Xavier is our pick as the top team in the state. But watch for Staples, Hand, Greenwich and Ansonia.
Xavier quarterback Tim Boyle and the No. 1 Falcons are eying a third-straight title.
File photo by Matthew Jacques
13-0
Head coach: Sean Marinan
Team PreviewBack-to-back CIAC Class LL championships... three state titles in seven years... six SCC Division I West crowns in 10 seasons... 26 consecutive wins. Who else did you expect to see in this spot? Though Xavier has graduated 20 seniors, the Falcons have plenty returning, led by senior quarterback
Tim Boyle, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Boston College commit. Boyle, who turned down offers from Florida and Pitt to play for BC, missed seven games with a shoulder injury in 2011 but still completed nearly 65 percent of his passes.
2. Staples (Westport)2011 finish: 12-1
Head coach: Marce Petroccio
Team PreviewAfter averaging 37 points a game in reaching the state final a year ago, Staples met its match in falling to Xavier, 42-7, in the CIAC Class LL championship game. The Wreckers have eight players back from that team on offense, including quarterback
Jack Massie and four veterans from the offensive line. The defense is in good shape, too, giving Petroccio the semblance of a true two-platoon system and a shot at both the FCIAC and state crowns.
3. Hand (Madison)2011 finish: 13-0
Head coach: Steve Filippone
Team PreviewThe Tigers must replace an outstanding graduated class that led it to a dominant 13-0 Class L championship in 2011, including offensive stars receiver Nick Vitale, quarterback Henry Foye and defensive end Joe DeMichele, who's a rock. But a large and talented senior class returns to make a run at repeating, highlighted by 6-foot-1, 230-pound linebacker/running back
Matt Walsh,
Peter Gerson,
Andrew Preston and
Kyle Anderson. An anticipated showdown with Xavier looms in October. Though in the same conference, the two eventual state champions didn't meet in 2012.
4. Greenwich2011 finish: 8-2Head coach: Rich Albonizio
Team PreviewGreenwich
surrendered a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead in last season's FCIAC
final against Staples, with the eventual 31-27 setback costing the Cards
a trip to the CIAC Class LL playoffs. The loss and the disappointment
still linger with this proud and storied program. With 37 seniors
returning from that 2011 team, led by captains
Liam O'Neil,
Taylor Olmstead,
Alex McMurray,
Joe Kelly and
Alex McGee, don't expect it to
happen again.
5. Ansonia2011 finish: 14-0
Head coach: Tom Brockett
Team PreviewNormally a team would be hard-pressed to match or surpass a season like the Chargers enjoyed in 2011, when they became the first team in state history to go 14-0. But Ansonia may just be getting warmed up. Junior RB
Arkeel Newsome rushed for a Connecticut-record (and second-best nationally) 3,763 yards as a sophomore and is only going to get bigger and stronger as more and more colleges come calling. The Chargers have dropped into the small division (Class S) for the postseason after winning Class M last year.
