Welcome to another thrilling edition of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut with GameTimeCT's Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga, and the weekly GameTimeCT Pick'ems Podcas: CIAC quarterfinal edition.

And what a Thanksgiving week it was as we completed the CIAC state playoff field. There were upsets galore in the final Class S standings; a stunning revival for Fairfield Prep, which toppled West Haven to become the first losing team to qualify; Jett Hall's legendary Valley performances as Naugatuck toppled Ansonia in a battle of unbeatens.

But the best game of Thanksgiving belonged to the Apple Valley Classic, where — at long last — Notre Dame recruit Matt Jeffery, injured for the better part of the last seven weeks, made his triumphant return to the gridiron and led Cheshire past rival Southington in a ride-or-die scenario in a game it hadn't won since 2011.

SPB takes you through that thriller at Fontana Field and all the rest as we put a bow on the 2023 regular season. 

And now we're onto the playoffs.

First 45 is your annual Thanksgiving recap with highlights of impactful games from last week. The second 45 is the pick'ems, where Pete and Sean predict all 24 quarterfinal games, not to mention take a few stabs at predicting the state champions.

You won't want to miss a minute. So join us, won't you?

RUNDOWN 

0:00 — Opening Montage: Matt Jeffery, the return

1:55 — Introduction: CIAC playoff (and website) probs

10:15 —Thanksgiving week wrap: Tuesday night

11:59 — Thanksgiving week wrap: Wednesday night (Masuk, Hand, Fairfield Prep)

20:47 —Thanksgiving Day wrap: Smith, Staples knock off No. 1 Greenwich

27:56 — Thanksgiving Day wrap: Jeffery goes off as Cheshire topples Southington

39:29 — Jett Hall. Naugatuck run past Ansonia, to 10-0 record

43:55 — Wrapping up Thanksgiving.

45:12 — Flip over your record, it's the pick section.

49:20 — CLASS S bracket and picks

55:06 — CLASS SS bracket and picks

1:04:08 — CLASS M bracket and picks

1:15:01 — CLASS MM bracket and picks

1:20:58 — CLASS L bracket and picks

1:28:15 — Class LL bracket and picks

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