FCIAC Football Blog

Yes, I’m pinching myself. I’m posting something from The Hour. I did a Google search for Hall of Fame Classic clips, and The Hour showed up on top. More important, the article wasn’t password protected. Maybe management at The Hour is coming along and realizes consumers aren’t willing to pay for online content?

Anyway, The Hour did a nice piece on the Norwalk players on the Fairfield County roster. Ridgefield head coach Kevin Callahan, who is heading up the all-star team, put a call out for linemen when his roster was depleted, and D.J. Morrell rounded up his troops.

Stamford receiver Chris Evans was in awe of the Norwalk linemen at practice last Friday: He was beaming about how huge they are, and wondered how any defense was able to see running back Chris Hines come out of the backfield.

Heck, Callahan and Ridgefield had fits trying to stop Hines and company in November.

Here’s the link to The Hour’s article.

Not that many people are still in football mode, but here’s The Hour’s all-area team. Only one offesne, one defense, just the way it should be. Then again, the pool consists of just five schools: Staples, Weston, Wilton, Norwalk and McMahon.

Chris Hines of Norwalk is the MVP. Not much of a surprise there, based on his 1,400+ yards rushing, along with his electrifying special teams play.

By Tim Parry

Norwalk is 6-3 this season after a win Saturday against Ridgefield. And Ridgefield dropped to 6-3 with that 24-10 loss. But for both teams, it’s turned into a what could have been theme this season.

Norwalk hasn’t been a premiere team for at least a decade, and suddenly the Bears were in the preseason spotlight. They were the talk of the media, with D-I recruit DJ Morrell anchoring the line, Chris Hines in the backfield, and a defense led by Shawnelle Philo, and were ranked in the Top 10 in the state polls for the preseason.

And Norwalk flopped coming out of the gate, losing first to Norwalk on a last-second field goal, and then to Wilton in Week 2. And in Week 5, it appeared everything had fallen apart when the Bears were dismantled by New Canaan.

Ridgefield had been in the spotlight and for a second year of the Matt-White-at-quarterback era. Based on what the lacrosse team did in the spring (several lax players are on the football team, including Virginia-bound White) it seemed that momentum could carry over to the gridiron.

Ridgefield got huge wins over Staples and Greenwich in back-to-back weeks, but those followed losses to the FCIAC’s two undefeated teams, New Canaan and Darien.

But more about the game. Weather conditions had nothing to do with the outcome, neither did the 11 a.m. start time. Nor did the 20 minute halftime show by the Marching Bears (which, by the way, should not be the only reason people go to a Norwalk football game).

It did come down to a swarming Norwalk defense making things rough for the Ridgefield offense, and the shiftiness of Hines.

Critics (including me) say Hines gets impatient in the backfield, and picks up big yardage against weak defenses. But he’s more patient than we all think. He’s got a great field of vision, and an elusiveness that allows him to bounce off tacklers and break away for big yardage.

Hines’ biggest play came when it was least expected, and turned the game around. With 1:41 left in the first half, Hines grabbed Matt Baker’s coffin-corner punt before it could go out of bounds and raced 88 yards untouched for a tie-breaking touchdown.

Had Hines not raced in to grab the line-drive punt, it most-likely would have gone out of bounds inside the 5-yard line, and given the Norwalk offense little wiggle room to work with.

Postgame comments (including press members Matt Doran of The Hour and freelance writer/Newtown Bee sports editor Andy Hutchison):

• Chris Hines
• Pete Tucci
• Kevin Callahan

By Tim Parry

The Norwalk sideline last night at Sam Testa Field included an extra referee… and a firefighter. After all, it was Halloween, and they were Bears head coach Pete Tucci’s grandchildren.

But Tucci was glad his players weren’t dressing up for candy, and took care of business with a 17-0 win over Staples.

And Tucci reminded his team there was a difference between dressing up and playing the part of a football player.

“We told them in the locker room we’ll find out if they’re dressed up like little football players or if they really are football players, so I guess we really showed up as football players,” Tucci said. “Nobody went trick-or-treating tonight.”

Linebacker Alex Morsanutto was one of many Norwalk defenders who stepped up to help pitch the shutout. Morsanutto intercepted a pass, had a strip and recovery on a Staples punt return, came up with two sacks, and hurried Staples quarterback Brandon Pacilio once.

And he could be considered an early candidate for the BlueStreak Sports Training Fairfield County Player of the Week.

“We were prepared for Staples,” Morsanutto said. “We all did our job and we stayed focused. I’m real proud of our team right now.”

Shawnelle Philo had the play of the game, with a little help from Jeremy Dickens.

Philo blocked a Jeremy Greenberg punt, which bounced back to Greenberg. The Staples punter ran with the ball, but was stripped by Dickens. Philo picked up the ball and out-raced the Staples punt team for a 45-yard touchdown.

“Shawnelle is the best kept secret in the FCIAC. He’s a rough-cut diamond that’s just getting polished each week, and he’s shining more and more,” Tucci said. “I hope he’s not injured bad, I see them working on his ankle there, and it doesn’t look good.”

Philo rolled his ankle on Staples’ last offensive possession, and needed help getting off the field. But the thrill of victory over Staples, which beat Norwalk 6-0 last season, outweighed the agony of defeat for Philo.

“At the beginning of the season, we were ranked 10th in the state and we started saying we can beat any team,” Philo said. “But you’ve got to take it one game at a time. Now we’re starting to play like a team, not make as many penalties as we did (in Week 5) against New Canaan.”

The Staples defense did limit Chris Hines, the BlueStreak Sports Training Fairfield County Player of the Week winner in Week 5 and runner up last week, to 49 rushing yards, including a 27-yarder, on 18 carries.

But Andrew Krasnavage was the beneficiary, and he responded with an 8-for-12 passing day with zero interceptions and 102 yards in the air.

Masuk RB-DB Chris Cosmedy earned the BlueStreak Sports Training Fairfield County Player of the Week Award for his performance Oct. 24 against Bunnell.

Cosmedy had 11 carries for 126 yards an 2 touchdowns (44 and 33 yards) on offense, plus five tackles and an interception in the Panthers’ 42-20 win on the road at previously undefeated Bunnell.

Players are nominated both by football coaches representing teams in Fairfield County. A mimimum of five nominees from a weekly fan poll are also included on a ballot, and the Player of the Week is then selected by members of the Fairfield County sports media community.

Chris Hines, who was Player of the Week in Week Four, was the runner up. He had 26 carries for 284 yards and three touchdowns (6, 81, and 3 yards), plus a 20-yards touchdown reception vs. Danbury in Week Seven.

Nominees included Vince Carter, RB-DB, Trinity Catholic; Kareem Cope, QB, Wright Tech/Stamford Academy; Jake Devellis, QB, Newtown; Nick DiRubio, DE, New Canaan; Frank Granito, DB, New Canaan; Tommy McNamara, FB-LB, Warde; Luke Oczkowski, RB, St. Joseph; and Kevin Pierre-Lewis, FB-LB, King.

The award is presented by the FCIAC Football Blog.

The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Jon Chik (Norwalk Citizen-News), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen), Andy Hutchison (Newtown Bee), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Eliot Schickler (Westport News), Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Dave Stewart (New Canaan Advertiser), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers/Bridgeport Banner), Michael Suppe (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers).