New Canaan’s 23 game winning streak is over. So is its chance to repeat as FCIAC champions. And its number-one ranking in all the polls will certainly be gone.

All thanks to Bridgeport Central, which drubbed the Rams 42-7 and got itself into the title game.

Shabashe McIntosh ran for 184 yards on 22 carries and scored four times, according to stats compiled by Dave Ruden of The Advocate.

Over in Stamford, where I was covering the Trinity Catholic-Stamford game for The Advocate, there were plenty of smiles in the press box. On his halftime show on WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM, Matt Levine and I talked about how great that win was for Central. After the game, Stamford head coach Kevin Jones said he wasn’t shocked at all.

Thursday, I e-mailed Christon Gill and told him the only way I’d get to see central play this season, because of my freelance schedule, was if Central got the win over New Canaan.

His reply was confident: “You’ll see me in full uniform next Friday.”

Central’s been hiding in obscurity since Gill’s sophomore year, when the Hilltoppers couldn’t beat Greenwich to open the season, or in the Class Ll semifinals.

Now they’ve proven twice this season – once against Greenwich, and now against New Canaan – that they can win the big game.

We’ll see if it’s third big game, the FCIAC championship game Friday against Staples, will also be a charm.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Former Trumbull head coach Jerry McDougall is back in the game. Eleven seasons after he last coached the Eagles football team, 74-year-old McDougall will be the defensive coordinator at Fairchester Athletic Association school St. Luke’s, reports Dave Ruden of The Advocate.

The full story will appear in print tomorrow, meanwhile, Ruden posted the basics on the Overtime blog (see above link).

Though McDougall is synonymous with Trumbull football, he has several ties to St. Luke’s, which was 1-8 last season.

McDougall stepped down as Trumbull’s baseball coach in 2005, and is the state’s all-time winningest football coach.

McDougall also has not walked away from football, just from coaching. He’s often seen on the sidelines of a few high school games a week, and did spend one season doing color commentary for Matt Levine on WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM’s High School Game of the Week.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Shelton quarterback Mike Brighindi has been named BlueStreak Sports Training Fairfield County Player of the Week for his performance Friday against Cheshire.

Brighindi completed 19 of 28 passes for 276 yards and one TD and in a come from behind 35-34 overtime victory on the road. Brighindi led the Gaels on an 82-yard drive in the final two minutes of regulation to tie the score, and completed six of eight for yards on the game-tying drive.

Brighindi will receive his award at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday from BlueStreak Sports Training president Matt Cole.

Nick Cortese of Trinity Catholic, the winner of the award in Week 2, was the runner up. He ran for 216 yards and five touchdowns in the Crusaders double-overtime win over Fairfield Ludlowe.

Also nominated in Week 3: Scott Benzing, WR, Brookfield; Joe Dalla Vecchia, QB, St. Joseph; Nikki Dysenchuk, RB, Darien; Chris Hines, RB, Norwalk; Matt Kelly, CB, Staples; Justin Warzoha, QB, Greenwich; and Mike Webber, WR, New Milford.

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.

The award is presented by the FCIAC Football Blog.

The following media members voted: The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Zachary Eastright (WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM), Dan Farrand (News-Times), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen), Andy Hutchison (Newtown Bee), Jason A. Intrieri (FCIAC Football Blog Live), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Matt Norlander (New Canaan News-Review), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Eliot Schickler (Westport News), Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Dave Stewart (New Canaan Advertiser), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers), Michael Suppe (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers).

Popularity: 37% [?]

With seven first-place votes, New Canaan kept the top spot in Week Three of the Bill Gonillo Five Poll, presented by the FCIAC Football Blog.

New Canaan nearly doubled second-place Staples, but just two points separate the Wreckers from third-place Bunnell and fourth-place Darien. Masuk is fifth.

The Bill Gonillo 5 is a weekly poll conducted by the FCIAC Football Blog and voted on by sports media members who cover teams and leagues based in Fairfield County. Updated results are announced every Monday during the football season.

For more about Bill Gonillo, check out BillGonillo.com.

To walk in Bill’s honor, or make a donation in Bill’s name, at Step Out for Diabetes in Fairfield on Oct. 19, click here.

For previous poll results, click here.

Also receiving votes: Greenwich (1) 35, St. Joseph 18, Shelton 8, Wilton 7, Fairfield Prep 2.

The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Damian Andrew (News 12 Connecticut), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Zachary Eastright (WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM), Dan Farrand (News-Times), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen),  Jason A. Intrieri (FCIAC Football Blog Live), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Matt Norlander (New Canaan News-Review), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Eliot Schickler (Westport News) Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers)

Photo of New Canaan helmet by Dave Stewart, New Canaan Sports Photography.

Popularity: 32% [?]

New Canaan has claimed the top spot in the Bill Gonillo Five poll for Week 2 of the high school football season.

The Rams edged Bunnell in first-place votes 7-6, but pulled away because of five second-place votes to Bunnell’s two.

The Bill Gonillo 5 is a weekly poll conducted by the FCIAC Football Blog and voted on by sports media members who cover teams and leagues based in Fairfield County. Updated results are announced every Monday during the football season.

For more about Bill Gonillo, who passed away one year ago tomorrow, check out BillGonillo.com

To walk in Bill’s honor, or make a donation in Bill’s name, at Step Out for Diabetes in Fairfield on Oct. 19, click here.

For previous poll results, click here.

The Poll:

Also receiving votes: Greenwich (35), Wilton and St. Joseph (10), Danbury (9), Fairfield Prep (2), Newtown and King (1).

The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Sean Patrick Bowley (Connecticut Post), Zach Eastright (WSTC-AM/WNLK-AM), Dan Farrand (News-Times), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen),  Jason A. Intrieri (FCIAC Football Blog Live), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Matt Norlander (New Canaan News-Review), Mike Quick (MSG Plus), Jesse Quinlan (Greenwich Time), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers), Michael Suppe (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers)

Photo by Dave Stewart, New Canaan Sports Photography.

Popularity: 36% [?]

More newspapers are entering the blogosphere, including the lone newspepr I currently freelance for, The Advocate. So as an advocate of blogs, I have to plug Dave Ruden’s entry in cyberspace, Overtime, even if it’s not purely about football.

Overtime is The Advocate’s entry into high school sports blogging, and Overtime is a great description of what Ruden intends to offer. It’s not a rant and rave bitch-session like my blog can be at times. This is truly an extension of the stories/columns being written.

With paper and ink prices soaring and print revenues down, I am surprised that newspapers in this area are just starting to jump on the online bandwaggon. I have to forgive The Advocate and its sister papers though, since they’ve been bought and sold a few times in recent years. Projects you start can go on hold when that happens.

I don’t think newspapers as a medium are going to go away (if you can allow me to go off on a tangent), even though there’s word that the Star-Ledger could fold if they don’t reach an agreement with its drivers, and the Capital Times of Madison, WI, went to an almost all-online format last year. But you’ll see even more of a shift, where your newspaper will be a marketing piece designed to drive readers to its Websites.

End tangent…

Popularity: 14% [?]

New Canaan quarterback Nate Quinn is the Week One recipient of the BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week award, which is presented weekly by the FCIAC Football Blog.

Making his first offensive start for the Rams against Trumbull on Saturday, Quinn completed nine of 17 passes for 255 yards and six touchdowns. New Canaan defeated Trumbull 41-13.

Quinn will receive his award from BlueStreak Sports Training president Matt Cole Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. at New Canaan High School at the upper field.

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.

Fairfield Ludlowe placekicker Sean Anderson was the runner up. In addition to a pair of extra points, he nailed a 29-yard field goal as time expired to lift Ludlowe over heavily-favored Norwalk 17-14.

The Week-One nominees also included George Benitez (Darien), Tae Dangerfield (Staples), Marcus Dixon (Stamford), Chris Evans (Stamford), Mike Graham (McMahon), Mike Grant (Greenwich), Brian Kosnik (Darien), Colin Morris (St. Joseph), Kurt Ondash (New Canaan) and Chris Sloat (Bunnell).

The following media members voted: The following media members voted: Rob Adams (WGCH-AM), Bill Bloxsom (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Dan Farrand (News-Times), Scott Ferrari (Greenwich Citizen), Andy Hutchison (Newtown Bee), Jason A. Intrieri (FCIAC Football Blog Live), Ken Morse (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), Tim Murphy (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers), John Nash (The Stamford Times), Matt Norlander (New Canaan News-Review), Dave Ruden (Stamford Advocate), Paul Silverfarb (Greenwich Post), Rob Sullivan (Minuteman Newspapers), Michael Suppe (Hersam-Acorn Newspapers).

Photos of Nate Quinn by Dave Stewart/New Canaan Sports Photography

Popularity: 51% [?]