Howdy,

Although it's been said, many times, many ways, the closer we get to the end of the regular season, the greater the chance for THE WACKY.

The ninth Friday of the season provided us with several examples of said wacky.

Take the Notre Dame of West Haven at Fairfield Prep game, for instance. Notre Dame is young and has taken its lumps. Prep was ranked 11th in Class LL prior to the game, but was very much alive for a playoff berth.

Final score — Notre Dame 21, Fairfield Prep 14.

Pat Pickens of Hearst Inc. covered the game.

Southington was unbeaten and the top-ranked team in Class LL headed into its game against Manchester. The former had lost twice, but was ranked 10th in the division.

Final score — Southington 13, Manchester 12. And the Blue Knights needed Stephen Barmore to throw a 30-yard touchdown to Corbin Garry as the game ended.

The Blue Knights were rewarded with the first (unofficial) berth in Class LL.

Let Gentleman Bryant Carpenter of the Meriden Record-Journal detail the lunacy.

Fellow Class LL playoff contender Glastonbury had an equally hard time with Hall of West Hartford, scraping by. 10-6.

Newtown, ranked sixth in Class LL, routed Bunnell of Stratford, 42-8, but it may have been a pyrrhic victory as quarterback Dan Hebert was injured before halftime. The extent of his injury is unknown, and his team sure can't afford to lose him.

The Nighthawks play host to fellow unbeaten Masuk of Monroe on Thanksgrabbing Eve.

Stonington clinched the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division championship, ransacking Plainfield, 54-12. The Bears (7-2) also remain alive in the Class S playoff chase.

Michael DiMauro of TEAM DAY provides will tell you about Stonington's win.

Class M hopefuls everywhere should be singing words of thanks to Joe Pacheco and New Fairfield. The REBELS handed Brookfield its third loss of the season, 34-19.

(Chris Brodeur of Hearst Inc. reported on said game.)

The Bobcats' defeat leaves just 12 teams with two losses or less. There will be 11 after this morning's New London-Ledyard game.

The two loss teams — Hillhouse of New Haven, Montville, New London, Ledyard, St. Joseph of Trumbull and Coventry/Windham Tech/Bolton — will have one less team to battle for playoff positioning by the time the clock strikes 1 p.m. today.

The night's obscene offensive game was provided during Trumbull's 44-42 win over Bridgeport Central. The Hilltoppers led 22-7 at halftime, but Trumbull battled back for the win.

Mike Cardillo of Hearst Inc. witnessed too many touchdowns.

Finally, we urge you to check out today's Saturday Morning Showdown — New London at Ledyard — here at theday.com.

Trust us — this is going to be a sweet production. It's worth tuning in just to see the pre-produced videos by The Day's Emmy award winning videographer, Peter Huoppi.

The pregame show starts at 10:15 a.m.

The game kicks off at 10:30 a.m.

We hope you enjoy it.

More soon.

Vaya con dios….