Naugatuck Maintains Top 10 Spot in High School Football Poll

NAUGATUCK, CT — A pair of lopsided victories to open the season earned St. Joseph High School the top spot in the latest weekly football poll of Connecticut sports media members.

The Cadets outscored New Canaan and Fairfield Warde by a combined 72-6 total, but the team faces a tough test Saturday against three-time defending Class LL champion Darien, which is currently ranked third.

St. Joseph collected 14 first-place votes to outdistance runner-up Greenwich, which had eight. Darien (4), Daniel Hand (3) and Killingly (1) also were marked first on voters' ballots.

Naugatuck High School placed ninth in the most recent balloting.

Here are the top 10, plus all other programs receiving votes.

1. St. Joseph
2. Greenwich
3. Darien
4. Daniel Hand
5. Shelton
6. East Hartford
7. New Canaan
8. Killingly
9. Naugatuck
10. Bloomfield

Also receiving votes: Newtown, Southington, Maloney, Ansonia, Berlin, North Haven, Fairfield Prep, Middletown, Brookfield, Sheehan, Windsor, RHAM, Cromwell/Portland, Seymour, Windham.

Voters: Bob Barton, New Haven Register; Nate Brown, Fox61; Bill Bloxsom, Hersam Acorn Newspapers; Sean Patrick Bowley, GameTimeCT; Kyle Brennan, Freelance; Doug Bonjour, Connecticut Post; Gerry deSimas Jr., Collinsville Press; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Scott Ericson, Stamford Advocate; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; Shelby Iava, New Britain Herald; Mark Jaffee, Republican-American of Waterbury; Ryan Lacey, Danbury News-Times; Kyle Maher, Journal-Inquirer of Manchester; Pete Paguaga, GameTimeCT; John Pierson, WTNH-8; Noah Finz, CT Sports Now; Mike Madera, Walter Camp Football Foundation; Shawn McFarland, Hartford Courant; Joe Morelli, New Haven Register; John Nash, The Hour of Norwalk; Keith O’Brien, GameDay CT Sports; Dave Phillips, Shoreline Newspapers; Marc Robbins, CT Sports Now; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Mike Suppe, Hersam-Acorn Newspapers; Rich Zalusky, The Chronicle of Willimantic; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin; Joe Zone, WFSB-TV.

Photo credit: Tim Jensen

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