Three Ansonia defenders bring down Torrington’s Nick Lorenzo in the Chargers’ 66-26 win last Friday. Both teams have big Week 2 games. Credit: Erin Covey/Rep-Am
For our sake and yours, we hope Week 2 brings us a little more excitement than did the openers. We figured there would be a few semi-competitive games to kick off the season, but there wasn’t a single one that was decided by fewer than three touchdowns. That can’t continue the rest of the season, right?
This is the last week before full-out divisional play begins so there are a few prime interdivision matchups. Maybe a few of them can deliver excitement on Friday night.
We’re still getting a few things together here on the blog (we haven’t yet updated last week’s picks or the preseason predictions pages) but it will all be up and running very soon.
Our Week 2 power rankings are in the video below. You probably won’t find too many surprises in there, but at least you’ll find out where our Game of the Week will be!
Friday, Sept. 21
Woodland at Ansonia, 7 p.m.: While we would love for this game to be as competitive as some of the series’ best games, it’s tough to see it happening as long as No. 2 suits up in lavender. Newsome barely broke a sweat last week in rushing for five touchdowns on nine carries against Torrington, and the Chargers actually showed a few wrinkles in their offense for the first time in a long time. Ansonia’s defense was plenty good enough, but Woodland’s offense should be a better test. Tanner Kingsley had an excellent first week in the spread, throwing for five touchdowns. He’ll be missing one of his best targets in Rahmi Rountree, who will be suspended for the game after being ejected from the Sacred Heart contest. That could actually hurt on defense as much as on offense because Rountree could have helped slow down Newsome’s breaks to the outside. Woodland will probably need to play a near-perfect game to get the win. Look for plenty of blitzing from both teams. If Kingsley gets the ball out as quickly as he’s capable, the Hawks could stick around. But Ansonia’s defense matches up with Woodland’s offense better than the Hawks’ defense against the Chargers’ offense.
Picks: Remmy- Ansonia, 48-18. Kyle- Ansonia, 54-25.
Torrington at Wolcott, 7 p.m.: For Torrington, this may be as close to a Week 2 must-win situation as there’s ever been. After a demoralizing loss to Ansonia last Friday, the Red Raiders don’t have any time to sulk with a trip to Wolcott coming up. Joan Toribio didn’t have the debut he wanted against the Chargers, but that of course was against a much more superior defense than he’ll probably see the rest of the year. The Eagles had no problems against Kennedy and Mike Nicol showed a better commitment to getting the ball out of his hands on passing plays rather than prematurely tucking and running. That ability to let plays develop can really help Wolcott as it faces better teams, including this week. Confidence–and the revenge factor after last year’s beatdown–are on the Eagles’ side, but Torrington knows it needs this game. That could make this the best game of the week.
Picks: Remmy- Torrington, 28-20. Kyle- Wolcott, 41-33.
Holy Cross at Watertown, 7 p.m.: The Crusaders didn’t have much of a test in Week 1 but clicked in every phase of the game. Their competition takes a slight notch up this week at Watertown, who must be a little deflated after its sloppy nonconference loss to Montville. Holy Cross didn’t need to use many of its tricks against Crosby and probably won’t need to pull them out against the Indians, either. If Watertown plays as poorly in the turnover department as it did last week, this game will get out of hand in a hurry. The Indians have to figure out a way to get their speedy playmakers more involved. Either way, the Crusaders’ offense will end up being better.
Picks: Remmy- Holy Cross, 35-15. Kyle- Holy Cross, 42-14.
Sacred Heart at Seymour, 7 p.m.: Even though the Wildcats probably aren’t quite as good as they were last year, we said during the preseason that they might have a better shot as securing a winning record this season because of their easy schedule. Whitney Tech was no match last week and Sacred Heart probably will not be this week, especially if the Hearts play without David Coggins and Javon Martin. They may be deemed eligible by the CIAC on Thursday, but that doesn’t mean Cortez Johnson will play them Friday night. If they do play, that could give Sacred Heart a much-needed boost on offense. But we’re assuming they will not be in the lineup, and the Hearts’ offense struggled to move the ball anywhere last week against an unproven Woodland defense. All Seymour has to do is play a clean game to get to 2-0.
Picks: Remmy- Seymour, 21-7. Kyle- Seymour, 34-0.
Saturday, Sept. 22
Wilby at Kennedy, 11 a.m.: We knew Kennedy didn’t stand a chance against Wolcott in Week 1, but many folks (including Kyle) picked Wilby to beat Naugatuck. That clearly wasn’t the case and the Wildcats’ offense really struggled against an apparently quality Naugatuck defensive front. Wilby should be able to get back on track this week with Jacob Thomas and Brandon Sierra facing a weaker defense. Kennedy doesn’t seem to be a threat to outscore anyone.
Picks: Remmy- Wilby, 28-16. Kyle- Wilby, 33-12.
Crosby at St. Paul, 1:30 p.m.: There’s plenty of talent in St. Paul’s passing game, but it took far too long for it to get going last Saturday against Derby. The Falcons may have more success against Crosby this week, although the Bulldogs have some talent in their secondary. Crosby’s offense couldn’t do anything against Holy Cross but tried to throw more than we’re used to seeing from the Bulldogs. That could add up to a three-hour game.
Picks: Remmy- St. Paul, 40-20. Kyle- St. Paul, 55-22.
As always, we invite you to make your picks with us on this thread. We’ll keep track of them in our Predictions Tracker throughout the season. Remmy was 7-for-8 on his Week 1 picks while Kyle missed three games. We’ll have all your picks updated very soon.
Our Game of the Week thread is coming up a little later this week and will feature the Naugatuck-Derby contest at the Ryan Complex.
Week 2 Predictions are presented by Blanchette Sporting Goods. BSG has been a family-owned and operated sporting goods store for more than 40 years. Located in Shelton, Blanchette carries not only a wide selection of equipment, but also a full line of apparel for several Valley schools. Blanchette can also handle embroidery, screen printing, trophies and more. Call today at 203-929-6331 or visit the showroom on Bridgeport Avenue.
Week 2 Winners
Ansonia
Naugatuck
Torrington
Holy Cross
Seymour
Wilby
St Paul
Really Bunegron…..really????? Naugatuck over DERBY. I wonder if the Naugy d-backs are going to hold the DERBY receivers off the line now that Plasky is gone…Good luck with that and staying with the athletes DERBY possesses on the outside.
FOUR. MORE. DAYS.
Raider Dogs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ansonia 45-21
Torrington 33-20
Holy Cross 28-20
Seymour 27-10
Wilby 20-16
St Paul 40-28
Naugatuck 35-31
Ansonia
Naugatuck
Torrington
Holy Cross
Seymour
Wilby at Kennedy
St. Paul
TORRINGTON bounce back game. Love the coaches passion.
ANSONIA over woodland. Wanted to do 5 reasons why Woodland wins and can only come up with 1(Kingsley is a great competitor.) Not enough. DERBY(win) is very good this year.SEYMOUR over Hearts. HC wins. WILBY wins. ST. PAUL wins.
Side note: New Principal at Seymour is outstanding. Spirit is coming back. Volleyball game had 90% of Football team there. Soccer game had Volleyball team and Football team there. Football game had over 1,000 I heard. School spirit is coming from top down. Nice to see. Hope it spreads around the Valley.
School spirit definitely needs help from the top. It’s great to see that.
Football had over 1000 paying customers. Doesn’t count any of the kids in Seymour uniforms that got in for free, or Senior Citizens that got in for free as well.
I think close to 2K total were there last Friday.
That’s great, great news. Crowds all over the league were pretty good this week. I guess that’s the most positive thing of the week, actually.
Winners:
Ansonia
Naugy
Wolcott
HC
Seymour
Wilby
St. Paul
ANSONIA 48-26
DERBY 36-22
WOLCOTT 30-26
HOLYCROSS 40-6
SEYMOUR 29-6
WILBY 33-12
ST.PAUL 30-13
Ansonia
Derby
Wolcott
HC
Seymour
Wilby
Crosby
Anyone care to see me take on Mark Jaffee in H-O-R-S-E?
http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2012/09/17/redzone/videos/doc5057ad654c440184259017.txt
Aaah nope
Haha good answer.
Woodland at AHS- It’s too bad Roundtree is not playing. You gotta be smarter than that, get thrown out of a meaningless blowout and miss the opportunity to try and knock off Ansonia. But if you looked down the Woodland sideline when they put up their 40th point of the night on the hearts certain Woodland coaches, not Shea or anyone in the booth obviously were jumping around like they scored the game winner. It’s hard to root for people like that. Let’s see if they are jumping around when they are on the other end of it.
Ansonia 55-13
Torrington at Wolcott
Torrington has enough skill to win this game. They need stops, contain Nicol and I think they will be alright. I think Wolcott not as good as last year.
Torrington 28-21
HC at Watertown
Watertown gave us no reason to expect the upset. HC is solid.
HC 39-10
Sacred Heart at Seymour
Seymour has the community fired up as another big crowd is expected at DeBarber field for the hearts. Sacred Heart seemed out of sorts. THey will be better this week i would think but Seymour is the better team. Vartelas and Conlan will be key in a cat win.
Seymour 28-7
Wilby at Kennedy
Wilby will showcase their two athletes with Thomas and the QB and that will be plenty for the WIldcats to get their first win.
Wilby 35-6
Crosby at St Paul
St Paul loves pounding the lower tier teams so their passing attack will be flying high against the bulldogs.
ST Paul 66-20
Naugy at Derby
I was impressed with Naugy last week. They had good size, Pernell is fast and the QB looked good, unfortunately they were playing Wilby. Derby handled St Paul as they always do and scored alot of point’s. Derby has speed to match up with pernell, so as long as they don’t get into a slow down ball control game I’m gonna pick Derby
Raiders 42-28
It looks like Torrington-Wolcott is a pretty 50/50 game right now according to the picks.
My big sticking point in this game is whether Torrington’s defense can do anything. I’ve got more confidence in Wolcott’s offense than Torrington’s defense.
Ansonia- lack of running game really hurts Woodland
Torrington- toss up for me.
Holy Cross- easy W, no QB worries here
Seymour- Love the Cat’s energy
Wilby- In a close one the Wilby Cat’s get the W
St Paul- the bulldogs will play tough, but will have a tough time with the falcons passing game.
Derby- McMahon is a player and can fly !!
Naugy over Derby
Naugy handled Wilby in the same fashion as Derby handled St. Paul and in my opinion Wilby is the better of the two on the losing end. This complex way of thinking leads me to believe Naugy’s gonna be the better team. Both teams are improved, but I have a gut feeling that this Naugy team could be flying under the radar. If I’m wrong I get an undefeated Derby going into Jarvis next week so even if I’m wrong here it’s alright.
Holy Cross over Watertown
If HC beats up on Watertown then their for real and pose a real threat to the Chargers. If Watertown gives them a game then any top 10 ranking would be a sham. I believe HC has the goods and the most physically gifted sophomore I’ve ever seen in Wright.
Wolcott over Torrington
No need to be long winded here because if Wolcott can’t beat Torrington their a non factor in the NVL and class M. I’ll get on the wagon further on down the road
Seymour over Sacred Heart
This one will be a game and Overby will be a problem for the wild kittens. If the CIAC clears the vagabonds then my pick may change. For now it’s the kittens in a close one.
Wilby over Kennedy
The option will most likely enjoy some of the success it had in the Jamboree.
St. Paul over Crosby
???????????????????????????
Ansonia over Woodland
Ansonia will try to hit Kingsley as often as they can. Coach Lisi has some speed at LB so expect them to take turns blitzing all night. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve come up with something special coverage wise. Woodland has to be on point with its short game.
I think both Woodland and Ansonia will blitz quite often. Kingsley has a few advantages against the blitz in that he’s in the shotgun and gets rid of the ball pretty quickly. I’m sure the Hawks will try to scheme something to hold an extra protector for him, and I expect tight ends Levi Fancher and Brian Zaccagnini to be involved quite a bit.
It all comes down to whether Woodland’s defense will be able to do anything against Arkeel Newsome, and I can’t see that happening. It’s as simple as that.
If he is fast with his reads and gets rid of it quick then Ansonia has to adjust to a cover 2 look, with their corners playing bump + run so they don’t get free releases. This will upset the timing and get the receivers off track.
There’s no doubt in my mind Ansonia will make all the right adjustments. That staff always does.
It has the potential to be a competitively coached game, at least.
Here is my problem with all of this Ansonia vs. Woodland talk. Woodland has not beaten big blue since 2005 when Anderson was calling the plays. Since he left, Phipps has been calling the shots and I have to say he is not very good at it. Look at all of the wins Woodland has since 2008 and there is not one where the offense took control of the game and got the win. So to say this will be a competitively coached game I think is inaccurate. I can’t speak for the Woodland defense but as for the offense, Ansonia has had their number for years. There are guys on this blog that actually played with Phipps that can attest to the fact that he had little to no impact as a player ( if i am not mistaken there is not one varsity start to his name) and he continues to have the same impact as a coordinator. I have watched every game Woodland has played and I support the Hawks but I am not impressed with the direction of the offense. Find an offense and stick to it.
Find an offense and stick to it? That makes no sense. The staff has done a great job over the years changing its offense to the strengths of what it has on the roster. The spread with Katchmar and Dorosh was the right pick. It was hard to argue with the wing-T in 2007 because that team set the school’s scoring record. The modified wing-T in 2010 with DeBiase put the ball in the team’s best playmaker’s hands on every play. Now this year, the team has spread personnel and went to it. I don’t get that argument at all. If a staff can’t adapt, it’s useless. Woodland’s does.
Tim Phipps has earned a very good reputation around the league and that’s not just coming from me. You can disagree with play calls–everyone does at some point or another–but there’s a reason Woodland has had only one losing season in nine (going on 10) NVL campaigns, and Phipps has been the staff’s stalwart through it all.
Offense wasn’t the problem in 2007 when Woodland lost 62-35. It certainly wasn’t the problem in 2010 in that two-day game. And my guess is that it won’t be the problem tomorrow night.
That was seriously out of left field.
I played with Phipps as my backup and I can’t tell you enough good things about him and his family for that matter. He was a student of the game then and gave all he had to his team in any way that he could. A person of lesser character would of quit if given the same set of circumstances. He was respected by his teammates. I’ve watched Woodland only a handful of times and always came away impressed with their play on offense. I also see that he still has the same passion and spirit for the game as he did when we were teammates. I’m with you Kyle, you want your kids coached by guys like Phipps. Wish there were more like him.
Phipps will have a head coaching job sooner or later. It’s just a matter of time for him.
It would be interesting if Woodland could contain Newsome and Matos. How long do they wait until they go to the third option, McKnight on the ground. I’m sure their going to protect him as much as possible, but it’s a serious weapon.
It’s a damn shame that Roundtree can’t go, it took a little air out of this one.
It’s highly unlikely that anyone contains Newsome, let alone Woodland. I don’t think the Hawks have nearly enough size (speed may be there, but you need both) to make a marked impact.
If (big if) these teams meet again for the NVL title, both teams should be at fuller strength (barring further injuries). Woodland is missing its Nos. 2 and 3 wide receivers for this game and Ansonia is still without Tyler Lester.
Brockett mentioned it after the Game to you guys that not only are they without Lester and Hovan, their without Chris Devine who’s the best of the Jr lineman. Their missing 2 offensive Lineman and a QB. He also said something that was pretty funny talking about Torrington leading up to the game” we heard they beat up Emmitt O’Brian pretty good so we were worried about that”. He wasn’t taking a shot at all, he was dead serious.
I’m going to wait before overacting to Woodland and Naugy wins based off their opponents last week. Ill need to see Kingsly react to actual pressure and the receivers respond to athletes just as fast and if not more physical than they are. I also wonder the same CO if they key on #2, #4 whose going to stop McKnight? As for Naugy how will they respond being the role of the favorite instead of underdog against a fast well coached Derby team? Dillion is a matchup nightmare as he can line up anywhere. Key on him then smalls gets his chances, if not then krieger can also run. I’m excited seeing as this week should be much more competitive.
This week will definitely be better. Woodland is in for a tough one. Impossible to win it? No. But Ansonia has too many weapons. How could one not pick Ansonia this week? Hopefully, for the fans at the game, it’s not a snoozefest. I wonder how many Ansonia fans get tired of seeing 50-point blowouts. It’s not anyone’s fault. It just happens very frequently.
I would be surprised if Naugy/Derby or Torrington/Wolcott run away with their games. These may be the two most competitive match-ups of Week 2.
To answer your question Remmy….No, we don’t get tired of it.
Keith, I didn’t mean that in a way where Ansonia fans don’t like it when the Chargers blow-out an opponent by 50. In my opinion, there’s a big difference between beating a team by 4-5 TDs at halftime and winning by 50 (game is pretty much over by half) versus having a 1 TD lead on an opponent mid-way through the third quarter and then turning it on late in the game to win by 5 TDs+.
As a fan of the NVL, I am bored by games that are over by the 2nd quarter. Again, it’s no one’s fault. Teams need to prepare for Ansonia and even with preparation, they still lose by 50. I am just making my point from a neutral perspective.
I hear ya Rem. I think Ansonia prepares their kids better then anyone. They practice they way they play, both physically and mentally. The kids know the expectations and they buy into the program. They’ve had some “down” years but they are few and far between. I think what sets Ansonia apart is the coaching staff.
The coaching staff has so much knowledge and experience, that it’s close to impossible to throw something at them they haven’t seen or prepared for. Furthermore, Coach Brockett is the smartest Xs and Os guy, I ever been around and his work ethic is unmatched. The kids change, but that staff is the one constant that serves as the foundation of Ansonia’s tradition and success. As long as that core is there, it will be difficult to unseat Ansonia as the top dog of the NVL.
Remmy,
You bring up a valid point and it is why you don’t see great turnouts week in and week out at games. It gets boring! It’s a sad truth but before a season starts you know of AHS’s 10/11 regular season games, 7/8 aren’t going to be close. I know personally after HS & before I started working at AHS I went to 1 or 2 games a year but now knowing a lot of these kids more personally, I go more to see them play and support them.
To agree with Keith, the main reason is the coaching staff! The wealth of knowledge on that staff is unmatched by anyone in the state of CT, probably a better staff than half of the college’s in CT. That is something that can’t be measured. You have 4 or 5 guys on that staff that would all be or have been top head coaches. For those kids to have that constant is priceless.
That being said, there still should be a lot more of the student body at the games & that has been an issue since I was in HS.
Ansonia rolls 42-14 Ttown gets on track by beating Wolcott 35-26 HC has a battle for a bit with Watertown but wins 27-13 Wilby 20-12 over Kennedy next we have St. Paul tossing it all over Crosby 35-19 and finally Derby 35-20 over the Hounds setting up next weeks clash.
Ansonia 48-12 Woodland
Wolcott 32-28 Torrington
Seymour 34-20 Sacred Heart
Naugatuck 33-26 Derby
Holy Cross 42-21 Watertown
Wilby 27-13 Kennedy
St. Paul 36-18 Crosby
forgot Seymour Cats they win 28-14 over the Hearts
Ansonia
Wolcott
Seymour
Naugatuck
Holy Cross
Wilby
St. Paul
Kyle & Remmy for some reason everytime I log on, my votes are made on your polls on the side, I have never even made a vote! Good polls and most of the picks are what I would pick but I’m not doing them.
You’re more than likely not logged-in to our blog if you can’t vote. Make sure you’re signed-in. I’m positive that’s what it is.
Ansonia 47, Woodland 22
Naugatuck 30, Derby 26
Torrington 27, Wolcott 22
Holy Cross 30, Watertown 12
Seymour 28, Sacred Heart 6
Wilby 33, Kennedy 13
St. Paul 39, Crosby 14
Sorry, meant to post that as a new comment rather than a reply!
When I got on today I could vote for week 2 game of the week but that is the 1st thing I’ve voted for this year. I’ve been logged in because I made comments and my predictions. Oh well, hope it works now.
Ansonia 47, Woodland 22
-Umm the helmet still has a charger on it
Derby 34, Naugy 28
-Derby looked really fast and efficient, dont know if it was because their opponent was slow but whatever raiders win
Wolcott 36 Torington 21
Havent seen either team yet, im going off blind luck
Holy Cross 40, Watertown 12
-Holy Cross has weapons and I doubt Watertown will beable to move those big hogs in the middle of the d line
Seymour 28, Sacred Heart 21
-Seymour because Sacred heart needs Dave Coggins to win anything
Wilby 22, Kennedy 13
- B Sierra and the cats get back on track…Kennedy will be gased by the 2nd quarter
Crosby 21, St Paul 20
-Dogs rebound and get some things working on offense and defense.
Ansonia 35 Woodland 12 – This would have been a tall order with Rountree. Too much for Woods to handle all around.
Derby 27 Naugatuck 24 – Derby might be better than people think.
Wolcott 28 Torrington 20 – Wolcott finally finds a way to stop the run and beat a somewhat quality opponent.
HC 42 Watertown 18 – These will be 18 garbage points after HC takes control early.
Seymour 35 SHHS 14 – SHHS was just absolutely terrible last week and I don’t see them getting much better. Coggins and Martin would be a lift but the rest of that team is just not good.
Wilby 8 Kennedy 6 – Does anybody really care?
Crosby 26 St. Paul 24 – Again, does anybody really care?
Ansonia 56 Woodland 20 – Woodland too undersized and doesn’t have a ball control offense to keep Newsome and Ansonia’s Offense off the field. JV’s in by mid-3rd quarter again
Naugatuck 31 Derby 28 – For anyone who was in Bristol to see Derby play, they won by a way of SEVEN St Paul turnovers. Krieger was not asked to do much. He’ll have to do way more to beat Naugy. Naugatuck takes a close one
Wolcott 27 Torrington 21 – Torrington has to be demoralized after the rout at home against Ansonia. Can’t see them coming back and beating a quality Wolcott team. Wolcott with Nicol has the best player on the field, take a close one over the Raiders.
Holy Cross 44 Watertown 7 – Holy Cross with another dominant win over a weak NVL opponent. On a crash course with Ansonia to play in the NVL Championship
Seymour 30 Sacred Heart 14 – Hearts was miserable against Woodland. Seymour a much different kind of team but still significantly better. Could be more of a blowout than this.
Wilby 28 Kennedy 13 – Wilby with too much speed. Probably a game with lots of mistakes.
St. Paul 44 Crosby 35 – Marchi will go off against a weak crosby team. But I am baffled by everyone’s scores picking the Falcons to blow the Bulldogs out. Has anyone seen how incompetent the SP defense is? St Paul wins a shootout
Ansonia 61-20
Torrington 26-19
Holy Cross 35-6
Seymour 27-6
Wilby 31-13
St. Paul 42- 20
Naugy 33-26