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Maloney quarterback Kyle Valentine celebrates after his team's win during a football game between Maloney and Darien at Darien High School, Darien on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.
Pete Paguaga/Hearst Connecticut
Now that we’ve completed almost a full rotation of the Connecticut High School Football Scheduling Alliance matchups, it’s time to unpack the chaos and have a little fun with the Alliance Conference Scoreboard.
Because as irrelevant as they’re becoming, the state’s high school football leagues aren’t quite dead yet. And nothing gets a football fan’s blood going more than some good ol’ regional rivalries and bragging rights, right?
So let’s drill down and see which leagues are boss.
Coming into Friday night, we’d played a full slate of Alliance games Week 1 and one game in Week 2.
FCIAC was 9-3, the SWC 6-6, the SCC 9-10, the ECC 4-7, the CCC 2-3, and the CTC 1-2. (We're not counting the two Alliance games between league teams, for the record).
For Week 3, there were 33 Alliance matchups and another eight on Saturday.
The massive CCC joined the fray with all 31 of its members playing Alliance games, meaning all but 10 games in Week 3 featured the CCC.
And how’d the grand ol’ conference do? 10-16 on Friday night. Not great, not terrible, but definitely frustrating because from the early returns it was lining up to be a huge night for the league.
The halftime and third quarter scores looked promising — particularly for Windsor, Maloney and Bloomfield. While No. 5-ranked Maloney struck the biggest blow for its league Friday night, toppling perennial FCIAC power Darien 21-9, Windsor and Bloomfield saw their leads collapse vs. No. 3 Shelton (SCC) and No. 4 Killingly (ECC), respectively.
The CCC had four games on Saturday to improve its showing. All eyes were on No. 6 Southington at No. 1 Greenwich and might have strayed after the Blue Knights fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter.
But it was all Southington after that and, with some late-game cojones, the Blue Knights left Greenwich with the weekend's biggest victory, 29-28.
Coupled with Maloney's victory, the result certainly put shine an otherwise lackluster performance. The CCC got swept in the remaining four Saturday games and finished its Alliance weekend 11-20 — a winning percentage of .355.
CCC went 4-8 vs. the FCIAC; 3-5 vs. the SWC and 2-5 vs. the SCC. Despite the Killingly loss, the CCC salvaged a 2-2 record against the ECC.
Elsewhere, the FCIAC had another big weekend going 10-6. The SCC had its best showing of the season, 10-5.
The two powerhouse rival leagues split their Friday games. Wilbur Cross' 28-0 victory over Westhill put the SCC over the top for the weekend, but the FCIAC still led the season series, 5-4.
The SCC went 2-1 vs. the SWC, but Newtown’s 28-0 victory at the Surf Club definitely stood out. The SCC still leads that season series, 5-4.
The SWC and the FCIAC played their lone Alliance matchup on Saturday and St. Joseph won by a foot, 24-21, dropping the SWC's weekend performance to 5-5 and leaving it winless vs. the FCIAC this year: 0-5.
Quinebaug Valley and Abbott Tech/Immaculate co-ops struck a blow for the Connecticut Technical Conference by winning both their games. Quinnibaug beat the ECC’s Montville, 21-14 while ATI routed Bassick, giving the CTC a 2-0 Alliance record for the weekend and a winning record for the season, 3-2.
Finally, ECC managed a 2-4 weekend record, which was salvaged by Killingly's rally and Waterford's 41-24 victory over Rocky Hill on Saturday night.
The overall season standings (by winning percentage) as of Saturday morning were thus:
- FCIAC — 19-9 (.679)
- CTC — 3-2 (.600)
- SCC — 19-15 (.559)
- SWC — 12-12 (.500)
- CCC — 13-23 (.361)
- ECC — 6-11 (.353)
Make of it what you will.
Alas Alliance fans, after Saturday’s games there will be only 12 more matchups for the rest of the season.
Guess we’ll have to just settle things with six state champions.
FRIDAY-NIGHT NOTABLES
A look back at Friday night in Week 3 of CIAC football around Connecticut:
Patrick Coughlin, Amity: Quarterback ran for two touchdowns in the Spartans’ 21-14 win over Sheehan.
Noble Gongon, Simsbury: Scored his team’s first two touchdowns in a 30-6 win over Norwalk, finishing with 166 yards on 20 carries.
Jeffery Gonzalez, Cheshire: Ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries as the Rams stayed unbeaten with a 34-7 win over Conard.
Matt Haggerty, Law: Caught six passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for another in a 49-7 win over East Lyme.
Asher Jones, Danbury: Sophomore caught touchdown passes of 20 and 38 yards in a 28-14 win over New Britain.
Jeff Karavas, North Haven: Senior quarterback ran for three touchdowns and threw for another in a 49-0 win over Platt.
Owen Lelko, Xavier: Quarterback threw for four touchdowns and rushed in two more in the Falcons’ 48-7 win over Fairfield Ludlowe.
Deven Robinson, West Haven: Ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns, one of a few big nights for the Westies in a 47-20 win over Guilford.
Scott Romano, Barlow: Ran for three touchdowns in a 34-21 win at Wethersfield.
Matt Salmini, New Canaan: Had a fumble recovery and a long interception return to set up a touchdown in the Rams’ 14-7 win over Fairfield Prep.
PICK SIX
Jacob Bourgoin, Northwest United: Ran an interception back for a touchdown and scored on a run in a 22-6 win over Wilcox/Kaynor.
Machi Ingram, Ansonia: Ran for two touchdowns and returned an interception for another in a 42-8 win over Torrington.
Jashua Sanabria, Crosby: Ran an interception back 89 yards for a touchdown and recovered a fumble in the end zone in a 42-8 win over Derby.
BABY, COME BACK
David Dojlidko, Shelton: Ran 20 times for 127 yards and three touchdowns as the Gaels came back to win 22-21 at Windsor.
Thomas Dreibholz, Killingly: Went 12-for-17 for 157 yards and four touchdowns, the last to go ahead for good, in a 28-22 comeback win over Bloomfield.
Tom Ligi, Holy Cross: Ran 36 times, netted 242 yards and scored three of his team’s four touchdowns in a 28-21 win over Seymour.
Connor Ouellette, E.O. Smith: Threw for the touchdown that, with the two-point conversion, tied the game late. He ran for the go-ahead score in a 35-34 overtime win over Lyman Hall.
THAT’S A WINNER
Josh Clement, Berlin: Ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries, scoring the third-quarter tiebreaking touchdown in the Redcoats’ 29-23 victory at Fitch.
Tommy Hansen, North Branford: Scored the winning touchdown in a 16-10 victory over the Stafford Co-op.
Jacob Staton, Notre Dame-West Haven: Ran 18 times for 159 yards and the winning touchdown, and helped the defense make that stand up in a 20-14 win at Bunnell.
WAIT, YOU GUYS PLAYED LEAGUE GAMES?
Mike Deitelbaum, Naugatuck: Scored three of the Greyhounds’ first four touchdowns on the way to a 52-7 victory over Wolcott.
Ben Fagan, Cromwell/Portland: Caught three of Cole Brisson’s four touchdown passes in a 35-0 win over Haddam-Killingworth.
James Green, Ledyard: Ran for 255 yards – barely half his team’s total – and two touchdowns on 14 carries in a 41-3 win over Bacon Academy.
Daniel Hernandez, SMSA: Scored five touchdowns on just seven carries, running for 101 yards in a 45-0 win over the Coventry Co-op.
Jace Molcyk, Woodland: Caught three of Darren Gasparri’s five touchdown passes in a 47-0 win over Watertown.
Cody Russell, Oxford: Had an interception and a fumble recovery in the Wolverines’ 35-6 win over Kennedy.
EXTRA SPECIAL (TEAMS)
Joziah Gonzalez, Maloney: Two long punt returns into the red zone set up two touchdowns, and his defense helped make sure they stood up in a 21-9 win at Darien.
Andrew Swierbut, Newtown: A 90-yard kickoff return to open the second half put the first points on the board in a 28-0 win over Hand.
NOT-FRIDAY STANDOUTS
Dasani Yates, Waterbury Career Academy: Ran for three touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass in a 49-0 victory over St. Paul.
Coaches/stat folks, next week send us your Thursday and Friday stars by Saturday morning at info@gametimect.com. Email us your Saturday stars at the same address on Saturday. We will update all Saturday stars Sunday evening.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week 4, back in-conference for pretty much everyone:
North Branford (2-1) at Cromwell/Portland (3-0), Friday, 6 p.m.: The T-birds, Preseason Experienced Team of Intrigue, took a hit from Valley/Old Lyme in Week 1, bounced back in Week 2 against OSW and needed overtime against Stafford on Friday. Next up: The 2021 champs.
SMSA (3-0) at Ellington (3-0), Friday, 6:30 p.m.: Two Pequot Uncas Division teams came out of Week 3 with three wins apiece. Only one of them is getting to four.
Staples (2-1) at Trumbull (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Petroccio Bowl II has a lot to live up to.
Fairfield Prep (1-2) at Hamden (2-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: To paraphrase a gripe from someone not associated with either school: Same conference, same CIAC class, wildly different schedules. Welp, if the Jesuits are indeed top-tier, they can take care of business.
Hillhouse (0-3) at West Haven (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Hamden’s win over Wilbur Cross last week began the District League schedule, and... wait, what year is it? (The four teams from the old league all play each other for the second season in a row, which is kind of cool.)
Xavier (1-2) at Notre Dame-West Haven (2-1) (Veterans), Friday, 7 p.m.: Two storied programs chasing points.
Shelton (3-0) at North Haven (2-1) (North Haven MS), Friday, 7 p.m.: They’ve played each of the past five contested seasons. Shelton has won all five, but two of them were within four points; the first was a 35-34 game at North Haven. Hey, one-point wins: Where have we heard that one recently...
Berlin (3-0) at Bloomfield (2-1), Friday, 7 p.m.: Bloomfield’s loss to No. 4 Killingly doesn’t dull the shine of this one, a bit of a measuring stick.
Hand (1-2) at Cheshire (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Hand hasn’t scored in a while. Scoring hasn’t been a problem for Cheshire, 99 points in.
Branford (2-1) at Law (3-0), Friday, 7 p.m.: Branford begins the Milford portion of its schedule before its rematch with Killingly. Law, meanwhile, rolls along, 3-0 for the first time in decades.
Tolland (2-1) at East Catholic (2-0 pending Foran Saturday) (Cheney Tech), Saturday, 4 p.m.: Branford knocked a team from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend. But Tolland looks to rebound in a battle of Eagles.