Friday's Games

Thames River at Vinal/Goodwin Tech/Whitney Tech, 3 p.m.

Records: Thames River (3-1, 3-1 CTC); Vinal (1-3, 1-3)

Outlook: The Crusaders sit a game out of first place in the Connecticut Technical Conference, following consecutive wins over Prince Tech and MCW. Seth Cunningham rushed for 135 yards and scored twice, and Jackson Brenek threw two touchdown passes in their last game two weeks ago. Brenek, a sophomore, has three touchdown passes in his last two games.

Stonington at Windham, 4 p.m.

Records: Stonington (0-4); Windham (0-4)

Outlook: The good news: Somebody's getting the season's first win here. Stonington's record was the same a year ago (0-4) through this point of the season, but coach A.J. Massengale believes better days are ahead, given that his underclassmen will eventually become upperclassmen: "Good things are going to happen for this team. I'm certain of it," Massengale said after the 14-7 loss to Griswold/Wheeler two weeks ago. "I told them, 'I've been coaching here longer than most of you have been alive. We have to navigate it to get you there.' We're going to continue to get better. We have stuff we're working on."

NFA at West Haven, 7 p.m.

Records: NFA (3-1); West Haven (1-3)

Outlook: NFA's highly competitive schedule take the Wildcats downstate again to play a team whose record is deceiving. Two of West Haven's losses have come to top 10 teams Shelton and Newtown. NFA, meanwhile, has lost starting quarterback Austin Richards for the season. Backup Jakob Hosko, however, played quite well two weeks ago, throwing for nearly 300 yards in a win at East Lyme. The Wildcats need to keep winning to keep pace in Class LL.

Saturday's Games

Killingly at Ledyard, 1 p.m.

Records: Killingly (4-0); Ledyard (1-3)

Outlook: No other ECC program has been as consistent as Killingly in recent years. Graduation, which hit the program hard in recent years, appears to have had minimal effect. Killingly is 4-0, receiving votes in the polls and has a great chance to land in the Class M playoffs again. This will be the last game played on Bill Mignault Field while the playing surface is grass. Work begins on new synthetic turf after this game.

Harding at New London, 1 p.m.

Records: Harding (2-2); New London (1-2)

Outlook: The Whalers won their first game of the season before their bye, grinding out a 12-7 victory over Ledyard. They'll face a good defense here once again. Harding, which lost to East Lyme earlier in the year, limited the Vikings to 17 points and 68 all season. New London has scored but 31 points in three games.

Montville at East Lyme, 2 p.m.

Records: Montville (2-2); East Lyme (3-1)

Outlook: The Indians, who earned a much-needed win two weeks ago against Amistad, face a much tougher task here. East Lyme has played well without injured running back Blaine Hart, whose return will add another weapon to the offense. The Vikings didn't play all that poorly in their loss to NFA two weeks ago, leaving hope for the prospect of a very good season.

Sunday's Game

Waterford at Fitch, 1:30 p.m.

Records: Waterford (4-0); Fitch (2-2)

Outlook: This game has been moved to Sunday to accommodate several issues. It'll leave both programs with a short week to prepare for next week — and with an extended time to prepare for this one. Fitch is coming off a tough loss at Killingly two weeks ago, while the Lancers are one of six unbeaten teams remaining in Class M. A win here would give Waterford an excellent chance at the postseason.