By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
ÿ
Blowouts were the order of the night during the CIAC football playoff semifinals Tuesday.
ÿ
Eleven of 12 higher-seeded teams won spots in state championship games. There were only two spreads of less then 17 points and in two instances, games went to running time in the second half with coaches worried about running afoul of the state's 50-point rule, which calls for the one-game suspension of a coach whose teams wins by more than 50.
ÿ
In Class LL, top-seeded Southington topped Shelton, 36-9 and second-seeded Greenwich defeated Fairfield Prep, 34-0.
ÿ
In Class L, the only upset occurred as Bunnell-Stratford, seeded fourth, shocked top seed Masuk-Monroe, 29-12. Masuk had defeated Bunnell a week-and-a-half earlier in the South-West Conference championship game. In the other Class L game, Staples-Westport, the second seed, defeated West Haven, 24-7,to earn its fifth straight championship game appearance.
ÿ
In Class MM, New Canaan (1) defeated Coventry/Windham Tech, 49-14 and second-seeded Maloney-Meriden downed Berlin, 40-14. Berlin now has played in 12 state playoff games without a win.
ÿ
In Class M the top seed, Windham, shut out Ledyard, 22-0 and Hillhouse-New Haven trounced St. Bernard/Norwich Tech, 40-0. That was one of the two games with a running clock in the second half.
ÿ
The other was in Class SS where Holy Cross-Waterbury defeated Tolland, 49-8. Stratford, the second seed, defeated Griswold, 48-6.
ÿ
In Class S, top seed Ansonia stopped North Branford, 47-14 and second seeded Bloomfield ran past Cromwell, 45-14.
ÿ
Championship games are Saturday, December 2 at Central Connecticut State University's Arute Field, Southern Connecticut State University's Jess Dow Field and West Haven High School's Ken Strong Stadium.
ÿ
The Class S and Class LL games will be at Southern; the Class M and MM games are at Central and West Haven will have Class L and Class SS.
ÿ
Jones to Speak at College Coaches' Fair
ÿ
The 2006 College Coaches' Fair and NCAA Clearing House workshop will be Sunday, Dec. 3, 1-4 p.m., at the New Haven City Wide Field House.
ÿ
The event is sponsored by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame's Play It Smart program, the Gene Casey-New Haven County Chapter of the NFF and the New Haven Public Schools. It is open to high school junior and senior football players who are interested in playing college ball.
ÿ
The guest speaker will be Cedric Jones, senior director of the National Football League Youth Program and there will be Play It Smart academic coaches on hand to provide NCAA Clearing House information.
ÿ
Also on hand will be college (Division I-A, Division II, Division III, junior college) and prep school coaches and players are asked to bring game film and a copy of an official high school transcript.
ÿ
Admission is simple: each player should bring an item of non-perishable food or a canned good item (college coaches are asked to provide a bag of such groceries).
ÿ
All Connecticut High Schools have been invited as well as Play It Smart programs from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Maine.
ÿ
The whole thing is the brain-child of New Haven Play It Smart coordinator Gary Moore, the co-athletic director at Hillhouse. For more information, call Moore at (203) 946-2429 or e-mail him at Cat123@hotmail.
ÿ
Amateur Photo Contest
ÿ
The Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance is sponsoring its 18th annual Women and Girls in Sport amateur photo contest.
ÿ
The contest is not open to professional photographers. The subject of the picture must be a Connecticut female participating in an athletic/recreational event or a physical education class. Photos can be either black-and-white or color and should be no larger than 8x10. Contest deadline is Wedneday, Jan. 24.
ÿ
For additional information and entry forms, make contact with Linda Wooster at Quinnipiac University. Call her at (203) 582-8626 or e-mail her at Linda.wooster@quinnipiac.ede.
ÿ
CSWA Sponsors Bo Kolinsky Journalism Scholarship
ÿ
The Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance is once again sponsoring the Bo Kolinsky Journalism Scholarship. The award honors the late Kolinsky, a former assistant sports editor for scholastics at the Hartford Courant. The scholarship provides an initial grant of $1000 for a Connecticut high school or prep school senior accepted by an accredited four-year college or university for studies leading to a career as a sports writer or editor.
ÿ
The grant may be renewed for higher amounts in succeeding years if the student meets specific standards of academic and professional progress. Application forms and details have been sent to guidance directors at 209 Connecticut high and prep schools and forms are available at the Alliance web-site: ctsportswriters.org. Entry deadline is Jan. 15, 2007.