Today is Fairfield County high school football’s day in the national spotlight: Khairi Fortt and Silas Redd will play for the East team in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. The game will be broadcast live on NBC from the Alamodome in San Antonio starting at 1 p.m.
Fortt and Redd have a few faniliar faces on the sidelines with them: BlueStreak Sports Training’s Jay Clement and Bill Hayden are both performance training coaches for the East team.
Redd, by the way, was one of seven finalists for the U.S. Army Player of the Year Award, which went to Dillon Baxter of San Diego Mission Bay (he had 75 touchdowns this season… yes, season!).
You can vote for multiple candidates, but you can only vote for one candidate per IP Address. So that means you can’t sit at a computer all day and vote for your favorite player.
BlueStreak Sports Training is the sponsor of the Fairfield County Player of the Year Award, and we hope you also choose to support the American Diabetes Association by making a donation on your candidate’s behalf (please note, a donation is not required if you want to cast a vote).
Hey it’s not too late to nominate a candidate for the Fairfield County Player of the Year Award. This is an individual award, not a team award (Staples fans, love your enthusiasm about the Staples Defense, but last I checked, that’s 11 helmets out there, so you’re just wasting nominations).
Before you nominate a player though, pay attention: The following players will be on the ballot, so there is no need for your nomination:
Christon Gill, QB-DB, Bridgeport Central
Mike Lefflbine, QB, Greenwich
Turner Baty, QB, New Canaan
Silas Redd, RB, King
Kevin Pierre-Louis, RB-LB, King
Tyler Matakevich, RB-LB, St. Joseph
Tom Jordan, OL-DL, Ridgefield
Matt Kelly, RB-DB, Staples
Now, if you still want to nominate a player for the ballot (a player needs a minimum of 10 nominations for consideration), then go to the Zoomerang survey.
Good luck – we will shut the ballot box at noon Monday, Dec. 7.
This post may be the biggest mistake I have ever made, because I’m sure it could lead to read8834 and blue_wave_boy killing each other and prophet maybe killing me. So let’s keep it civil or I’ll block comments to the post.
But if you had to pick someone as the state’s Player of the Year, who would you vote for? King’s Silas Redd or New Canaan’s Turner Baty?
Redd is criticized because King plays a so-called weaker FAA schedule. But he has proven to be an unbelievable talent. He’s also 183 rushing yards away from going over 2,000 for the season. he could very well go over that mark Saturday when King plays St. Luke’s, and it’s only King’s eighth game of the season.
Baty’s transfer to New Canaan caused quite a stir, but he has proven to be the real deal. In his last four starts, Baty has thrown for 1,439 yards and 14 touchdowns while being picked off just twice. And as one FCIAC coach told me today, it’s unheard of that someone led a visiting team back from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit at Cardinal Stadium.
Or… is there someone out there who is being overlooked? Leave your comments below, and please, don’t be nasty.
New Canaan receiver Kevin Macari has been named Fairfield County Player of the Week for the eighth week of the high school football season.
Against Greenwich, Macari had seven catches for 166 yards and touchdowns of 16 and 46 yards. He also caught the game-winning two-point conversion in New Canaan’s 35-34 come-from-behind victory.
Other candidates for the Fairfield County Player of the Week award were:
Chris White, DT, New Canaan (12 tackles, 4 for a loss and two sacks)
Mike Lefflbine, QB, Greenwich (10-18-0-151 passing, one passing touchdown, 33 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown)
Bo McCarty, LB-TE, Ridgefield (11 tackles and a 9-yard reception on a key third down)
Turner Baty, QB, New Canaan (23-35-1-329 passing, three touchdown passes and a 2-point conversion pass)
Khairi Fortt, LB, Stamford (11 tackles, two sacks, 48-yard interception return for a touchdown)
Silas Redd, RB-LB, King (31 carries for 332 rushing yards, five touchdowns, five tackles and an interception)
Axel Lee, S, Central (10 solo tackles, 3 special teams tackles and a sack)
Candidates for the Fairfield County Player of the Week award are nominated either direct from their coaches, by media recommendations or by fans of the FCIAC Football Blog on Facebook.
New Canaan quarterback Turner Baty is the Fairfield County Player of the Week for Week 6.
Against previously undefeated St. Joseph, Baty completed 22 of 35 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Rams to a 35-25 win.
Other Week 6 nominees included:
Ryan Leddy, Wilton: 35 carries for 207 yards and a touchdown.
Silas Redd, King: 9 carries for 303 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Christon Gill, Central, 10 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown, plus a forced fumble.
Alex Delaney, Warde: 8 carries for 63 yards, 1 reception for 10 yards, 1 touchdown, 15 tackles.
Cody Newton, 8 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Drew Arcoleo, Ridgefield, 20 carries for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Matt Reyes-Guerra-Dunn, Wilton, 2 touchdown receptions.
Candidates for the Fairfield County Player of the Week award are nominated either direct from their coaches, by media recommendations or by fans of the FCIAC Football Blog on Facebook.
So who ruled Week 5? We’re looking for your Fairfield County Player of the Week nominations, and you can submit yours if you are a Fan of the FCIAC Football Blog on Facebook. We’re taking nominations until 9 p.m. tonight, so log on and vote.
But please, if the player is not a lineman, give us a statistical reason why your nominee should be Player of the Week. “HE RAN SH!T” doesn’t tell the deciding members why someone should receive the award. Even if that’s the slang you kids today use, it doesn’t make sense, even if there was a comma missing between RAN and SH!T. We may think it meant that player ran LIKE sh!t, and that would not be a good thing.
So please, give us some stats…
By the way, I saw a few fantastic performances this weekend: New Canaan quarterback Turner Baty’s 20-for-27, 367-yard passing day at Seymour (plus great receiving performances by Willie Ouelette and Cody Newton), and the King dynamic duo of Kevin Pierre-Louis and Silas Redd, who both ran for more than 200 yards. Pierre-Louis was MVP of that game, according to MSG. But Redd was Homecoming King, so they both made out well.
King running back Silas Redd and Staples linebacker Jake Santora are the co-recipients of the BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week award for Week 2.
In King’s 45-20 win over Hamden Hall, Redd ran for a school record 356 yards on a career-high 27 carries and scored six touchdowns, also a school record.
In Staples’ 42-6 win over Norwalk, Santora retuned a second-quarter interception 80 yards for a touchdown, and had a third-quarter pick-six of 49-yards. Santora also had three tackles for a loss.
Redd and Santora led a huge contingent of Fairfield County performers that had outstanding performances during Week 2. Though Redd and Santora will both receive a trophy and a dry-fit t-shirt to honor their performances, the following players will receive certificates as honorable mention selections:
Tyler Matakevich, St. Joseph (314 total yards: 222 on the ground on 18 carries with two rushing touchdowns and another 92 yards on seven receptions with a third score)
Shabashe McIntosh, Bridgeport Central (4 touchdowns, two on the ground, two receiving)
Graham Maybell, Darien (84 rushing, 15 receiving, 2 TDs)
Mike Lefflbine, Greenwich (231 passing, 2 TDs, plus one rushing touchdown)
Pat Atkinson, Stamford (19 tackles, 16 solo)
Mike Jacob, Warde (125 yards rushing, including a 93-yarder, plus an interception)
Peter Park, New Canaan (45 rushing yards, 2 TDs)
Players are nominated for the BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week award three ways: Direct nomination by a head coach, by fans of the FCIAC Football Blog’s Facebook page, and through recommendations by members of the local media.
(Photo of Silas Redd by Tim Parry. Photo of Jake Santora courtesy of StaplesFootball.com)
Once you see King School in action, you become one of the converted. You go from thinking King competes against a bunch of weak teams in the Fairchester Athletic Association to realizing that not only is the talent level on par with the FCIAC but that players like Silas Redd are getting a full ride to Penn State for a reason.
John Nash, sports editor of The Stamford Times, got to see King for himself for the first time yesterday, when the Vikings defeated Hamden Hall 45-20. He also saw Redd pick up some hard-earned yardage – 356 of them – and six touchdowns.
Here’s how Nash answered the question: How would King do if it competed in the FCIAC?
By the way, here’s what Nash wrote yesterday about the game:
Do we have any surprises? Any Player of the Week candidates? I think there’s a few players who had stellar performances.
First there was this e-mail I got last night from John Nash of The Stamford Times :
If Tyler Matakevich isn’t the BlueStreak player of the week this week,
then it’s rigged… 314 total yards ‹ 222 on the ground on 18 carries with two rushing
touchdowns and another 92 yards on seven receptions with a third score.
Then there were these tweets from Dave Ruden at The Advocate:
RudyT45 Santora 49 INT return first play second half, his second of game. Staples 35-6.
RudyT45 Jake Santora 80 interception return for TD. Staples 28-0
And then I witnessed a freakshow today: King running back Silas Redd ran for 356 yards and 6 touchdowns. This wasn’t against a cream puff opponent, either. King needed all those yards and scores from Redd in its 45-20 win over Hamden Hall.
I’m sure other super heroes will be anointed in Week 2, and I hope the coaches of these teams nominate their players for the BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week Award.
Like Central’s Shabashe McIntosh, who ran for two touchdowns and caught two more scoring passes from Christon Gill in the Hilltoppers’ 46-27 win over Bassick.
King School running back Silas Redd is the BlueStreak Sports Training Player of the Week for Week One of the 2009 season.
Redd, who has committed to play at Penn State, ran for 264 yards on 10 carries in King’s 40-20 win over Hopkins. Redd scored on runs of 88, 65 and 71 yards.
Other players nominated for the award by their coaches include New Canaan lineman Conor Hanratty, Warde WR-DB Craig Lowery and Ridgefield LB Alex Howard.
Players for the weekly award are nominated by their coaches. A nominee is then chosen by a committe formed by BlueStreak Sports Training and the FCIAC Football Blog.
