By Tim Parry

If there’s anything Ridgefield head coach hates, it’s orange jerseys. But a few hours before his team kicked off to Staples last night, he had a box of them for his team.

Now Callahan said his team was focused on Staples this week, but just maybe the new threads gave Ridgefield the final bit of motivation it needed to beat Staples for the first time in his coaching career.

Ridgefield didn’t just defeat the Wreckers. Ridgefield dominated the Wreckers 37-6.

“We walk into the equipment room two hours before the game and Coach Callahan pulls out a surprise,” Ridgefield quarterback Matt White said. “And we figure we better get a win with these new jerseys.”

Heck, Ridgefield stormed out of the gate. Ridgefield got a safety, and then a 65-yard touchdown on the ensuing free kick by Drew Arcoleo. Arcoleo then scored on a 40-yard touchdown run on Ridgefield’s first offensive play, giving the Tigers a 16-0 lead just four minutes into the game.

“You can’t spot a team like that a 16-0 lead like that four minutes into the game,” Staples head coach Marce Petroccio said. “You have to give Ridgefield all the credit in the world, but we just made every mistake you can possibly make on both sides of the ball.”

White, for the record, completed just three of nine passes for 31 yards. But with Ridgefield getting the big lead and Arcoleo getting off to the strong start, White said he was fine with keeping the ball on the ground.

“He’s getting the job done, you’ve got to keep feeding him,” White said.

Arcoleo finished with 69 yards on 12 carries, and fullback Michael McKnight had 105 on 13.

The Ridgefield defense did most of the damage. They forced five Staples turnovers, including two fumbles that were recovered by Jimmy O’Dea.

Now it wasn’t all Ridgefield in this one. Brandon Pacilio hit Brendan Rankowitz on a 47-yard bomb. And Pacilio was able to find wide-open receivers downfield. Midway through the second quarter, Staples could have pulled within a touchdown, but a wide-open Matt Kelly couldn’t hang on to a Pacilio pass in the end zone.

Rankowitz finished with five catched for 93 yards.

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).