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and No. 10 in the media poll.
The Top 10 rankings in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll, in order with team records at the time of the voting in parenthesis, are: No. 1 Staples (9-1), No. 2 Maloney (9-1), No. 3 Greenwich (9-1), No. 4 New Canaan (9-1), North Haven (8-2), Windsor (9-1), No. 7 West Haven (8-2), Cheshire (8-2), Naugatuck (10-0), and Wilton (8-2).
Both polls had the same 10 teams in their Top 10.
In addition to Staples and Maloney sharing the No. 1 ranking and New Canaan just behind them at No. 3 in the Hartford Courant Top 10 State Football Coaches’ Poll, those top three teams are followed by North Haven, No. 5 Greenwich, Windsor, Naugatuck, No. 8 Wilton, West Haven, and Cheshire.
There were many players from those three FCIAC teams ranked among the top five in both state polls – Staples, Greenwich, and New Canaan – who excelled Tuesday night to lead their respective teams into the state semifinals.
Caleb Smith had a pair of touchdown runs to lead the Staples Wreckers to their 13-12 victory over Fairfield Prep and that avenged their 23-22 loss to Prep in last year’s Class LL quarterfinals.
Smith, a superb 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior quarterback, took off for a 57-yard touchdown run to give their Wreckers a 6-3 lead in the second quarter and he added a go-ahead 15-yard TD run in the third quarter after Fairfield Prep had a 9-6 halftime lead.
The Fairfield Prep Jesuits rebounded from an 0-6 start, their strong schedule enabled them to pull off the rarity of making the state playoffs with a losing record, and they finished 4-7.
Greenwich quarterback Rocco Grillo threw three TD passes and he added a 15-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, and Noah Park scored three touchdowns as the Cardinals pulled away for their 47-21 victory after the Stamford Black Knights battled Greenwich to a 21-21 halftime tie.
Park caught a 17-yard TD pass to help Greenwich tie it up at 7-7 in the first quarter, he gave them their 14-7 lead with a 2-yard touchdown run, and then Park got Greenwich’s roll going when he hauled in an 80-yard TD pass from Grillo a half minute into the second half.
Gavyn Gennarelli caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Grillo in the first half and Ian Kim scored had two TD runs (10 yards and 9 yards) in the second half for Greenwich.
Alijza Harris returned the opening kickoff 95 yards to give Stamford the initial lead. Stamford quarterback Ejai Presley fired a 17-yard touchdown pass to Cam Coard in the first quarter, Camrin Jean Pierre added a 10-yard TD run in the second quarter and Presley connected with JJ Salvatore on the two-point conversion which tied it up at 21-21.
Coach Donny Panapada’s Black Knights were 3-3 after a 21-10 loss at Staples on Oct. 20. Their four-game winning streak qualified them for the state playoffs for the first time since 1995 and they completed their special resurgent season with a 7-4 record.
Alex Benvenuto had two long touchdown returns and New Canaan’s defense was stellar again as the Rams sprinted out to a 42-7 halftime lead before cruising in for their 49-14 victory over Killingly to improve to 10-1.
Benvenuto returned the opening kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown, and he got New Canaan’s last touchdown after he picked off a pass and returned the interception 65 yards for the score.
New Canaan quarterback Luke Robinson threw three touchdown passes. Alex Russey had TD receptions of 7 yards and 55 yards from Robinson, and Robinson fired a 28-yard TD pass to Andrew Esposito. Luke Reed had a pair 4-yard touchdown runs.
Last year coach Anthony Morello’s Greenwich Cardinals won the Class LL championship with a 37-17 victory over Fairfield Prep at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
New Canaan’s Rams gave coach Lou Marinelli a 10th state championship this century with their 16-13 victory over Maloney at Central Connecticut State University’s Arute Field in New Britain.
The Class LL, Class L, Class MM, Class M, Class SS, and Class S championship games will all be played at either Rentschler Field or Arute Field, with kickoff times and sites for each class still to be determined.