Howdy,

The CIAC football season ends in a week, so it's imperative that you squeeze in as much football as you can.

There are eight state semifinals being played across the state today. Get to one.

Seven semifinals are being played at 2 p.m. Polecat management recommends either New Canaan v. Windsor, or Cromwell v. Northwest Catholic of West Hartford.

The Swiss roll atop the sundae is the Class L semifinal between defending champion Masuk of Monroe and Hand of Madison at 7 p.m.

Chris Everone, Jon Capone and all the fine folks at West Haven's Ken Strong Stadium will take good care of you. They're aces.

If you can't get to a game, or are too wimpy to travel any distance longer than 20 miles, then you can either listen to or watch a semifinal.

Sportingnewsct.com will televise Ledyard v. Wolcott, Ansonia v. Berlin, and Hand v. Masuk. You can watch it at the CIAC's website, too. Watch it on your iPhone. Technology is so crazy.

New Haven fixture George DeMaio will call two games for WELI-960 — Norwalk v. Xavier, and Hand v. Masuk. Both games will be streamed online, too.

Newtown v. Staples will be broadcast by WWPT 90.3-FM.

We'll assume that Waterbury's WATR-1320 will be at Holy Cross v. Valley Regional/Old Lyme. Emphasis on "assume".

Below are semifinal capsules for six of the games.

Here are capsules for Ledyard v .Wolcott and Valley Regional/Old Lyme v. Holy Cross that appear elsewhere on the website.

Memorize them all, then get out of the house and get to a game.

CLASS LL

No. 2 Staples v. No. 6 Newtown

WHERE: Bulldog Field, Bunnell High School, Stratford.

RECORDS: Staples 10-0; Newtown 9-2.

FAST FACTS: Offensive trends come and go, but Staples is still all about the option. It has three capable runners in Joey Zelkowitz (876 yards, 10 TDs), Jon Heil (730 yards, nine TDs) and Nick Kelly (667 yards, 13 TDs). … Jack Massie has thrown for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns and run for five scores. … Defensive end Pieter Hoets has 92 tackles and a team-high 12 sacks for the Wreckers while linebacker Lance Lonergan has a team-best 93 tackles. … Newtown uses a one-back spread, and its works best when 5-foot-10, 225-pound Lou Fenaroli has the ball. He's rushed for 1,758 yards and 24 touchdowns and caught four touchdowns, too. … Sophomore Andrew Tarantino has thrown for 1,333 yards and 11 touchdowns. … Lineman Hunter Bassett (41 tackles, team-high 10.5 sacks) and Mike Lord (team-high 66 tackles) are among the defensive leaders.

No. 1 Xavier v. No. 5 Norwalk

WHERE: Ken Strong Stadium, West Haven.

RECORDS: Xavier 11-0; Norwalk 9-1.

FAST FACTS: Xavier is the defending state champion and the No. 1 team in The Day's state coaches' poll. …. The Falcons love to overpower defenses with a big offensive line and running back Mike Mastroianni (21 touchdowns). …. Xavier's passing game has been more efficient this season with quarterback Pat D'Amato (13 TD passes, 11 rushing TDs). … Defensive lineman Sean Marinan Jr. and linebackers Ryan Craig, Tom Harrington, Jovan Santos lead a defense that's held nine opponents to seven points or less. … Norwalk hasn't gotten many looks from pollsters, but it was one of the FCIAC's best teams this season. … Quarterback Delshaun Wilson (1,348 passing yards, 13 TDs, team-high 539 yards rushing, five TDs) is the focal point of the Bears' offense. Receiver Derek Edwards has 39 catches for 608 yards and eight touchdowns. … Linebackers Bobby Stringfellow has a team-high 107 tackles and lineman Kwazee Rice (6-3, 264) has 43 tackles and nine sacks.

CLASS L

No. 1 Windsor v. No. 5 New Canaan

WHERE: Crisafi Field, East Haven High School.

RECORDS: Windsor 11-0; New Canaan 10-1.

FAST FACTS: Windsor quarterback Rob Fleeting has been prolific (2,652 yards passing, 29 TDs). … Aaron Berardino is among the state's best and most versatile players. He has 57 catches for 1,239 yards and 17 touchdowns, he's run for seven touchdowns, and he has 49 tackles and six interceptions. … Linebackers Kamahl Valentine (103 tackles) and Mike Joseph (89 tackles, seven sacks) are among the Warriors' most active defenders. … New Canaan's defense has struggled with fast teams, but it has an offense that can keep up with just about anyone. … Second-year quarterback Matt Milano has thrown for 2,444 yards with 31 touchdowns and run for seven touchdowns. … New London went all-out to defend the pass in Tuesday's 27-26 quarterfinal loss, so the Rams' Kevin McDonough ran for a season-high 230 yards with a touchdown. … Linebackers Dylan Leeming (91 tackles) and McDonough (team-high 94 tackles) anchor the defense.

No. 2 Hand v. No. 3 Masuk

WHERE: Ken Strong Stadium, West Haven.

RECORDS: Hand 11-0; Masuk 11-0.

FAST FACTS: The Class L battle folks wanted to see takes center stage at the home office for playoff football. Awesome. … Masuk has averaged a state-high 52.3 points. The Tigers average 36.5 points. Both are among the state's finest practitioners of the spread offense. They're among the best defensive teams, too. … Hand's Henry Foye has thrown for 2,131 yards and 25 touchdowns. Nick Vitale has been the top receiver. … Panthers' quarterback Casey Cochran (2,764 yards, 36 TDs) needs to throw seven more touchdowns to set the record. … Colin Markus is a physical back that's rushed for 1,485 yards and 20 touchdowns. … Defensive back Shawn Flynn (85 tackles) is All-State quality.

CLASS M

No. 1 Ansonia v. No. 4 Berlin

WHERE: Riccitelli Field, Sheehan High School, Wallingford.

RECORDS: Ansonia 12-0; Berlin 10-1.

FAST FACTS: Everyone knows that Arkeel Newsome is going to carry the offensive load for the Chargers. Stopping him is the problem. He's rushed for 3,079 yards and a state-record 49 touchdowns behind a big and physical offensive line. … Quarterback Elliot Chudwick (777 yards passing, 11 TDs) and receiver Andrew Matos (20 catches, 472 yards, five TDs) have caught defenses off-guard when they've sold out to stop Newsome. … End Jake LaRovera and defensive back Tyler Wood lead a defense that's fast and nasty. … The Redcoats love to run the ball, too. Yale-bound Tom Undercuffer has rushed for a team-high 720 yards and eight touchdowns, while Justin Gombotz has run for a team-high 10 touchdowns. … Sophomore Mitch Williams has thrown for 1,510 yards and 14 touchdowns. … Free safety Kevin Main has 72 tackles.

CLASS S

No. 5 Northwest Catholic v. No. 8 Cromwell

WHERE: Maclary Complex, Cheshire High School.

RECORDS: Northwest 9-2; Cromwell 9-2.

FAST FACTS: Both teams have one common opponent — North Branford. The Thunderbirds beat Cromwell during the regular season (41-33). The Indians edged North Branford in Tuesday's quarterfinal, 22-19. … Quarterback Tyler Calitri and receiver-running back Anthony Carter have been two of Northwest's offensive standouts. … The Panthers have averaged 42.3 points thanks to the dangerous duo of running back Derrick Villard (1,781 yards, 22 TDs) and quarterback Anthony Morales (state-best 3,050 yards passing and 39 touchdowns). Morales would set the state-record for most touchdown passes in a season if he threw four today. Milano threw a state-record 42 last year … Lineman Michael Sullivan has a team-high 109 tackles for Cromwell.

Get well soon, Bob Barton.

Vaya con dios.