By Tim Parry

This is definitely not the best week for me to pick a fight… or should I say fight back. My wife and I found out today that our 10-or-so-year-old basset hound, Abbi, has several cancerous growths in her abdominal and pelvic cavities, and will know more when we get the biopsy report back if we have to put her down.

But I’m trying to get this off my mind, I discovered that Ludlowe’s new helmet is an exact photoshop inverse of Michigan’s, and I haven’t talked about them yet this week.

And I think it’s a good time to bring up a question no one else is asking: Can Ludlowe enter the Ridgefield game on Oct. 17 with a 5-0 record?

I know we in the media learned a lot this week about picking a darkhorse that has been down on its luck for years to be a thoroughbred. And I know this is going to tick off every St. Joseph and Trinity Catholic fan.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s an argument. Or maybe, just maybe, St. Joeseph will leave Taft Field with a 40-0 victory on Friday.

Here’s some reasons to think Ludlowe will be 5-0 when Ridgefield comes to town:

• New head coach Matt McCloskey has the players believing in themselves. One can argue the Ludlowe win Friday over Norwalk was the biggest opening day upset win in the FCIAC for a first-year head coach since Lou Marinelli led New Canaan, losers of 30-something straight, to a win over defending state champ Rippowam in 1981.
• Ludlowe came from behind to win in the second half. Last season, Ludlowe was the team that ran out of gas in the third quarter.
• St. Joseph lost a lot of talent from last season’s 7-3 team.
• Trinity Catholic may not have improved from last season’s 3-7 record.
• Harding and Bassick are still Harding and Bassick.
• Ludlowe plays four of its first five at Taft Field.

But they won’t go 5-0 if:

• St. Joseph defensive back Colin Morris has another three intercption day like he did against Bassick.
• Young quarterback Joe Della Vecchia can hit his targets the way he did against Bassick.
• Trinity Catholic fullback Nick Cortese goes wild against the Falcons defense.
• Trinity Catholic shakes off the cobwebs from its beating against Darien.
• Ludlowe’s players gets overconfident, now that they know what victory feels like again.

So… I’m going to check on Abbi. Tell me (and the blogosphere) what you think…

Thirty of Fairfield County’s finest football-playing scholar-athletes were honored April 10 by the Ralph DeSantis chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. Also honored at the dinner at Continental Manor in Norwalk were the head and assistant coaches of the year in the SWC and FCIAC, as well as two officials of the year.

Three players received $500 scholarships to be used towards their college education as well: William Bass (Bassick), Richard Holmes (Danbury), and Chris Payne (Wilton).

Wilton’s Tim Eagen was introduced as the FCIAC’s coach of the year by his mentor, Tom Fujitani, who he served under as an assistant coach for several years, and thanked his assistant coaches and the Warriors’ booster club for its efforts in helping to build a top-notch program. Ridgefield’s Kevin Callahan introduced one of his former players, New Fairfield’s Andy Buchsbaum, as the SWC’s coach of the year.

Carl Cairo (Greenwich) and John Pereira (Pomperaug) received their league’s respective assistant coach of the year awards.

The scholar-athletes honered were:

• William Bass, Bassick
• Nick Verderosa, Bethel
• Chris Green, Brien McMahon
• Kenneth Cobb, Bridgeport Central
• Steven Moss, Brookfield
• Jeffrey Farrell, Bunnell
• Greg Passineau, Canterbury
• Richard Holmes, Danbury
• George Rhein, Darien
• Matthew O’Laughlin, Fairfield Ludlowe
• Thomas Marx Jr., Fairfield Warde
• Jonathan Meyers, Greenwich
• Scott Hickling, Joel Barlow
• Victor Ciancetta, Masuk
• Chris Lemoine, New Canaan
• Patrick Cassidy, New Fairfield
• Jonathan Henion, New Milford
• Eric Puffer, Newtown
• Cyprian Oyomba, Norwalk
• Patrick Purrell, Notre Dame-Fairfield
• Stephen Barton, Pomperaug
• Tyler Strittmatter, Ridgefield
• Michael Dinihanien, St. Joseph
• Jason Zins, Staples
• Justin Shumyhora, Stratford
• John O’Leary, Trinity Catholic
• Jameson Cherilus, Trumbull
• John Midy, Westhill
• Dylan Hannum, Weston
• Chris Payne, Wilton

Also honored were a few unsung heroes of the game, the referees. Without them, of course, the games wouldn’t count in the standings. Bob Seirup, who has been working with the Fairfield County Football Association for 54 seasons, was honored as its official of the year. Bill Vasutro was the Colonial Football Association’s honoree.

Quick trivia question for you – and if you get it right, you either have excellent long-term memory or are an avid reader of the Connectcut Post.

Who was the last coach to NOT lead a leam to victory against Bassick?

Give up?

It was Fairfield Ludlowe head coach Mike Forgét, whose Fairfield High Mustangs tied Bassick five years ago.

And yes, that day is 2001 was on Forgét’s mind this past week as his then winless Falcons prepared to play the Lions. And Forgét was fortunate enough not the be the bookends to that winless streak, which hit 51 games at Kennedy Stadium on Friday.

I can honestly say I lost track of how many times Matt Deliberti was sacked in the first half. But the Ludlowe office did not produce positive yardage on any single first-half play. A slew of incomplete passes, a ton of illegal procedure penalties, and four rushes for negative 16 yards.

While Bassick should have taken this game, up 6-0 at the half, they found their swagger a little too soon. In fact, the players on the Bassick started celebrating before Dexter Hill scored the game’s first touchdown, on a 7 yard run.

Give Ludlowe credit – they did what they needed to do at halftime to win the game.

“Coach Forgét motivated us and we came out fired up in the second half. He got the offensive line to adjust their blocks, and they did a good job doing that,” said senior middle linebacker Ben Brennan. “We have really young defensive ends, we told them what they had to do at halftime, and they got it done.”

The key blow came on Ludlowe’s first offensive drive of the second half. The Falcons drove 73 yards on 12 plays, capped by a Phil Tsopanides seven yard touchdown run. Sean Anderson’s PAT kick put Ludlowe on top for good.

Ludlowe’s Superman: Senior starting halfback Mike Guthrie didn’t even see the field in the first half for Ludlowe. Forgét said Guthrie missed two days of practive last week with a viral infection, and was not ready to play. But given the chance in the second half, he gained 75 yards on 12 carries. His presence in the lineup helped fire the Falcons up, Forgét said.

Can’t Stand to Watch: Bassick head coach George Loughrey may be a veteran head coach, but it didn’t mean he didn’t have butterflier before Friday’s game. “I’m too nervous to call the plays,” Loughrey told me on the Bassick sideline during the first offensive series. Junior varsity coach Jason Purzycki, a former member of Forgét ’s staff, relayed plays from the coaches in the press box.

Streaking: The CIAC record for most consecutive games without a win is 53, set by Bullard-Havens of Bridgeport. Considering the Lions play Trinity Catholic and Ridgefield in its next two games, there is a good chance that record may be matched. Many writers and coaches in the region thought Ludlowe would be Bassick’s best shot at ending the slide, but they also believe Bassick could top city rival Harding when the school’s meet in Week 9.

Chicks Dig the Blog

tags: FCIAC football

This season is the 50th anniversary of the first Ludlowe-Warde football game…. OK, newbies to the area may not realize that Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde are actually the former Roger Ludlowe and Andrew Warde high schools, and that Fairfield High was a consolidation project that lasted for less than 20 years.

In his personal blog, News 12 weatherman Paul Piorek posts that the two schools should acknowledge that first game when the Mustangs meet the Falcons on Thanksgiving Day. He outlines his proposal in a letter to Warde headmaster James Coyne.

Piorek will be at the Warde-New Canaan game tonight. Can’t find him in the crowd? The 1976 Andrew Warde grad admits he’ll be the one cheering “Go Eagles!” Yes, the Falcons were once the Flying Tigers, and Warde had been the Crimson Eagles.

tags: FCIAC football Fairfield Warde Ludlowe