Thunderstorms postponed many season-opening football games scheduled to play Thursday night. A number of them involved area teams playing in the SCC-FCIAC Challenge.

And some of those area teams have to finish completed games on Friday. One of them is Hillhouse, which trails 40-26 to Darien with just over 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Academics will return to Darien Friday to resume the game at 4 p.m.

Shelton led Trumbull 49-0 at halftime when thunderstorms postponed the second half of that non-league contest to 3 p.m. Friday. Among teams in the Register Top 10 poll, No. 5 West Haven leads host Greenwich 13-7 in the third quarter. That game will resume Sunday at 1 p.m. in Greenwich.

No. 6 Middletown led East Lyme 7-0 at home in the second quarter. It will be resumed Sunday at 1:30 p.m. No. 7 Southington never got started at Glastonbury. That game begins Friday at 3 p.m.

Hamden led Danbury 6-0 with 1:23 left in the first quarter Thursday night. That game will resume at 3:30 Friday. Wilbur Cross trails McMahon 13-0 at halftime. The Governors will return to Norwalk at 3 p.m. Friday.

Other rescheduled games to Friday include: Fairfield Prep at Stamford, 3:30 p.m.; North Haven at Bridgeport Central, 4:30 p.m., Trinity Catholic at Sheehan, 4:30 p.m.; Branford at Woodland, 4:30 p.m.; and Bassick at East Haven, 7 p.m.

 Fairfield Ludlowe led Lyman Hall 24-7 in the third quarter and have not announced a makeup date yet. North Branford led Haddam-Killingworth 39-0 in the third quarter. That makeup is also not known.

Three area games were completed Thursday: Valley Regional/Old Lyme beat Hyde 34-0, Oxford beat Weston 23-6 and Wilton edged Guilford 21-20.

Hamden pieced together a 14-play, 56-yard scoring play that covered some 7 minutes of the first quarter to take a 6-0 lead over Danbury. Billy Varney hit Maliek Williamson on a 12-yard screen pass for the game’s lone score so far.

But on Danbury’s ensuing possession, with 1:23 left in the opening quarter, lightning caused play to be stopped. About 10 minutes later, all the lights on the field and in the school went out.

By Joe Morelli, Register Staffjmorelli@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrJoeMorelli

Tom Dyer will become the new athletic director at Hamden, replacing Jeanne Cooper, who retired in June.

Dyer, 34, served as co-athletic facilitator at Hillhouse from 2007-13 and the head football coach the last six years, two of them culminating in Class M state football championships (2010 and 2012).

“I’m extremely excited about the new opportunity and looking forward to meeting all of the coaches and student-athletes,” Dyer said. “But I’m also sad about leaving a great program.”

Dyer went 51-17 in his six seasons with the Academics. He also served as an assistant coach at Hillhouse from 2001-06.
“We are very happy to have Tom Dyer in the district as athletic director,” Hamden principal Gary Highsmith said. “He has a great track record, is a successful coach. He’s very enthusiastic and he’s a winner. I think our superintendent (Fran Rabinowitz) made a very, very wise choice.”

Said Dyer: “It was a very tough decision to leave the Hillhouse football program and those kids.”

The Academics also appeared in the Class M semifinals in 2008.

“It’s wonderful for Tommy. Hamden got a quality guy,” New Haven citywide athletic director Joe Canzanella said. “He will do very well in Hamden.”

Canzanella said Reggie Lytle, an assistant on Dyer’s staff, was promoted to interim head coach Wednesday. He has held several positions in his three years as an assistant and he is current;y the president of New Haven’s Pop Warner foootball program.

DIVISION I

OFFENSE

OL-Dennis Flanagan, Sr., Amity
OL-John Thomas, Sr., Hamden
OL-Zack Creeron, Sr., Xavier
OL-Greg Purcell, Sr., Amity
K-Ed Groth, Sr., Shelton
WR-Kris Luster, Sr., Xavier
WR-Chris Perry, Sr., ND-WH
WR-Kyle Drost, Jr., Shelton
WR-Kyle Anderson, Sr., Hand
RB-DeAngelo Berry, Sr., Xavier
RB-Ervin Philips, Jr., West Haven
RB-Cameran Tucker, Jr., ND-WH
RB-David Attolino, Sr., Amity
QB-Tim Boyle, Sr., Xavier
QB-Brendan Bilcheck, Sr., Hand

DEFENSE

DL-Alex Chow-Yen, Sr., Cross
DL-Peter Gerson, Sr., Hand
DL-Eddy Williams, Sr., West Haven
DL-Anthony Palazzolo, So., Fairfield Prep
LB-Nick Crowle, Jr., Fairfield Prep
LB-Matt Walsh, Sr., Hand
LB-Max Tylki, Sr., Xavier
LB-Kadialy Toure, Sr., West Haven
LB-Chris Golger, Sr., Fairfield Prep
DB-Alex Tuccero, Sr., Hand
DB-Jack Cunningham, So., Cheshire
DB-Sam Pascale, Sr., Cheshire
DB-Amore Gee, Sr., West Haven
DB-Vincent Sansone, Sr., Cheshire
P-Ysaan Frazier, Sr., Wilbur Cross

DIVISION II

OFFENSE

OL-Matt Marcarelli, Sr., North Haven
OL-Zach Hubler, Jr., Foran
OL-Nick Casagrande, Jr., Law
OL-George Knoth, Sr., Law
OL-Sean Merrill, Sr., Sheehan
OL-Colton Schilling, Sr., Guilford
WR-Nick Weissauer, Jr., Foran
WR-Ryan Bohne, Sr., Lyman Hall
RB-Harold Cooper, Jr., Hillhouse
RB-Jalon White, Sr., North Haven
QB-Jake Kasuba, So., Foran
QB-Joe Nault, Jr., Guilford
UT-K.C. Horton, Jr., Guilford

DEFENSE
DL-Andrew Klarman, Sr., Branford
DL-Mark Spadacenta, Sr., East Haven
DL-Anthony Jones, Sr., Branford
DL-Teno Simpson, Sr., Hillhouse
LB-Mike Halloran, Jr., North Haven
LB-Ford Linell, Jr., Guilford
LB-Alex Borkowski, Sr., Branford
LB-Terrell Fairweather, Sr., Hillhouse
LB-Quincy Pecora, Sr., North Haven
DB-Je'Vaughn Moore, Sr., Hillhouse
DB-Kyle Paolella, Sr., Sheehan
DB-Darryn Horner, Sr., Hillhouse
DB-Andre Anderson, Sr., Hillhouse

Ansonia wins NVL title

WATERBURY — Through 10 games, an opponent has yet to solve, much less contain, Ansonia’s potent offensive attack.

In the Naugatuck Valley League championship game with Woodland, it was essentially the same script its been all season: another decisive victory for the Chargers.

Through the air and on the ground, Ansonia, ranked third in the Register Top 10 Poll, operated on all cylinders Thursday.

Led by junior Arkeel Newsome, who rushed 23 times for 222 yards and three touchdowns, the Chargers cruised to a 56-26 win over the Hawks at Municipal Stadium.

It was the second straight league title for Ansonia (10-0), which has won 24 straight games.

READ MORE

THURSDAY'S ROUNDUP

Hamden scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally for a 26-24 win over Amity in Hamden on Thursday night.

Quarterback Eli Bonadies scored on a 5-yard bootleg with just under a minute left to cap the Green Dragons’ rally.

READ MORE

FRIDAY'S ROUNDUP

Quarterback Phil Cohen completed 14-of-20 passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Valley Regional/Old Lyme football team to a 45-0 Pequot Sassacus win over East Hampton in East Hampton on Friday.

READ MORE

SATURDAY'S ROUNDUP

HYDE CLINCHES CLASS S PLAYOFF BERTH

Kevin Jones scored two rushing touchdowns and also tossed a touchdown pass for the Hyde football team in a 48-0 Pequot Conference Sassacus Division win over Nonnewaug Saturday at New Haven.

The Howling Wolves (9-0) clinched a Class S state playoff berth. Jones scored on runs of 70 and 5 yards and threw a 17-yard td pass to Kahlil Morant.

READ MORE

REGISTER TEAM OF THE WEEK: Law football 

 

By Joe Morelli, Schools Sports Editor
jmorelli@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrJoeMorelli

MILFORD — It’s always easier to go through a week of football practice after a victory. When it’s your first win in more than a year, it’s even better.

So you can imagine things were quite upbeat for the Law football team this past week, coming off a 28-12 win over Wilbur Cross that earned the Lawmen Register Team of the Week laurels following a vote at nhregister.com.

READ MORE




VOTE for this week's NOMINEES, including HAMDEN, until 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pingree, Piccirillo help Shelton edge Amity

SHELTON — Junior Michael Pingree took home a souvenir for his defensive effort in Shelton’s comeback victory over Amity.

Although Pingree was awarded the black baseball bat with the Gaels’ logo on it, it could have been presented to any member of Shelton’s defensive unit.

The gritty Gaels defense shut out the Spartans in the fourth quarter and Shelton rallied for a 34-28 Southern Connecticut Conference Division I West victory Saturday at Finn Stadium.


D’Angelo Berry rushed for 168 yards, including touchdown runs of 1 and 54 yards, and added an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to lead No. 1 Xavier to a 35-14 Southern Connecticut Conference Division I West win over Fairfield Prep in Middletown on Saturday.

Quarterback Tim Boyle completed 10 of 14 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Kris Luster had six receptions for 48 yards and a 5-yard touchdown catch.

Quarterback Strecker Backe completed 6 of 26 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns and Joseph Ganim had six receptions for 78 yards for the Jesuits (2-1). Xavier improves to 3-0.

MORE ROUNDUP AND BOX SCORES



HAMDEN has been nominated for the TEAM OF THE WEEK. VOTE!

Here's what happened in Week 1 on Friday:

 

 No. 1 Xavier blanks Notre Dame-West Haven

Fairfield Prep shuts out Wilbur Cross

 

 

North Branford rolls past Valley Regional/Old Lyme

 

Philips, Williams lead West Haven past Hamden in season opener

 

ROUNDUP: Cheshire slips past Shelton

 

Follow the action on our Week 1 Scoreboard

Via press release.

NEW HAVEN, CT (August 31, 2012) –MyTV9’s High School Football Game of the Week, returns on Saturday nights this fall. The fifth season of MyTV9’s High School Football Game of the Week will feature some of the best of this year’s football match-ups from 10 different locations around the state. 

If you can’t make it to the football field, you still have two chances to watch your favorite teams in action. The High School Football Game of the Week will be streamed live each week on wtnh.com. It will then be broadcast on Saturday night, at 7pm on MyTV9. Keep up with the latest news about the High School Football Game of the Week on wtnh.com.

Date/Time                                          Teams                                                     TV Date/Time
Sept. 14, 7 p.m.                              Hamden at West Haven                               Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21, 7 p.m.                              Foran at Shelton                                          Sept. 22, 7 p.m.
Sept. 28, 7 p.m.                              Derby at Ansonia                                        Sept. 29, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5, 7 p.m.                                 Masuk at Bunnell                                         Oct. 6, 7 p.m.
Oct. 12, 7 p.m.                               Hillhouse at North Haven                             Oct. 13, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19, 7 p.m.                               West Haven at Hand                                    Oct. 20, 7 p.m.
Oct. 26, 6 p.m.                               Branford at Guilford                                     Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
Nov. 2, 7 p.m.                                 Fitch at New London                                   Nov. 3, 7 p.m.
Nov. 9, 7 p.m.                                 Wilbur Cross at Amity                                 Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
Nov. 21, 6 p.m.                               Berlin at New Britain                                    Nov. 24, 7 p.m.

WEST HAVEN — While at Hamden, Tim Dube often played multiple positions, and usually excelled at all of them.

With the Green Dragons struggling through another rebuilding season, winning just one game, Dube was his team’s featured player on both sides of the ball.

Dube was the lone Hamden player selected to the all-Southern Connecticut Conference team, making it as a defensive back. Connor Falaguerra was in a similar situation at Law. Falaguerra played quarterback, running back, receiver, safety and returned punts and kickoffs. Despite his efforts, the Lawmen didn’t win a game. Falaguerra made all-SCC as a wide receiver after catching 44 passes.

Both Dube and Falaguerra will likely play integral roles for New Haven County in the 16th Hall of Fame Classic against Fairfield County tonight. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium.

Read more here.

Stopped up to the New Haven County practice on Monday at West Haven High.

NHC coach Mark Ecke said the team is coming along. Defense has been a strength led by Xavier corner back Ryan Murphy and linebackers Joe Ortoli (Shelton) and Tim Dube (Hamden).

We'll run a few stories this week in advance of the game, most likely Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in both print editions of the Register and on-line.

16TH HALL OF FAME CLASSIC 

What: New Haven County vs. Fairfield County
When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
Where: Ken Strong Stadium, West Haven
Tickets: $7 at the door, $5 in advance by calling Paul at (203) 231-3992
Last year’s result: Fairfield County 34, New Haven County 14
Series history: New Haven County leads 10-5.
Coaches: New Haven County: Mark Ecke; Fairfield County: John Svatik
For more information: Visit www.newhavenfootballfoundation.com.

The CIAC released 2012 football schedules on Thursday. Here are some interesting non-league games worth checking out. Times, dates and sites subject to change.

Week 2
Sept. 21
Hamden at Danbury, 7 p.m.: Hamden won just one game last season.

Week 3
Sept. 28
Whitney Tech at Sacred Heart, 7 p.m.: Whitney Tech fields first varsity team this fall.

Week 4
Oct. 5
North Haven at New London, 6:30 p.m.: Both teams qualified for state playoffs last season. 

Week 6
Oct. 20
Stamford at Norwich Free Academy, 1 p.m.: Stamford makes the long journey east to take on the Wildcats, one of the most consistent programs in the ECC.

Week 10
Nov. 15
Plainfield vs. Law at Sheehan, 6 p.m.:Law didn't win a game in 2011.

UNH receiver Josh Smart











WEST HAVEN — University of New Haven wide receiver Josh Smart describes himself as a possession receiver.

Smart takes pride in taking on linebackers over the middle and crushing charging safeties and cornerbacks. However, even the tough guys get scared sometimes.

“I just remember freshman year,” Smart said, “being nervous, 18 years old going against these 23-year-old grown men around the conference. It was real nerve-wracking.”

Read more from Henry Chisholm here.



STORRS — Max DeLorenzo took a handoff, slipped through the line and broke to the outside for 30 yards.

It was another big gainer for UConn’s tailback from Berlin, who had an impressive spring practice Saturday. Linebacker Sio Moore, watching the play from the sideline, shook his head and wondered if it wasn’t someone else wearing the No. 44 jersey.

“He looks like Mike Alstott running the ball,” Moore said.

Moore pretty much hit the analogy on the head. DeLorenzo, a 5-foot-11, 213-pound redshirt freshman, looked an awful lot like a smaller version of Alstott, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers power back.

Read more from Chip Malafronte here.

From the Notre Dame athletic office.

Tickets for the Notre Dame vs. Hamden "Green Bowl" game on Thanksgiving morning at 10:30 am at Hamden will be sold at both schools next week.

This year marks the 61st anniversary of this rivalry, which dates back to 1951.

Please see below for dates and times.

Notre Dame

Tickets will be available from Friday Nov.18 at thru Tuesday Nov 22.

Hamden

Tickets will be available from Monday Nov 21 through Wednesday Nov 23.

The ticket prices are as follows:

Pre-Sale

General Admission $5.00

Children under 12 years old $3.00

All General Admission tickets at the game will be $6.00!

Fans of both teams are encouraged to purchase discounted tickets in advance to avoid waiting in line at the game.

No. 8 West Haven survives scare from Hamden.

Fairfield Prep finishes off Wilbur Cross.

Ansonia's Arkeel Newsome rushes for 401 yards in win over Derby.

Platt Tech making strides.

Roundup/Box Scores

Vote for the TEAM of the WEEK

Cheshire football’s first home game of the season will be played at Sheehan High on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. while the new turf field is being built. The Rams will “host” Hamden.

Groundbreaking for the turf field began last week and Oct. 15 is the projected finish date. The turf installment/construction is being done by R.A.D. Sports, based out of Rockland Mass., and Shaw Sportexe based in Kennesaw, Ga.

“I have high confidence in R.A.D. Sports and Shaw Sportexe,” said Bob Behrer, chairman of the Cheshire Turf Committee. “They are wonderful and will do everything they can to get this done on time or earlier.”

The Hamden game at Cheshire was originally scheduled for Sept. 16. Cheshire also has home games Oct. 6 against Hand and Oct. 14 against Wilbur Cross.

Athletic director Steve Trifone is extremely happy the turf project is moving forward but no official decision on a rescheduled site has been made on the Oct. 6 or Oct. 14 games.

One source said school officials will take it one game at a time, depending on the progress of the project.

Bunnell 55, Barlow 19: Quarterback Bryan Castelot threw three touchdown passes and Kevin Hernandez added a 59-yard touchdown run to lead Bunnell to its SWC interdivision win at Stratford.
Castelot completed 11-of-15 passes for 225 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Camille, 11-yard touchdown pass to Josh Diaz and 17-yard touchdown pass to Jibril Chisholm.

Woodland 21, Kennedy 6: Jack DeBiase ran for 153 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and also intercepted two passes for Woodland in its NVL victory.

Shelton 38, Sheehan 11: Shaq Holman scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 99-yard kickoff return, and Jonathan Groth threw for a pair of scores to lead the victory in Shelton.

Amity 44, East Haven 6: Kyle Kalanta rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns as Amity gained 447 yards of total offense in the rout at Amity.

Notre Dame of West Haven 52, Branford 20: Ahmir Vess rushed for 206 yards and two touchdowns as Notre Dame crushed Branford.

North Haven 13, Hamden 2: Joe Schwab rushed 25 times for 151 yards for the visiting Indians in this SCC interdivision contest at Hamden.

Valley Regional/Old Lyme 40, Lewis Mills 0: Quarterback Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn had touchdown runs of 74, 13 and 43 yards and added a touchdown pass to lead the Warriors to their Pequot Sassacus win in Deep River.

Haddam-Killingworth 36, Old Saybrook 3: At Haddam, Dan Milardo ran for 113 yards on seven carries, including a 73-yard touchdown, to lead H-K to its victory.

Sacred Heart 38, Derby 19: Ray Kreiger passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in Derby’s NVL home loss.

It’s crossover week in the SCC, when teams from Division I compete against opponents from Division II. Below are some interesting tidbits released by SCC commissioner Al Carbone.

There are three match ups being played for the first time since the inception of the SCC in 1994 (Foran at Xavier, Law at Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse at Cheshire).
In addition, there are six games being contested for the first time in a number of years.

*Branford at Notre Dame (first meeting since 1997, a 20-0 Notre Dame win).

*Guilford at West Haven (first meeting since 1997, when West Haven won 42-7).

*East Haven at Amity (first meeting since 1999, when Amity won 21-12).

*North Haven at Hamden (first meeting since 1999, a 27-8 Hamden victory).

*Lyman Hall at Hand. Hand won the last meeting, 27-19, in 2001.

*Sheehan at Shelton. The former Housatonic League (pre-1994) and former SCC Housatonic Division (from 1994-2003) rivals meet for the first time since 2003, when Shelton emerged with a 52-7 victory.

Chris Turner ran for a 65-yard touchdown and Harold Cooper scored on a 17-yard run as the Hillhouse football team defeated North Haven 12-0 Friday night in Southern Connecticut Conference interdivision play at North Haven.

The first half was played Thursday before lightning and heavy rain postponed the second half to Friday.

Ansonia 41, Woodland 36: Elliot Chudwick threw for three touchdowns and Montrell Dobbs rushed for three touchdowns as the Chargers edged the Hawks in Naugatuck Valley League play at Beacon Falls.

Dobbs rushed for 213 yards on 35 carries. Chudwick threw for 138 yards for Ansonia (1-0). Jack DeBiase threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Woodland (0-1).

Cheshire 27, Hamden 0: Quarterback Max Slade rushed for two touchdowns and added a touchdown pass to lead the visiting Rams, ranked seventh in the Register Top 10 poll, to their SCC Division I win at Hamden.

Bunnell 54, Bethel 27: Quarterback Brian Castelot completed 22 for 32 passes for 408 yards and four touchdowns to lead host Bunnell to its South-West Conference win at Stratford.

Sheehan 37, Law 30: Sheehan quarterback Bill Gannon rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown and threw for two more scores to help Sheehan hold off Law in a SCC Division II interdivision game at Wallingford.

Oxford 41, Barlow 26: Nick Donofrio scored five touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to their SWC Patriot win in Redding.

Lyman Hall 39, Platt Tech 0: Zac Falconeri rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries for Lyman Hall in a non-conference win at Wallingford.

Hamden vs. Cheshire was postponed due to thunder and lightning with 10:22 left in the third quarter in the teams locked in a scoreless tie in the season opener for both teams Thursday.

The game will resume from that point Friday at 3:30 p.m.

Several other games were in progress when they too were postponed. Many other games were rescheduled prior to kickoff.

Here is the list of postponements from the CIAC.

Read the story here as the Register continues its 2010 high school football preview.