Howdy,

So New Canaan beat St. Joseph by FORTY-ONE POINTS.

Yes, we know we wrote that in the headline, but it bears repeating.

The Rams turned one of the most highly anticipated games into another personal showcase as they stomped the Cadets, ranked third in The Day's Top 10 state coaches' poll.

Don't let the score fool you into thinking that St. Joseph wasn't worthy of being ranked so high — it's a very good team, one that everyone here at Polecat HQ considers the team to beat in the CIAC's Class M division.

(Privately, other Class M coaches will tell you the same thing.)

Second-ranked New Canaan treated the Cadets just like they've treated every other team they've smashed.

The Rams are just THAT good.

Consider the teams New Canaan has abused — perennial heavyweights Hand (50-21), Greenwich (66-20) and Staples (43-7).

It bears repeating — Greenwich and Hand aren't as strong as they've been in the past, but NO ONE beats them like the Rams did. We cannot find a record of any team scoring that much against either program.

Mike Quick over at MSG Varsity has covered the tri-state area for a long time and has watched New Canaan since 1986. He's been effusive in his praise for these Rams, calling them the best group he's seen.

The question now is if New Canaan's latest assault elevates it over Ansonia.

The Chargers have been ranked No. 1 in both The Day coaches' and New Haven Register Top 10 media polls ever since North Haven beat then top-ranked Xavier in Week 2.

Ansonia has thwacked everyone it's played. That includes a 56-21 non-league rout of Masuk. The latter, much like Greenwich and Hand, isn't as powerful as it has been, yet the Chargers handed it its worst loss since 1992.

There's one difference worth noting between Ansonia and New Canaan this season — the Chargers had a six-point halftime lead over rival Derby earlier in the season before winning a 62-28 rout.

New Canaan, meanwhile, has blitzed everyone and put them down fast Mike Tyson-style (well, pre-Buster Douglas-in-Tokyo Mike Tyson).

Quick stirred things up earlier in the week when he declared on his "Quick Hits" show that the Rams would beat the Chargers by three-or-four touchdowns.

"It just pains me that people don't really size up the competition," Quick said.

Ansonia had a slim six-point lead over the Rams in this week's Day coaches' poll. It had a seven-to-five edge in first-place votes, and a six-point lead.

New Canaan should pull closer simply because one coach voted the Cadets No. 1.

All it would take is two coaches changing their No. 1 vote to the Rams for the latter to leapfrog the Chargers.

Will it happen? You'll have to wait until late Monday afternoon to find out.

There's no way Ansonia will lose its grip on the media poll. It received 24 of 29 first-place votes this week, thus making it impossible for the New Canaan to overtake it. Or so we think.

Ain't this fun?

Enough jibber-jabber — here's how the Top 10 teams in The Day coaches' poll fared:

No. 1 Ansonia beat Watertown, 41-7.

Arkeel Newsome ran three times for 103 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a 79-yard punt return. Now THAT'S efficiency. It was also the Chargers 36th successive win. GameTimeCT.com has a blurb HERE.

No. 2 New Canaan beat No. 3 St. Joseph, 62-21.

Nick Cascione was 20 of 26 for 379 yards and six touchdowns and ran for a score. You have a menu's worth of game stories to read. Scott Ericson of Hearst Inc., John Malone of MSG Varsity, Dave Ruden of The Ruden Report, and Sean Patrick Starfish of JRC Amalgamated are ALL reporting. You can even WATCH a replay of the game at MSGVarsity.com! I

No. 4 Middletown beat No. 9 Farmington, 21-7

Dario Highsmith ran 26 times for 288 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Dragons. Their defense also allowed just 36 rushing yards. Up next for Middletown — a trip to New London next Friday, which YOU can watch it live here at TheDay.com! SELF-PROMOTION! Back to the Farmington game — Gentleman Jim Bransfield of the Middletown Press, and Tom Yantz of the Hartford Courant reporting.

No 5. Newtown beat New Fairfield, 41-20

Drew Tarantino threw for four TDs. Andy Hutchison of the Newtown Bee reporting.

No. 6 West Haven beat Wilbur Cross, 50-7

Duane Gary ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 137 yards and two scores, all in the first half. Mike Madera of JRC Amalgamated reporting.

No. 7 Glastonbury beat Conard, 39-7

Jalen Ollie completed 16 of 27 passes for 230 yards and three TDs. The Hartford Courant has a blurb HERE.

Xavier beat No. 8 Hand, 28-14

Joe Carbone and Andrew Meoli combined to run 57 times for 342 yards and three touchdowns for Xavier. The result also leads to more voting fun — North Haven beat Xavier (42-28), Hand beat North Haven (21-6), and now Xavier beat Hand. North Haven is 7-1, but hasn't played as daunting a schedule as either the Falcons (6-2) or Tigers (6-2). Who do YOU vote higher? As for Friday night's game, Pooch Diggity Dogg of JRC Amalgamated reporting.

No. 10 Platt beat Berlin, 44-6

Andrew McBride completed 14 of 20 passes for 262 yards and five TDs as the Panthers clinched the CCC D-III East title for the second straight year. Their win is even more impressive because star tailback Tyzahn LEATHERWOOD didn't start due to an ankle injury and ran just eight times. Bryan Carpenter of the Meriden Record-Journal, and Chris McLaughlin of the New Britain Herald reporting.

Other games of note:

Holy Cross beat Woodland, 37-18

Trai Weaver ran three times for 78 yards and three TDs and caught another as the Crusaders handed the Hawks their first loss of the season. Holy Cross' defense deserves praise for holding Woodland's Tanner Kingsley to 13 of 24 passing for 140 yards with two TDs and two picks. Kingsley had completed 70.6-percent of his passes for 266 yards a game with 30 touchdowns prior to last night. Holy Cross (6-2) now has the inside track on the NVL Copper title and a shot at playing for the league title. Kountry Kyle Brennan of the Waterbury Republican-American reporting.

Ledyard beat Montville, 55-13

Ty Ebdon threw for 351 yards and five TDs. More noteworthy was the effort of the Colonels defense — it held Montville's Jeremiah Crowley to a season-low 70 yards rushing. That's the same Jeremiah Crowley who ran for a state-record 526 yards in a 49-37 win over Stonington on Sept. 27. Mike DiMauro of TEAM DAY reporting.

Staples beat Trumbull, 49-42 in OVERTIME

Jack Greenwald ran for a game-winning 5-yard touchdown in what was the game of the night. The Wreckers also tied the game with 25 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. It should surprise NO ONE who's followed the Eagles that this game was so bananas. Two weeks ago, they scored with 1 minute, 49 seconds left to beat Greenwich (50-44). They rallied from nine points down with 2:31 left in last week's win over Wilton (32-28). Trumbull's Marc Cesare ran 38 times for 244 yards and six TDs against Staples. Ryan Lacey of Hearst Inc., and Tim Parry of the Norwalk Hour reporting.

Morgan beat North Branford, 33-21.

Jake Ward ran 32 times for 330 yards and four TDs as the Huskies won a match-up between one-loss teams. It was a huge win for Morgan as it was against a fellow Class S team, and because it bounced back strong after being ravaged last week by Valley Regional/Old Lyme. Mike Madera of JRC Amalgamated reporting. Dude gets around.

Bristol Eastern beat Northwest Catholic, 21-13

Gerry Ouellette ran 22 times for 121 yards as the Lancers won yet another game with dueling one-loss teams. Eastern (7-1) continues to be one of the state's best surprises. Kevin D. Roberts of the Bristol Press reporting.

Thanks for reading. More later.

Vaya con dios….