Greenwich finishes as unanimous No. 1 in The Day's coaches' poll
Greenwich wasn’t just great this season. It was historically great.
The Cardinals had one of the stingiest defenses of this millennium despite playing in the ultra-competitive Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference and CIAC Class LL football playoffs.
Greenwich also routed three teams during the CIAC Class LL playoffs, the last two by shutout.
The Cardinals overwhelmed New Canaan on Saturday, 34-0, to win the LL title and the program’s eighth overall.
Greenwich finished the season as the unanimous choice for No. 1 in The Day of New London's Top 10 state high school coaches' poll. It’s the first time in the program’s illustrious history that it finished No. 1.
“I do appreciate what we were able to do through the course of the season,” Cardinals head coach John Marinelli said. “Looking back at some of it, it’s really remarkable because those were good teams we faced.”
Greenwich (13-0) received all 13 first-place votes, earning the two votes that previously went to Hand. It also finished No. 1 in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register media poll for the first time, receiving 24 out of 28 first-place votes.
Hand (13-0), which successfully defended its L title, was second. Class M champion St. Joseph (12-1) was third, followed by L runner-up New Canaan (10-3) and Newtown (11-1).
Shelton (10-1), three-time LL champion Darien (9-2), Fairfield Prep (10-2), S champion Bloomfield (12-1) and Southington (10-1) rounded out the Top 10. Class M semifinalist Killingly (10-2) was the lone Eastern Connecticut Conference team that received a vote. It received one 15th-place vote.
Greenwich allowed a state-low 54 points, the fewest points allowed in a season since 2003 LL champion New Britain (52).
The Cardinals played one more game than the Hurricanes, thus their 4.2 points allowed average was the lowest since 1995 L champion Cheshire (2.75 in 12 games, 33 points overall).
“I’ve been coaching a little over a decade and that never happened to me,” said Marinelli, who previously worked as an assistant to his father, Lou, the head coach at New Canaan, before taking over at Greenwich in 2015.
“I’ll say this — I’m even more impressed of the fact that we gave up so few points with most of our starters out (early) in at least eight of 13 games. We’re taking some starters out midway through the third. Our sophomores and juniors, the future up-and-comers, they carried the torch when they were in there. And the starters were on the sidelines cheering them on. It was a full team atmosphere.”
Greenwich allowed more than seven points to New Canaan (42-14, Oct. 6) and New Britain (49-13, Nov. 27, LL quarterfinals). The latter was ranked 10th prior to states. It also had six shutouts, including three in its last four games starting with Staples (29-0) on Thanksgiving Day.
Newtown averaged 40.8 points and 371 yards offense prior to its semifinal game against the Cardinals and, at the time, was second in points against (65). The Cardinals held the Nighthawks to just four first downs and 23 yards in a 50-0 beating.
New Canaan beat two of the best teams in the Southern Connecticut Conference in back-to-back playoff games on the road, Shelton (42-34) and Fairfield Prep (38-7), respectively. Greenwich outgained the Rams 452-142 in the LL final.
“New Canaan, in my mind, they’re one of the best teams in the state,” Marinelli said. “Staples, they may not get a lot of credit, but they were a top 10 team in the state of Connecticut. They gave us a ton of issues.”
Staples also lost to three-time defending champion Darien (24-0) and St. Joseph (17-14), but it was the only team other than Darien that gave the Cadets trouble.
“New Britain’s quarterback-running back duo (Tahje Yopp and Shawn Robinson), I think, was the best tandem in the state,” Marinelli continued. “They gave us everything and more to handle. I think the (LL quarterfinal) just got out of hand, but they were outstanding and one of the best teams we played.”
n.griffen@theday.com
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