Kevin Frey
Hand football
Senior rushed for 214 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to help the Tigers beat New Canaan 34-10 and claim the Class L state championship.

Via press release:

Xavier, the consensus No. 1 team in the Register Top 10 poll, is the Walter Camp Football Foundation’s choice to receive the Joseph W. Kelly Award, which is awarded annually to Connecticut’s top high school football team.

It is the second straight year and third time overall that Xavier has earned the award. It is also the third consecutive year a team from the Southern Connecticut Conference has won the honor (Notre Dame-W.H, 2009). The Falcons are also the fourth team to repeat as Kelly Award recipients, joining Ansonia (2006-07), Bloomfield (1998-99) and four-time winner Cheshire (2002-05).

Xavier (13-0) captured the SCC Division I West title on its way to a perfect 10-0 regular-season record. In the state playoffs, the Falcons outscored its three playoff opponents 131-27.

Xavier was the first SCC team to score 500 points in a season, averaging 42.6 points game. The Falcons’ defense allowed just 103 points in 13 games (7.9 points a game). Xavier currently holds a 26-game winning streak.

It is the ninth time since the SCC was founded in 1994 that one of its league teams has captured the Kelly Award (Xavier 2005, 2010 and 2011; Cheshire 1994 and 1995; Hand 1997 and 2004; West Haven 2002; and Notre Dame 2009).

Coach Sean Marinan and the Xavier team, along with members of the 2011 Walter Camp All-America team, will be honored at the organization’s national awards banquet on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at the Yale University Commons in New Haven.

By Mike Pucci, Register Staff
mpucci@nhregister.com
@MikePucciNHR

Peter Hvizdak/Register

It’s unanimous.

Xavier is the No. 1 team in the final Register Top 10 football poll.

The Falcons (13-0), the Class LL state champions, received all 25 first-place votes from the panel of sportswriters and finished with 750 points.

It marked the second straight year, and fourth time overall, that Xavier topped the poll. It’s also the first unanimous selection since the Falcons finished No. 1 in 2005. Xavier defeated Staples 42-7 in this year’s Class LL final.

“This is something we worked so hard for, something that we really wanted to get,” Xavier senior running back Mike Mastroianni said. “Since freshman (year), we knew what our goals were. We wanted to win it all, to go undefeated and to win states. Last year was an amazing feeling. To do it again is something unbelievable, and something very few people can say they have done.”

Class L champion, and fellow Southern Connecticut Conference member, Hand (13-0) was second with 698 points. Class M champ Ansonia (14-0) was third (652), Staples (11-1) was fourth (564) and Masuk (11-1) was fifth (530).

Read more here.

To view the complete poll, click here.

Championship game special for Xavier father, son.

Here is the ballot I submitted for the final New Haven Register Top 10 Poll.
The poll will be released at http://www.nhregister.com/ at 5 p.m. Monday.

1. Xavier
2. Hand
3. Ansonia
4. Staples
5. Masuk
6. New Canaan
7. Windsor
8. New London
9. Notre Dame (W.H.)
10. Greenwich
11. Newtown
12. North Haven
13. Holy Cross
14. Hall
15. Cromwell

Three state titles were decided on Saturday. Here's the recap.

Class LL: Xavier wins second straight title, tops Staples 42-7



Class L: Hand wins 10th title after 34-10 win over New Canaan



Class M: Ansonia shuts out Ledyard 38-0



VOTE for Saturday's STAR. Nominees include Ansonia running back Arkeel Newsome and Hand running back Kevin Frey.