A new, glorious high school football season has begun, and New Canaan starts where it left off.
The Rams are No. 1 in the first Hartford Courant Top 10 state coaches’ poll of the year after they finished first in the final 2024 poll. They received 10 of 13 first-place votes and are the three-time defending CIAC Class L state champions.
New Canaan returns 12 starters and has been the state’s most dominant high school football program of the 2000s, winning 13 of the school’s 15 state titles since 2001.
Greenwich, the defending Class LL champion, is second and received the other three first-place votes. It, too, has 12 starters back.
Killingly has nineteen starters back from last year’s Class SS championship team and is third, followed by Hand, a longtime fixture in Top 10 polls and state finals.
Darien, Staples and defending Class M champion St. Joseph are fifth-through-seventh, respectively. They, along with New Canaan and Greenwich, give the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference five teams in the Top 10.
The FCIAC has earned that level of respect after winning three of the CIAC’s six playoff divisions last year, the sixth time that a league has won that many titles in one year. It’s also won a state-high 35 CIAC state titles this millennium, followed closely by the Southern Connecticut Conference (30).
To put the FCIAC’s dominance in perspective, the Central Connecticut Conference and Naugatuck Valley League are tied for third with 15 state titles each.
The FCIAC is already off to a hot start. It’s one of seven leagues involved in the Connecticut High School Football Alliance, which schedules non-conference games between teams of comparable size and success, and it went 12-4 in Week 1. That includes going 11-for-11 last Friday.
Windsor, Brookfield and defending Class S champ Ansonia are eighth through 10, respectively.
Hartford Courant Top 10 Coaches’ Poll
First place points in parentheses, record through Saturday, points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis and CIAC classification:
1. New Canaan (10) 1-0 376 L
KNOW THIS: Senior receiver Andrew Esposito, who earned Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Top 27 honors last season, is back doing Andrew Esposito things. He caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from junior Maddox Hoffman, the Rams’ first-year quarterback, and scored on runs of 3 and 5 yards in last Friday’s 30-10 win over Newtown.
NEXT: vs. Ridgefield, Friday, 7 p.m.
2. Greenwich (3) 1-0 366 LL
KNOW THIS: Hector Lopez led the Cardinals’ run game in 2024. He began his senior year running 25 times for 124 yards in last Friday’s 31-14 win over perennial Class LL contender Fairfield Prep.
NEXT: vs. Norwalk, Saturday, 1 p.m.
3. Killingly 1-0 309 SS
KNOW THIS: The Trailblazers had one of the weekend’s best wins as they knocked off Bishop Hendricken, the defending Rhode Island Interscholastic League Division I champion, 41-32. Senior Hayden Allard, last year’s offensive catalyst, ran 31 times for 248 yards and two touchdowns for Killingly and caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Sumner for the game’s final points. Note, too, that Bishop Hendricken has won 13 state titles over the past 15 seasons.
NEXT: at East Lyme, Friday, 6:30 p.m.
4. Hand 1-0 284 SS
KNOW THIS: The Tigers played in the final game of Week 1 and had the wildest win of them all. Senior Bobby Reh, starting in his first game, threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to junior Lucca Boyce at the buzzer to give Hand a 30-28 road win at St. Joseph last Saturday. The teams combined to score 17 in the game’s final 2 minutes, 50 seconds. Reh led the Tigers 80 yards over the game’s final 1:10 and threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns.
NEXT: vs. North Haven, Friday, 7 p.m.
5. Darien 1-0 247 L
KNOW THIS: Senior Jay Franzese, another first-year QB, threw three touchdown passes in the Blue Wave’s 35-0 win over Naugatuck last Friday.
NEXT: vs. McMahon, Friday, 7 p.m.
6. Staples 1-0 228 LL
KNOW THIS: The Wreckers have an experienced offense but their entire front seven graduated. The defense got off to a promising start last Friday by beating Glastonbury, 17-3.
NEXT: vs. Stamford, Friday, 7 p.m.
7. St. Joseph 0-1 223 M
KNOW THIS: Yeah, it lost, but half of last year’s championship team is back. That and head coach Joe Della Vecchia has led the program to eight state titles, tying him for second all-time with Tom Brockett (Ansonia) and Jack Cochran (Bloomfield, New Britain and New London).
NEXT: vs. Danbury, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
8. Windsor 1-0 167 MM
KNOW THIS: Four-year starter AJ Robinson completed 19 of 31 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a 2-yard run to help Windsor beat Torrington last Friday, 28-13, in Quinn Fleeting’s first game as head coach.
NEXT: vs. South Windsor, Thursday, 6:30 p.m.
9. Brookfield 1-0 166 M
KNOW THIS: The Bobcats nearly ran the table last year but lost to St. Joseph in the M final, 21-20, coming up a yard short on a 2-point conversion with 1:02 remaining. Whelp, 14 of those starters are back and are looking to win it all this time. They dominated last Friday’s season opener over Watertown, 53-0, running 21 times for 251 yards and seven touchdowns. That’s an average of 12 yards a carry in case you were wondering.
NEXT: at Pomperaug, Friday, 6:30 p.m.
10. Ansonia 1-0 135 S
KNOW THIS: The Chargers have generally relied on one running back over their previous under Brockett, who retired after 19 years as head coach. They used two backs to beat Bloomfield last Thursday, 23-14, in a rematch of last year’s Class S final as well as John Mihalko’s head coaching debut. Senior Crishon Fogle ran 27 times for 109 yards and a touchdown while sophomore Tymir Taylor added 21 carries for 146 yards.
NEXT: vs. Seymour, Friday, 6 p.m.
Also receiving votes: Fairfield Prep (0-1), 114 points; Masuk (1-0), 87; Newtown (0-1), 83; West Haven (1-0), 70; Bunnell (1-0), 66; Cheshire (1-0), 63; Woodland (1-0), 58; Sheehan (1-0), 45; Maloney (1-0), 40; Berlin (1-0), 39; Fairfield Ludlowe (1-0), 35; Wilton (1-0), 26; Notre Dame-West Haven (0-1), 20; North Haven (1-0), 16; Bloomfield (0-1), 15; New Britain (1-0), 10; Tie, Glastonbury (0-1), Shelton (1-0) and Southington (1-0), 9.
Voters: Erik Becker, Hand; Jason Bruenn, Platt; Joe Della Vecchia; St. Joseph; Mike Ellis; Fitch; Kevin Frederick, Maloney; Tanner Grove; Montville; Keith Hellstern, Fairfield Prep; Erick Knickerbocker, Rockville; Joe Lato; Woodland; John Mihalko, Ansonia; Bryan Muller; Brookfield; Marce Petroccio; Trumbull; Nathan Tyler, Stratford.
Ned Griffen has obsessively covered state high school football since the mid-nineties, back when Dan Orlovsky was just a wiry teenager at Shelton High School. He was genetically hardwired to love the sport having been born in Texas. He enjoys heavy metal, pro wrestling, the wit and wisdom of Jennifer Walters and being adored by cats and dogs everywhere.
