Another beast in the Class LL pit, divisional breakdowns, schedules, and MINUTIA
The CIAC's Class LL division is generally considered the state's mas macho division.
Sure, the likes of Darien, Hand, Masuk, New Canaan, Notre Dame of West Haven and Windsor have made Class L the better and deeper division in some years, but Class LL has regularly been the CIAC’s Death Division with the state's biggest, baddest teams mangling one another.
Class LL will have another beast dropped into the pit this coming fall as Darien is moving up from Class L.
WHEE-EEEE.
Darien reestablished itself as a state force when Rob Trifone took over in 2007. A state title has eluded him and the Blue Wave as they've lost in three finals (all to frenemy New Canaan). Still, they've been a perennial Class L contender and are one of the few programs that’s dropped a few Ls on the aforementioned Rams.
Xavier has earned the distinction of Class LL overlord by winning five titles in the last 10 seasons.
Southington has become a force again with back-to-back LL crowns.
Cheshire, Glastonbury, Norwich Free Academy, Shelton and Staples have also been in the LL mix, too.
Greenwich bears watching this fall after it lured young offensive sage John Marinelli away from his father, Lou, the venerable head coach at New Canaan.
And now Darien joins the fray.
Awesome. Freaking awesome.
Here are the division breakdowns with the number of teams listed in parentheses. Defending state champions are bolded, too (remember, there were eight state champs last season due to circumstances beyond the CIAC’s control. We lived through it, and let’s never talk about it again.)
CLASS LL (35): Amity, Bridgeport Central, Cheshire, Conard, Crosby, Danbury, Darien, East Hartford, Fairfield Ludlowe, Fairfield Prep, Fairfield Warde, Farmington, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hall, Hamden, Hartford Public, Manchester, McMahon, New Britain, New Milford, Newtown, Norwalk, Norwich Free Academy, Ridgefield, Shelton, Simsbury, Southington (Class LL-Large), Stamford, Staples, Trumbull, West Haven, Westhill, Wilbur Cross, and Xavier (Class LL-Small).
CLASS L (35): Avon, Barlow, Bassick, Branford, Bristol Central, Bristol Eastern, Bulkeley/HMTCA/Weaver, E.O. Smith, East Lyme, Fitch, Guilford, Hand, Harding, Hillhouse, Kennedy, Maloney, Masuk, Middletown, Naugatuck, New Canaan (Class L-Large), Newington, North Haven, Notre Dame-West Haven, Platt, Pomperaug, Quinebaug Valley, RHAM, South Windsor, Thames River (i.e. the Grasso Tech/Norwich Tech/St. Bernard TRI-OP), Torrington, Vinal Tech/East Hampton/Goodwin Tech, Wethersfield, Wilby, Wilton, and Windsor (Class L-Small).
CLASS M (36): Abbott Tech/Immaculate, Bacon Academy, Berlin, Bethel, Brookfield (Class M-Large), Bunnell, Cheney Tech, Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton, East Haven, Fermi, Foran, Gilbert/NW Regional, Hyde/Career/Whitney Tech (four-time Class S champion Hyde moves up a division as Career and Whitney add to its ranks), Killingly, Law, Ledyard, Lewis Mills, Lyman Hall, New Fairfield, New London, Platt Tech, Rockville, Sacred Heart/Kaynor Tech, Sheehan, Sports & Medical Sciences/University, St. Joseph (Class L-Small), Stratford, Tolland, Valley Regional/Old Lyme (Class S-Large), Waterford, Watertown, Weston, Wilcox Tech, Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby, Wolcott Tech, and Woodstock Academy.
CLASS S (37): Ansonia, Bloomfield, Bullard-Havens, Canton, Capital Prep/Achievement (Class S-Small), Coginchaug, CREC co-op (i.e. the Capitol Region Education Council COLTS, comprised of Metropolitan Learning Center, Public Safety Academy, and Two Rivers Magnet High School), Cromwell/Portland, Derby, East Catholic, Ellington (no longer a co-op with Somers), Enfield, Granby, Griswold, Haddam-Killingworth, Holy Cross, Montville, Morgan, Nonnewaug, North Branford, Northwest Catholic, Notre Dame-Fairfield, O'Brien Tech, Old Saybrook/Westbrook, Oxford, Plainfield, Plainville, Prince Tech, Rocky Hill, Seymour, St. Paul, Stafford/East Windsor/Somers, Stonington, Trinity Catholic, Windham, Wolcott, and Woodland.
Here are the teams that moved up, down or new:
Class LL: Darien (Class L), and Wilbur Cross (Class L).
Class L: Avon (Class M), Bristol Central (Class LL), East Lyme (Class M), Hillhouse (Class M), Quinebaug Valley (Class M), Thames River (Class M), and Wilby (Class LL)
Class M: Bunnell (Class L — dang, has its enrollment fallen), Hyde/Career/Whitney (Class S), New Fairfield (Class M), Platt Tech (Class L), Stratford (Class L), Tolland (Class S), Valley Regional/Old Lyme (Class S), and Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby (Class L).
Class S: CREC (BRAND NEW), Ellington (Class M), Stafford/East Windsor/Somers (Class M), and Wolcott (Class M).
• • • •
As a public service, in case you missed the last blog re: the 2015 schedules, GO HERE. There are links to all 143 schedules (for all 143 teams).
The late, great Bo Kolinsky used to assemble, by hand, state schedules organzied by CIAC division back when there were pay phones on every corner and nobody went to Patriots games. Bob Barton, the state's leading high school football polymath, affectionately referred to them as "Kolinskygrams". Sportswriters anxiously awaited for their Kolinskygram to arrive every fall via the mail, photocopied and sent to them by Bo.
Nowadays, Kolinskygrams are avaiable to the masses online thanks to the work of CIAC Minister of Pixels Matt Fischer. You're encouraged to print, study and save them as you plan out your upcoming statewide fall football tour.
• • • •
MINUTIA — all those words about Class LL strength got us to wondering just how many times a LL team has ended the season No. 1 in both The Day of New London Top 10 state coaches’ and New Haven Register media polls.
The Register’s media Top 10 began in 1961 and is the elder poll. Here’s the breakdown of its number one teams by division.
CLASS LL: 21
CLASS L: 13
CLASS S: 11 (Ansonia is responsible for five).
CLASS SS: 3
CLASS MM: 2.
CLASS M: 2
The Courant began the coaches poll in 1985 and ceased publishing one after a contentious 2000 season. TEAM DAY revived it in 2003. Class L has ruled this Top 10 as the coaches have selected them 10 times as the number one team.
Here’s the numbers for the other divisions:
CLASS S: 7 (Ansonia has four).
CLASS LL: 6
CLASS MM: 2
CLASS M: 2
CLASS SS: 1.
• • • •
Thanks for reading. More. .... sometime later.
Vaya con dios....
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