Undefeated Darien (3-0) was voted No. 1 unanimously as the FCIAC now has four teams in the most recent GameTimeCT.com/New Haven Register Top 10 Football Poll.
It made perfect sense that Darien would receive all 25 first-place votes to maintain its No. 1 ranking as coach Rob Trifone’s Blue Wave made quite the statement at home last Saturday in one of the biggest games of the early part of the season. Darien rolled to a 42-10 victory over a very good team in fellow conference member St. Joseph, which was ranked third in the state going into the game.
Darien has now won 28 straight games dating back to the start of the 2015 season. The Wave was 12-0 in 2015, and 13-0 last fall before starting this year 3-0.
St. Joseph’s 2-1 Cadets slid down five spots to No. 8.
New Canaan (2-1), which lost its only game to St. Joseph, 38-35, in the season-opening game on Sept. 8, moved up one spot to No. 6 via its convincing 61-14 victory over Trumbull.
Greenwich is that fourth FCIAC team now in the Top 10. Coach John Marinelli’s Cardinals were idle last week and they’re unbeaten at 2-0, so they climbed up to snatch that 10th spot.
Southington (3-0) shut out Manchester, 37-0, last week to maintain its No. 2 ranking behind Darien.
Ansonia (3-0) utilized its 43-0 victory over Oxford to move up two spots from fifth to third.
Windsor (3-0) is ranked fourth while West Haven (3-0) moved up four spots to No. 5.
Masuk and Middletown both improved to 3-0 last week and are now ranked seventh and ninth, respectively.
The FCIAC has three of the 17 teams in the “Others receiving votes” category. Ridgefield (2-1) received the 12th most points from the media pollsters, undefeated Staples (3-0) had the 14th most points, and unbeaten Westhill (3-0) the 26th most.
Darien will try to win its 29th consecutive game at 7 p.m., Saturday at Boyle Stadium against host Stamford (1-2). Darien averages 42.33 points per game and has allowed an average of 7.33 points, having outscored its opposition by a 127-22 margin.
It will be a showdown of high-octane offenses when coach Frank Marcucio’s Westhill Vikings host coach Lou Marinelli’s perennially-powerful New Canaan Rams for a 7 o’clock Thursday night kickoff at Stamford High School’s Boyle Stadium.
New Canaan averages 46 points per game and Westhill 36.67 points on offense. Defensively the Vikings have allowed an average of 19.33 points and the Rams 19.67 points per game.
Coach Joe DellaVecchia’s St. Joseph Cadets will look to regain their winning ways on Monday, Oct. 2, at Wilton (2-1).
Greenwich returns to game play for the first time in 16 days when the Cardinals host Norwalk (2-1) on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m.
Staples has outscored its opposition by a combined score of 145-10. Coach Marce Petrocccio’s Wreckers are idle this week and will try to improve to 4-0 during a big Homecoming game when they host a strong Ridgefield team on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.
