St. Joseph is latest No. 1 in The Day’s H.S. football coaches’ poll
St. Joseph is the new No. 1 team in The Day’s Top 10 state high school football coaches’ poll.
The Cadets may not want the honor given the way this season has gone.
St. Joseph is the sixth team to be ranked No. 1 in just 10 weeks of voting. The Cadets narrowly edged Southington for the ranking to conclude the most chaotic CIAC football regular season in quite some time.
St. Joseph and Southington are both 9-1 and each received five first-place votes. The Cadets had a slim 360-356 point edge, however.
Greenwich (one week), Shelton (one week), Southington (four weeks), Maloney (one week) and West Haven (two weeks) are the previous No. 1 teams.
The No. 1 ranking was once again up for grabs after Fairfield Prep snuffed out then-No. 1 and previously unbeaten West Haven last Wednesday, 21-6.
The game featured seven lead changes with Greenwich going ahead with 1 minute, 49 seconds left. The Wreckers scored the go-ahead touchdown just 43 seconds later.
That same day, Logan Spoelstra kicked a go-ahead 21-yard field goal with 2 seconds left to give St. Joseph its fifth straight win over Trumbull, 20-17.
The Cadets’ schedule may have swayed voters to rank it slightly higher than Southington. St. Joe’s has played five playoff teams and beaten four —No. 3 New Canaan (27-14, Oct. 28), No. 9 Staples (42-21, Sept. 17), Masuk (24-21, Sept. 24) and Trumbull). They lost to Greenwich, 36-26, on Oct. 14.
Maloney (9-1) is fourth and received two first-place votes, followed by Newtown (9-1), West Haven (9-1), Fairfield Prep (7-3) and Greenwich (8-2).
Staples (9-1) moved into the Top 10 for the first time this season at ninth. That the Wreckers are ranked below the Cardinals with one less loss will certainly rankle some. Staples lost twice by one point.
Ansonia (10-0) held at No. 10 and received the other first-place vote. The Chargers are one of just five unbeaten teams left in the state. The others are Berlin, the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy co-op, Northwest United and Thames River.
Killingly (9-1) and Windham (9-1) were the two eastern Connecticut teams receiving votes.
n.griffen@theday.com
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