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Matchup: CCC Division IV.
Last Week: E.O. Smith beat Plainville 27-8; Maloney was routed 48-0 at Bloomfield.
The Archives: Maloney has had its way with the Panthers in the past, winning 42-7 in 2007 and 42-0 in 2006.
Scouting Report: After last week's pounding at the hands of unbeaten Bloomfield, there's nothing for the Spartans to do but lick their wounds and play well tonight and get the season turned around in a positive way. Three straight losses have taken a lot of steam out of what had been a promising Maloney season.
"The kids bounce back better than I think the coaches bounce back," said head coach Bob Zito. "The kids know they have to get better. They want to get back on the field, which is good."
Against Bloomfield, Maloney ran into an offensive and defensive juggernaut. The Spartans mustered just 112 yards. Worse, they lost senior halfback Kendrick West, their leading rusher, to an ankle sprain. West will not play tonight. Defensively, Maloney will face an E.O. Smith team that runs out of both the spread and two-back sets. Last week against Plainville, senior tailback Harris Cross had 158-yard game and senior fullback Tommy Clark had 97 yards and two TDs.
"We match up pretty good with them; we'll see what happens," said Zito. "We've just got to improve on both sides of the ball. I just hope Bloomfield was that good. That's all I can say. We've got to play better offensively and we've got to play better defensively."
- PLATT (3-3, 2-3) at TOLLAND (1-5, 1-4), Old Tolland High School, 6:30 p.m.
Matchup: CCC Division III.
Last Week: Platt routed Weaver 41-8; Tolland lost to Northwest Catholic 20-6.
The Archives: First meeting. Tolland is one of the old Nutmeg League teams new to the CCC.
Scouting Report: The Panthers, winners of two straight, look to keep the ball rolling against Tolland. To do so, they may have to air it out. The Eagles are big and physical and will have a decided size advantage up front.
It stands to be the classic battle of muscle vs. motor. Can Tolland keep a lid on Platt's speed and, conversely, can the Panthers stop Tolland's double-wing offense led by 205-pound twin brothers Pat and Luke Halgren at running back?
"We know what's coming. The question is, can we stop it?" remarked Platt head coach Jason Bruenn. "We haven't been successful against the double-wing yet. The challenge is for us to stop up and play defense."
The challenge is also to execute on offense. Tolland will look to work the clock with long, methodical drives, so every Platt possession will be precious. As Bruenn said, "Every play call has got to be what we want and it's got to be the right call, because if we turn the ball over I don't know what we're going to get it back."
Riding a two-game winning streak, the Panthers are in a nice groove and it's shown in practice this week. Tolland hasn't won since beating winless Weaver 41-14 in Week 2, but that 1-5 record is deceptive. The Eagles lost to Glastonbury, ranked No. 2 in the state writers' polls, and to Division III leaders Berlin and Northwest Catholic.
- SIMSBURY (5-1, 3-1) at SOUTHINGTON (4-2, 3-2), Fontana Field, 7 p.m.
Matchup: CCC Division I.
Last Week: Simsbury suffered its first loss, 40-25, to New Britain. Southington topped Middletown 35-7.
The Archives: Southington has won all five meetings since the teams became divisional rivals in 2004. Last year's game was the closest, with Southington winning 14-7 on a 64-yard pass play with 2:18 left.
Scouting Report: A big one for the Blue Knights. After three weeks, Big Blue was sitting at 1-2, in danger of seeing its season slip away before it even got going. Then came the 20-14 win over New Britain, which triggered a three-game roll that now has Southington right back in the thick of things. A win tonight is imperative to keep Southington in contention in the Class LL playoff race, which is so competitive 5-1 Greenwich is ninth in the pecking order.
Simsbury, fourth in Class L, comes to town with an accomplished veer offense led by QB Kyle Decker (son of Trinity baseball coach Bill Decker), fullback Connely Cummings and running backs Colby Vanderbeck and Kyle Kucinskas. Fortunately for the Blue Knights, their defensive has come together in a formidable way after early-season struggles. Over the past three weeks Southington, led by linebacker Jake Rodrigues and safety Jon Kelleher, have allowed a combined 119 yards of rushing.
- CHESHIRE (5-1) at NORTH HAVEN (4-2), Vanacore Field, 7 p.m.
Matchup: SCC interdivisional.
Last Week: Both won big divisional games at home - Cheshire 31-13 over Hand-Madison in D-I East and North Haven 48-14 over Sheehan in D-II East.
The Archives: Old Thanksgiving rivals date back to 1954. Cheshire, with a 35-13 win last year, leads series 29-20-2.
Scouting Report: Much is made of the mismatches when SCC Division I teams cross over against Division II squads. Cheshire, however, didn't have it so easy this year. Sheehan battled the Rams to within 30-24 two weeks and, tonight, Cheshire gets a North Haven team that's playing some good football. North Haven's eye-opening rout of Sheehan was preceded by a pretty good effort in a 21-7 loss to Hand at the Surf Club.
Bottom line: The Rams can't relax this week. North Haven, coached by former NFL lineman Anthony Sagnella, is now running the old single-wing offense, which presents two problems for Cheshire. One, the Indians, blessed with size and good ballcarriers in the likes of Kendrick Amaker and QB Joe Schwab, run it well. Two, because the offense is so rare - no one else in the area runs it - the Rams, who have good scout teams, have struggled to simulate it in practice.
"They do a lot of different stuff and they look very good doing what they do," Cheshire head coach Mark Ecke said of the Indians. "They're a well-coached team no matter what offense they're in. Every year, when you play Anthony, you've got to come fully prepared."
The Rams will have to avoid the confusion of the single-wing and focus on cues that indicate where they play is going rather than getting caught up in the motions of the backfield.
- FORAN (4-2, 1-1) at SHEEHAN (3-3, 1-1), Riccitelli Field, 7 p.m.
Matchup: SCC Division II East.
Last Week: Foran rocked Abbott Tech 41-0; the Titans were rocked 48-14 by North Haven.
The Archives: Foran raced past Sheehan 60-29 in Milford last season to wrap up the D-II East crown. Prior to that, the Titans were 4-0 against the Lions.
Scouting Report: Hard to figure. A week after playing their best in a loss to Division I Cheshire, the Titans played their worst in a game that was essentially for the Division II-East title. That's leaves Sheehan, which entered the season with legitimate playoff aspirations, at 3-3 and in need of regrouping in a big way.
"We're trying to prepare for Foran and hoping a win can erase what happened," said head coach John Ferrazzi. "We've got four games left; we can match last year's win total. There's still definitely something to be said for the season. We can still finish with a winning record. The playoffs, I don't think they're completely gone, but we would need a tremendous amount of help."
Who knows? Perhaps by Nov. 20, when unbeaten New London visits, the Titans will be in position to help themselves. But the turnaround has to begin tonight. There is no further margin for error. Sheehan, which will be without injured RB Zach Prefontaine (shoulder), faces a Foran team that lost its two prime playmakers from last year, QB Jake White and RB Tyler Hames, but reloaded behind junior QB Tucker Schumitz (71-109, 997 passing, team-high 656 rushing). Foran still runs the spread as its base offense, but also goes to a double-wing to grind it out.
- LYMAN HALL (2-4, 1-2) at JONATHAN LAW (3-3, 1-1), Law H.S., Milford, 7 p.m.
Matchup: SCC Division II West.
Last Week: Lyman Hall held on to beat Branford 21-19; Law was bounced 34-8 by Hillhouse.
The Archives: Lyman Hall won 60-20 the first time these teams met as division rivals in 2004. Law took the next four, including 25-17 last year.
Scouting Report: Last week the Trojans finally got one of those close-game wins that had eluded them all season. They look to continue to build the momentum this week against a Law team that may lost big, bruising RB Ricky Rozier to graduation, but remains a big, bruising power-based team.
"Law is still Law. They like to run the ball and be physical with you," said Lyman Hall coach Chip McKeehan. "Looking at them on film, it's another one of those teams, on any given Friday, they can beat somebody or they can get beat. It's the norm for Division II right now."
The Lyman Hall offense, meanwhile, continues to diversify to the good. Early in the season, RB Joe DeSandre carried the load. Now it's a three-headed monster that confronts LH opponents. DeSandre, his older brother John DeSandre, the quarterback, and running back Zach Falconeri all had solid games last week vs. Branford.
"I really liked the way we were balanced with our quarterback and our two running backs," said McKeehan. "When you look at the carries and the yards they had, we're getting healthy there. I think all three of those guys are weapons you have to defend."
SATURDAY
- CAPITAL PREP/CLASSICAL MAGNET (1-4, 0-4) at WILCOX TECH (1-5, 1-3), Falcon Field, 1:30 p.m.
Matchup: Constitution State Conference.
Last Week: CP/CM was idle; Wilcox was blanked 36-0 by Prince Tech.
The Archives: Wilcox has won both meetings against Capital Prep - 18-15 last year at Dillon Stadium and 47-22 in 2007 in Meriden. This year, Prep has brought Classical on as a co-op.
Scouting Report: The Indians are looking to bounce back from Sunday night's no-show, a game in which they were emotionally flat from the get-go against the CSC front-runners. A good heart-to-heart talk from head coach Bruce Haney before Tuesday's practice seemed to have an effect. The Indians stayed on a wet practice field deep into dusk. "We definitely want to make a big rebound and come out strong," said Haney.
CP/CM would seem an ideal team to rebound against. The Hartford co-op hasn't won since beating Sport Sciences 8-0 on opening night. But the Trailblazers have been competitive in their losses to Bullard Havens, Cheney Tech and Platt Tech. The same cannot be said of Wilcox.
CP/CM employs a balanced offense led by QB Wynton Borders, WR Khamarr Smith and RB Chris Rose. The Trailblazers like to spread it out, so Wilcox will look to contain the pass and force them to run. On the other side of the ball, Wilcox has had success running its double-wing against the 'Blazers in the past. "If we play like we're capable of playing, we should be able to run on anybody," said Haney.
