The sixth week of the high school football season is just about in the books, and we’re looking for your candidate for BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week. Click here and tell us who the most deserving player is for the award.
You want to know who is eligible? Any player from an FCIAC or SWC school, plus players from Shelton, Fairfield Prep, Wright Tech/Stamford Academy, Bullard-Havens, Brunswick, King, and St. Luke’s.
It’s that simple. And the deadline for nominees is noon on Monday, Oct. 20.
Popularity: 13% [?]
October 20th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Kevin Piere-Lewis of King: 296 Yards on 23 carries. 4 Touchdowns. 10 Tackles and 9 Assists.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Nick Dirubio of New Canaan: 12 total tackles, 4 sacks, 3 tfl, 3 forced fumbles..was major factor why st. joe’s prominant offense only had 5 first downs all day.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
I agree with prophet. Dirubio was a big contributor to what should have been a third shutout in a row had the rams offense not fumbled.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I’ve got to tell you: DiRubio played a great game, and has been an impact player over the past two seasons. But his legend seemed to grow as the fan voting went on.
Now I had DiRubio down for 1 sack (a second was a tackle for a 1-yard loss – DellaVecchia took off running after he avoided a sack).
I don’t have him down for wrestling a bear during pregame. I don’t have him down for obtaining a certificate of occupancy for the St, Joseph press box.
But a lot of readers are singing his praises this week, and last. And DiRubio is a player who the opposition needs to stop if they are going to win.
He’s on the final ballot. So it’s in the hands of the voting media…
October 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Although SHS lost, they played a tremendeous game. Mitch O’Meara had 4 TD’s and threw for 381 yards, is leading in passing yards for the FCIAC and is ranked 5th in the state for yardage… get this kid above the radar…
October 20th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Don’t know much about DiRubio but in general I would like to see more defensive players get consideration for Player of the Week.
That said, Dysenchuk the Darien RB had 4 TD’s, almost 200 yards rushing, and an INT versus Wilton. The Blue Wave wideout Kosnik has also been terrific throughout the year and at Wilton too.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
deakon,
Not to sound like a wise guy, but if you don’t nominate a defensive player, then a defensive player can’t possibly get on that ballot. I’m sure you’re doing your part to help spread the word, but we need even more people to do so.
So… Spread the word, all of you. Nominate early and often (actually, onle one nomination per IP address is allowed), so tell all your friends to nominate defensive players as well.
If it means I have to go through hundreds and hunderds of nominations to see which ones are in the Top 5, then it’s the price I have to pay to encourage more people to nominate players.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Nikki Dysenchuck for Darien High School
a little over 200 yds on 23 carries, 4 td, 1 int
October 21st, 2008 at 7:52 am
Did anyone even look at the first post? Kevin Pierre Lewis? 296 Yards. 10 Tackles. 9 Assists. 2 Sacks. 4 Touchdowns. That is domination on both sides of the ball.
I understand the public school biases operating here (“biases” is the plural form of “bias” by the way). But he is the best player in Fairfield County and maybe the state. Kevin has already verbally committed to BC as a Junior. You all will be hearing about him as big time coaches pass through your respective schools on their way to recruit him over the next 12 months.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:09 am
There were no nominations logged for Kevin Pierre-Louis, only the comment above. So if people are logging in and not completing the form, then the nominations aren’t being accepted.
And we do, on a weekly basis, see more people click to start the voting process than completed forms.
So please, everyone, keep that in mind. If there’s any problems with the form, e-mail me at tim@fciacfootballblog.com.
Now there is only one nomination allowed per IP address, but that’s to keep people for nominating themselves 50 times (or nominating Hugh Gerection, stuff like that!)
October 21st, 2008 at 8:38 am
Thank you Tim.
I will certainly the form filled out for next week. Kevin is likely to have some stats next week.
October 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Agree that Lewis may be the best player around. Saw him against Brusnwick a few weeks back and he was everywhere. Sounds like the same in last weeks game, where he must have been KLHT’s whole team, offense & defense. Haven’t heard much regarding the other potential recruits they have over there, but he is definately the real deal.
But the player of this week should be Matt Grant of Greenwich. 8 catches, 107 yards & 2 TD’s to lead Greenwich to a 13-7 win over Trumbull. Real contribution when his team needed it most. Made a game saving tackle in the closing minutes to seal the victory also.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Tim Parry – You dont have Di Rubio down for wrestling a bear because frankly a bear wouldnt go near that man child. Kid makes everyone in the fciac look like prepubescent girls. I am not sure how you are all unaware of his presence maybe if you took some focus off the offense every week and watched this bear of a man laying kids out you would realize, kid is no joke. When you watch him grab running backs by one arm and take them down…..damnnnn. Lastly, if i were darien i would be wearier cause he is about to eat ya’ll up. numnumnumnumnum SACK LUNCH. And i also have a nickname for this kid DIRUBIOHAMMER
October 21st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Also, who does king low play….no one
October 21st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
you make a great point, bigdubbs. What is DiRubio? 5′9″ 165? The Wave is shakin’ over this huge threat.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Huge @ 5′9″, 165. LOL numnumnumnumnum hilarious!!!
Dubbs, to be fair, teams from the private school league really don’t play a difficult schedule, but you could say that there are some pretty weak teams in the FCIAC and SWS as well. Talent is talent, and that kid has a lot of it.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I agree that kid from king is ridiculously talented…new york i have seen dirubio in and out of the gym he is a solid 5′10 192 and eats live children from his meals
October 21st, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Bigdubbs has the right idea with this dirubio kid. He holds 1/3 of his teams sacks (6) in only 6 games; not to mention he can put up around 350 on bench. If i were the blue wave, if i were any team, i wouldn’t take him lightly.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:51 am
Dirubio deserves consideration I agree.
Pierre-Lewis, however, matched Dirubio’s stats on defense and scored fout TDs and ran for 300 yards.
5′10 192 and 350 bench are good stats. One could say he is an overachiever.
6′2 220, sub 4.5 forty, 330 bench, 475 squat and 300 power clean is called blue chip, in any league, including the BCS. Football is a game of explosion, played with the legs and hips, not the pectorals. Just watch for the name. I will enjoy watching you all become believers.
October 22nd, 2008 at 7:52 am
Oh and he’s 16.
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:11 am
I just checked the recruiting forum for dirubio. Could not find him on any board. A guy worthy of fighting a bear ought to get some attention from somewhere, no?
Now try googling the following in quotes:
“Silas Redd”
“Eric Joyner”
“Kevin Pierre-Lewis”
and for good measure “Kevin Royal”
Does the FCIAC as a whole have that many serious D1A recruits?
October 22nd, 2008 at 8:24 am
Just to lighten the mood up a little bit, if you Google “Tim Parry,” you get the geekiest techie video imaginable… but yes, this is me at the day job!
http://multichannelmerchant.com/video/tim_parry/
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
Read8834 is clearly a King homer. Have you gotten out to see any of the other talent around? Just down the road there are a few kids from Stamford High who are D1-A talent, and prove it week after week. And they aren’t even a winning program. Look to Darien or New Canaan and you will see what makes a winning football program. Not to stir up any biases, because King has great players, and I don’t want to take anything away from those kids successes. But that teams weaknesses would be exposed against the depth and toughness of most the FCIAC schools. If talent was even, King would be at a disadvantage based on roster depth, conditioning and strategy. That should not take anything away from what they are doing over there, which appears to be remarkable led by a few very talented players.
BTW, when is king’s next home game? I’d love to stop by and see those names above myself. A debate like this is great to bring exposure to all programs and players involved. Keep it up!!!
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
Wavefan89:
Guilty as charged.
Not trying to take anything away from New Canaan or Darien or Greenwich. I do admit that those teams would beat King. King has 300 kids in High School. King has weak kids at certain spots. However, coaching and conditioning would not be the reason. (And I am not on the coaching staff!)
Just tired on years of enduring a jaundiced view of the private schools. King crushed Trinity and the mighty Nick Cortese pre-season. King is ranked in Maxpreps above, Deerfield and other Large Prep Schools. I think that is a mistake. These schools have PGs and such.
Next game for all interested is King Homecoming on Saturday, October 25th, 3PM, against RYE.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Can’t wait.
As the leaves turn there is nothing like a good high school game to warm you up before the big Ohio St vs Penn St matchup.
Other than Lewis, who should I be looking for? You mentioned some names above, but what are their positions and numbers? Anyone else to keep an eye on?
October 22nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Kevin is 24
Silas is 8
Eric is 4
Jimmy Georges is 70
Kevin Love 9
And your boy Connor Sullivan from Darien is also a great laxer at 35
BJ (Not sure of last name) is 23.
October 23rd, 2008 at 7:54 am
The Advocate shifted me off the New Canaan-Staples game and put me on King (vs. RCD?) this Saturday. Looking forward to seeing them in action.
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 am
I suggest you get a thesaurus for superlatives
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:06 am
Wow Tim. That is a big FCIAC game to be pulled off of. This game must be a big deal afterall. All eyes are on the King Lowe’s this week.
So read8834, can we get a preview of what to expect on Saturday?
October 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 am
wavefan89, we have to catch you up on 2008:
KLHT officially changed its name to “King” over the summer. Low, Heywood and Thomas must have not re-upped on the naming rights
The blog is about Fairfield County football, no longer just the FCIAC.
I freelance for The Advocate. So if they need me to cover a game, I’m not going to turn down money. That coverage comes first, especially in this economy.
read8834, I don’t even use a dictionary
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
There is admittedly a range of talent. There will be kids on both sides of the field that could not start for the larger FCIAC teams due to the relative size of both squads in terms of numbers.
That being said, you can expect to see 7-8 seruious athletes on the field for KING
RYE to my best knowledge runs a wing T. If run properly, the wing T is hard to defend.
Still I think KING has three legitimate weapons and will overwhelm RYE the way they overwhelmed Trinity Catholic. RYE is not as strong as Trinity. I mean no disrespect to Nick Cortese and the coaches there, but ask them about that scrimmage.
At the HS level, one truly legit player with speed can change a game, two is hard to adress and three makes you difficult to beat, especially in a less competitive league.
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:23 am
http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/436112
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Wow. Great article. Those two should be hard for anyone to stop. Based on the inset picture, they look like football players too. We expect to see them playing on Saturdays in a few years. I’m getting excited now, hope I can make it over to watch. I assume these two go both ways too? So read8834, is it safe to say your team will be “hard to adress” on Saturday? LOL
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I left out Eric Joyner at QB/WR and Jimmy Georges at G/DE. King ought to beat RYE.
October 23rd, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Georges must be the 10 foot tall giant I’ve heard about. Looking forward to a nice long day of football on Saturday.
Is it safe to assume that a private school concession stand outweighs that of a public school? Looking forward to seeing what’s on that menu… J/K.
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
To the person above who said that king “crushed the crusaders and mighty nick cortese in the preseason” i joined this site just to let you know our left tackle,two starting gaurds, two d tackles and an outside linebacker (all starters ill add) missed that “game” or scrimage, we also scrimage that you speak of. Just thought you should know that before you throw the words crushed around. Also as great as kevin is which i dont dispute, he’s probaly the best backer in the state, he he nowhere near the best running/full back..that is nick cortese numbers don’t lie check maxpreps, i dont want to here well why isntt he a top recruit, this is football the feild decides not a combine or some college recruiter.
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
o and one more thing i dont want to take any shots at kings league but it is no fciac and we all know it theres no dariens,new cannan, st joes, wilton etc. etc. (all teams the crusaders play) not to take anything away again but it has to be considered
October 24th, 2008 at 7:52 am
No I meant crushed. Trinity did not score. King scored at will. FCIAC depth and school size should have been able to make for a better showing.
FCIAC is better league, totally. Cortese leads CT in rushing, for now. He also plays 2 more games in an admittedly tougher schedule.
Cortese is good, workmanlike back in one trick pony offense, as admitted by Cortese himself. (50 Carries, etc). He ought to be getting more attention from recruiters with those stats, no? I recently spoke to King coaches and they took their hats off to Cortese as a strong, punishing runner.
On the other hand, Kevin and Silas Redd, the feature back at King with multiple D1A offers as well, are putting up similar stats in a multi back offense with half the touches. Their stats are also hampered by lop-sided wins and a coach who develops younger players while preserving his studs, not just pad stats.
I wish Cortese luck in all his future endeavors. Still, strength thrills, but speed kills. In plain English, Kevin and Silas are steak to Cortese’s hamburger.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:19 am
Settle down people. Read and I have built a fun relationship over the last few days on this board, but I disagree with a few things that were said. First, if the offense is built around Cortese and he still runs for enough yards to lead the state, you can’t say that he is a burger. And I agree, teams should be judged by wins, losses and championships, not just recruits. After all, what the point of having great players if you don’t win with them. It’s like driving a Ferrari in the slow lane. That is what differentiates a team like New Canaan and Staples… they go out and win state championships every year. According to the papers, this is the first winning season for King in a decade or something. So until they go out and win a league title, they have not accomplished anything more than showing off their Ferrari’s at 35 MPH’s. LOL
That said, can’t wait to see you guys go out an win tomorrow!!!
October 24th, 2008 at 8:42 am
Certainly. I apologize for an offense.
I concede that competition is better in FCIAC. I concede that King has been pathetic for years. I concede that the class of the FCIAC including Greenwich, Staples, Darien and New Canaan, beats King most of the time due to tougher competition and greater depth.
However, we are discussing the here and now. As far as Stamford goes. I firmly believe that Trinity could lose to a rapidly improving Stamford High Saturday. I also believe that King beats Stamford High School, Westhill and Trinity head to head. But it’s just one man’s opinion.
In fact to make it interesting, I am willing to say that Trinity is the best team in Stamford if they beat Stamford High. Is anyone willing to say that King is the best team in Stamford if Trinity loses and King wins its league and goes undefeated and proceeds on the WNEPSA championship?
PS: Georges is s hustler at 6′2 210. Good speed and developing technique. The giant is Arlington Hendrikson, 6′8 320. He needs a lot of work honestly. His intensity is not there nor is his conditioning. I pray that he reads this post because he has the size and talent to go to school for free and perhaps to play on Sundays, if he puts his mind to it. He needs to play angrier and with purpose. He also has a younger brother who appears to be well on his way to becoming a player.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:20 am
As an individual who has played with Silas and Kevin growing up in the youth football system in Norwalk I can say first hand they are both something special. Biasly I wish they came to public school with me. As for Arlington Hendrickson another guy I played with, he’s a 6-8 320lb. young man, not a 6-8 320lb. football player. He would not start at any quality FCIAC program.
As for the Cortese-Kevin/Silas Trinity-King competition that has evolved from this post, it is safe to say that the true answer to this question will go unanswered unless they were to play againest each other, which is not gonig to occur.
And for a post you made earlier Read, the FCIAC does have a good number of D-1 recruits, including:
WR Evans from Stamford High (human highlight reel)
LB Fortt from Stamford High (Punuishing hitter)
WR Dysenchuk from Darien (big and strong reciever)
OT Morrell from Norwalk (arguably most dominating presence in FCIAC)
WR Ondash from New Canaan (All-State star)
(sorry if I missed someone, I am sure I did)
not to mention the numerous D-2 and D-3 caliber players that are around the FCIAC, a number King or any other private school like them can’t match. Also, do not forget the great players like White from Ridgefield who could play football at the next level except won’t because they are also skilled at other sports.
I’m not taking anything away from Silas, Kevin or any other King player or staff member. But it’s safe to say that if they played an FCIAC schedule they would not have the same record they do now. Those 4 or 5 good players King have would definitly start at a majority of the FCIAC schools, but many of their other starters wouldn’t even crack a 2-deep on FCIAC teams.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am
I agree 10000%. Many starters at King could not play in the FCIAC. But again in HS, 1-2 dominant players can change games dramatically.
Trinity and King did play, off the record though. So results are admittedly unofficial.
Thanks for the FCIAC report.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:36 am
New to the site
The King Trinity scrimmage was a controlled scrimmage in which each team ran a certain number of offensive plays regardless of 1st downs or turnovers. Also, Trinity’s Nick Cortese ran very well versus the King Defense but being it was a scrimmage and Trinity knows they can run, they intentionally worked on other areas of their game and were testing personnel. So I’m not sure either team could stop the other in a real game. It would just take Trinity 10 plays perhaps to score versus 3 or 4 for King. But in a controlled scrimmage, it can appear Trinity is getting killed because when King scored they got the ball back.
Don’t get me wrong, Louis is the 2nd best player in the state though. (Florida commit Jordan Reed of New London the #1)He is a ferocious football player and will be a star at BC. Redd is great but he would struggle more than Kevin in the FCIAC because he would get hit big time and I’m not sure he loves the consistent contact. But do us Trinity supporters a favor, leave him out of the Louis and Redd debates.It makes him look bad. They are Division 1 athletes. Nick only claims to be Division 1 tough!
October 24th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I agree. Cortese is tough and strong and deserves all the accolades received.
I am just venting at FCIAC people who think they are above King for being only moderately competitive in a more competitive league..
So who is the best team in Stamford? Please substantiate with reasons for choice?
October 24th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Reading back through this exchange is pretty interesting:
1) Darien knows all about DiRubio and he knows all about them. The two communities have competed against one another through years of youth leagues and everyone knows everyone. Neither will take the other lightly.
2) read8834 is obviously pleased with King’s star players. I say congrats to them for whatever D-1 offers they’ve received, but to start crowing about how fantastic they’re gonna do at a D-1 college betrays his naivete about football at that level of competition. The fact that they even have an opportunity to prove themselves as D-1 players is a great accomplishment. Let’s do them the favor of letting them fulfill their potential on their own terms, not some enthusiastic booster’s on the sidelines.
3) As to what, if any, D-1 players are coming out of the FCIAC, I have this observation and I do NOT intend it in an elitist way: the plain fact is, many Fairfield County families don’t necessarily aspire to have their kids go to D-1A schools. They’d rather see them in the Ivies or the NESCAC or any number of academically lofty 1-AA and Div III schools. Consequently they don’t inject themselves onto the various national scouting networks.
3) as for King being the best team in Stamford, it seems a fair possibility given that the Stamford teams just aren’t the FCIAC’s best. but to make that prediction based on one or two players and/or the results from a preseason scrimmage–that logic’s a little flimsy, sorry.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Deakon,
I will enumerate as well for clarity:
1. “read8834 is obviously pleased with King’s star players. I say congrats to them for whatever D-1 offers they’ve received, but to start crowing about how fantastic they’re gonna do at a D-1 college betrays his naivete about football at that level of competition.”
1. I never in any way speculated about the future success of any playerc or crowed about how successful they will be. I am crowing about how successful they ARE and the attention they ARE receiving from national scouts. They are not injecting themselves into the process. They are sought after. That is how it works by the way.
2. My naivete? As a former two sport division D-1 athlete (one of the sports being football), I find that characterization unworthy of further comment and will move on.
“As to what, if any, D-1 players are coming out of the FCIAC, I have this observation and I do NOT intend it in an elitist way: the plain fact is, many Fairfield County families don’t necessarily aspire to have their kids go to D-1A schools. They’d rather see them in the Ivies or the NESCAC or any number of academically lofty 1-AA and Div III schools”
1. BC is a pretty good school. Harvard, Dartmouth, Penn, Stanford and Duke are OK too, both athletically and academically, last time I checked US News and World Report. And umm, they all stopped into King to chat. A parent may encourage a teen to do this or not do that. That has no bearing. Scouts and coaches will call repeatedly if they believe a kid can help their respective program. A kid cannot legitimately inject himself or herself onto a network without something calling “INTEREST.”
It is your naivete about not only the level of competition, but also the recruiting process itself, that has been betrayed.
2. The question is what do the kids want since, its actually their lives. Are you telling me that many Fairfield county kids (not their parents) grow up aspiring to play for Williams, Wesleyan or Penn, and not Notre Dame or Michigan? If so that is incredible expectation management! So you also tell them not to try to get A’s on their report cards? Do they also aspire to be Robin instead of Batman as well? I know that I personally aspired for the sky both academically and athletically. 1 of 2 aint bad.
“As for King being the best team in Stamford, it seems a fair possibility given that the Stamford teams just aren’t the FCIAC’s best. but to make that prediction based on one or two players and/or the results from a preseason scrimmage–that logic’s a little flimsy, sorry.”
1. I saw the tape if the scrimmage (spelled thusly, tc56ks). It was a beating, albeit allowing for injured Crusaders.
2. As I said, I am willing to concede if Trinity beats SHS. Is there any set of circumstances in which you would concede that King is the best team? Of course it will not be settled on the field. I said that too. I am soliciting opinions. All I have to judge is the evidence at hand.
A. FCIAC is the stronger league
B. King has the better key players
C. King was very successful in limited head to head competition
October 24th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
read8834,
You clearly are a person of high accomplishment. But a tip: before you make a claim of not speculating about the triumphal futures of your favorite high school players (whose stats, may I say, you have a most impressively intimate knowledge), you should go back and read your posts, such as, to take just one contradictory example, “Just watch for the name. I will enjoy watching you all become believers.” It kinda throws the rest of your commentary into a dubious light.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Deakon:
I mean in high school and in terms of recruiting. I said nothing about how these kids will perform in college. I stand by my post. You simply misinterpreted it.
October 24th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Here is another comment from an earlier post of mine which supports the thesis that I am talking about their HS and not careers.
“You all will be hearing about him as big time coaches pass through your respective schools on their way to recruit him over the next 12 months.”
October 24th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Are the schools listed satisfactory? And if you have any more questions on the recruiting process, feel free to ask me via this site.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Dirubio is probably wrestling a mountain lion right now.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Well, 1/2 of our hypothetical is now moot. Oops TCHS.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Calling out the Deakon. Head still in sand?