The Meat Grinder

GameTimeCT producer Pete Paguaga hosts the Connecticut high school football pick'ems show with GameTimeCT producer Sean Patrick Bowley.

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This week’s special guest star is 5-1 North Haven football coach Tony Sagnella who returns for a re-do of last year’s interview that went unheard because Sean forgot to hit the record button.

Coach Sags talk’s about this year’s resurgent team, which plays Cheshire this week as it fights for a Class MM playoff spot. The guys also talk to Sagnella about the genesis of North Haven’s famous single wing and his time spent as an NFL replacement player for the Washington Redskins during the strike year of 1987. 

Naturally, it’s a longer-than-normal interview. But well worth it.

As for last week, on the night where West Haven honored the 20th anniversary of their last state championship football team, the Westies of the present were busy earning their biggest victory to date: a 34-28 victory over then-No. 6 Shelton. 

Sean talks about the game and interviews some of the key players from that great, 2002 Class LL title team, including Tom DeMorro and Phil Banks, who scored the winning TD, and coaches Bert Siclari and Ed McCarthy.

The guys also break down the latest Top 10 poll, including No. 1 Southington’s narrow win over Windsor and No. 8 Ansonia’s nailbiting 31-28 victory over Holy Cross, and examine the six state playoff standings through seven weeks.

So join us, won’t you?

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GameTimeCT producer Pete Paguaga hosts the Connecticut high school football pick'ems show with GameTimeCT producer Sean Patrick Bowley.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another exciting episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut hosted by GameTimeCT editors Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga.

This week we skip a special guest star to check the gauges, kick the tires and replace our vitals for the second half of the 2022 CT high school football season.

Welcome to the annual Midseason report, in which Pete and Sean break down their three surprising teams and three disappointing teams to date. Next, they offer up three teams and three players to watch in the season's second half.

There's also the unveiling of the midseason Top 10 poll, which saw a minor shakeup with Greenwich's redemption victory over No. 6 St. Joseph and Windham's mission statement victory over No. 4 Killingly.

And, finally, we take a peek at the impending disaster area that is the new six division playoff getup.

So join us, won't you?

EPISODE RUNDOWN:

0:00 -- Opening Montage

1:45 -- Recap: Wilson, Greenwich hold off St. Joseph

4:54 -- Latest GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll

7:00 -- No. 10 Killingly? Whippets make mission statement

13:56 -- Fairfield Prep gets nuts

14:49 -- The Midseason Six Division Playoff picture

30:06 -- The Midseason Report -- 6 'Surprises'

42:06 -- The Midseason Report -- 6 'Disappointments'

50:26 -- The Midseason Report -- 6 Second Half Teams to Watch

1:01:49 -- The Midseason Report - 6 Second Half Players to Watch

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GameTimeCT producer Pete Paguaga hosts the Connecticut high school football pick'ems show with GameTimeCT producer Sean Patrick Bowley.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another edition of The Meat Grinder, your weekly inside look at high school football in Connecticut with GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley.

It was the Weekend of the Living Dead, in which a bunch of teams across the state got an early Halloween scare. Pete and SPB talk all about the great NVL showcase game won by Holy Cross rallying past Naugatuck on Thursday, plus East Hartford and Newington scares vs. No. 1 Southington and No. 3 Maloney, respectively.

SPB also breaks down his trip to Granby Memorial for Cromwell/Portland's 14-7 victory and, his hectic Prep school Saturday, capped by the insane Avon Old Farms comeback that fell one agonizing point short against Choate in Saturday's NEPSAC showdown.

Joining us for a chat this week is Killingly's 18-year head coach Chad Neal, who enjoyed a nice weekend off, but now gets back to business as he and his players get ready for a showdown with unbeaten Windham on Friday night. Coach Neal discusses this year's No. 4-ranked squad, and what it took to get his program playing at a championship level after a good 10-year struggle.

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GameTimeCT producer Pete Paguaga hosts the Connecticut high school football pick'ems show with GameTimeCT producer Sean Patrick Bowley.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another edition of the Meat Grinder, your weekly inside look at high school football in Connecticut with Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley.

If Week 4 was the Alliance Love Fest, Week 5 was the return of the jilted lover, our forgotten friend, the league game.

We start in the SCC where Hamden took out Fairfield Prep for the first time since 2009 and North Haven dropped No. 3 Shelton for its first win over the Gaels since 1994. In the NVL, Gilbert/Northwestern/Housy put a scare into Ansonia; Staples outlasted Trumbull in an FCIAC thriller; Berlin rallied to beat Bloomfield in the CCC and so much more.

Though the SCC, FCIAC and SWC have bye weeks, league play continues this week. Chris Anderson, a two-time championship coach at Woodland and now the head coach at Naugatuck, joins us this week to discuss his league's big game against Tom Ligi and Holy Cross at Municipal Stadium on Thursday night.

Anderson, now in his second year in command of the Valley powerhouse, gives us his take on the matchup and a look at his team as it attempts to repeat last year's successful run to the NVL championship and state playoffs.

So join us, won't you?

Listen to the Meat Grinder now on your favorite streaming service, but sure to check out the Live Action version of the show on Tuesday evenings.

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GameTimeCT producer Pete Paguaga hosts the Connecticut high school football pick'ems show with GameTimeCT producer Sean Patrick Bowley.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, a weekly look at high school football in Connecticut with GameTimeCT.com's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley.

This week No. 4-ranked Maloney coach Kevin Frederick joins us to talk about his defending state champions' 21-9 victory over perennial state champion Darien in a statement game for his program.

We discuss the weekend's other big CCC victory, previous guest star Mike Drury and Southington rallying back from 21-0 to stun No. 1 Greenwich, 29-28, in a game that propelled the Blue Knights to No. 1 for the first time since 2015.

But was it really that great of a night for a league that went 11-20 overall and saw two of its other big dogs -- Bloomfield and Windsor -- each let a two-touchdown lead slip away vs. Killingly and Shelton.

We discuss these things and so much more, including St. Joseph escaping Masuk's late comeback and the latest top 10 polls.

So join us, won't you?

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