The Meat Grinder

And we’re off! 

Week 1 is in the books, including a massive slate of enticing Alliance matchups between the major conferences. What happened? What did we learn? Well, if anything, we learned that the FCIAC, out of the starting gate, has taken a massive lead on everybody else — especially the SCC.

Thanks to dominant efforts by New Canaan, Darien, Greenwich and Staples, not to mention a strong effort by St. Joseph, the FCIAC has claimed the first four spots and five overall in the latest GameTimeCT Top 10 poll.

But there were plenty of other eye-opening Week 1 performances out there — Fairfield Prep, Killingly, Windsor, Bunnell, Berlin and Windham, just to name a few. We also saw the return of Steve Christy to the Masuk sidelines.

We break it all down on another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder CT high school football podcast with Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga, brought to you by GameTimeCT.

So join us, won’t you?

0:00 — Opener: FCIAC reigns over Week 1

5:28 — No. 1 New Canaan rips No. 7 Maloney

8:26 — No. 5 Greenwich marches past No. 4 West Haven

18:22 — The Latest GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll, Nos. 10-8

20:54 — No. 7 Fairfield Prep rolls into anticipated rematch vs. No. 6 Hand

24:45 — Top 10 Poll Nos. 5-1

29:23 — Wrapping Up Alliance Week 1

34:54 — Bunnell, NW United, Amity win thrillers

37:57 — Week 1 Shoutouts!

45:32 — Looking ahead to Week 2

#cthsfb #connecticut #highschoolfootball #hsfootball #fairfieldcounty

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

The GameTimeCT Pick'Em podcast and board has returned for Week 1 of the 2024 football season.

The Rundown

0:00 - 2:33 — Intro

2:34 - 5:03 — Holy Cross at Woodland

5:03 - 8:11 — Southington at Fairfield Prep

8:12 - 13:23 — Greenwich at West Haven

13:24 - 17:48 — New Canaan at Maloney

17:49 - 20:43 — Berlin at Branford

20:44 - 23:13 — Cheshire at Darien

23:14 - 26:21 — St. Joseph at North Haven

26:22 - 28:00 — Trumbull at Notre Dame-West Haven

28:01 - 30:46 — Wilton at Masuk

30:47 - 32:39 — Newtown at Stamford

32:40 - 32:57 — Wrap

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

Kickoff, at last! Hello again and welcome to the Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut brought to you by the gang at GameTimeCT.com and hosted by Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga.

In this first episode of Season 7, we look back at everything that's happened this past offseason, starting with the deaths of two of Connecticut's all-time great coaches, Chuck Drury of Pomperaug and Ed McCarthy of St. Joseph and West Haven.

We also break down the preseason Top 10 and give you our picks to reach and win the SIX 2024 CIAC state championship games.

Join us.

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

Welcome to 16th and final Season 6 episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut, brought to you by GameTimeCT and CT Insider.

After six great championship bouts ad CCSU and UConn’s Rentschler Field, we’ve crowned our 2023 champions and voted in the final GameTimeCT Top 10 poll and the STAPLES WRECKERS are No. 1 following their thrilling, 21-20 Class LL championship victory over West Haven.

Join hosts Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga as they run through everything that happened during championship weekend, including recaps of all six state championship games and how they voted in the final top 10 poll.

This week’s special guest star, our first in over a month, is none other than newly crowned No. 1-ranked Staples coach ADAM BEHRENDS. 

The Iowa native arrived in Westport from IMG Academy in Florida just four years ago and, after a near-disastrous 2-8 season in 2019, Behrends quickly molded Staples in to a contender.

But after a 1-point loss to Fairfield Prep in the 2022 quarterfinals, the Wreckers developed a 2023 Mantra: Find the Point. And they did just that, avenging their playoff loss to Prep by a point and then avenging their Week 1 loss to West Haven by a single yard and one point: 21-20.

We also run down some of the candidates of the upcoming 91st New Haven Register All-State football Team.

So — for the final time in 2023 — join us, won’t you?

RUNDOWN

0:00 — 2023 CIAC Championship Montage

4:23 — Staples finishes No. 1 

10:42 — The Final 2023 GameTimeCT Top 10

13:11 — Poll Comparisons: Pete, Sean, Coaches

16:43 — Class LL Championship recap

20:46 — Class S championship recap

23:15 — Class MM Championship recap

24:29 — Class M Championship recap

25:59 — Class L Championship recap

28:40 — Class SS Championship recap

30:47 — Championship weekend takeaways (crowd comparisions)

36:37 — Interview with Staples coach ADAM BEHRENDS

1:06:46 — Final championship thoughts, 2024 look ahead

1:15:17 — 2023 Players and Coaches of the Year?

1:23:58 — Will Aldam wins the picks and Season 6 wrap

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

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

#cthsfb #highschoolfootball #connecticut #football #notredamefightingirish #ctfootball

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

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut and because we live in Connecticut, and we're fast approaching the last Thursday in November, everybody should know what that means.

Yes, turkeys, it's Thanksgiving Football Week in Connecticut, the final regular season game of the year. It's a time to come home home, get the fam or the gang together and head out to your favorite high school football game, whatever it might be called — The Route 83 Bowl, the Turkey Bowl, the Green Bowl, the Elm City Bowl, The Battle for the Bell or the Battle for the Sword... whatever. There's always something to whet your appetite Thanksgiving morning. 

And of course Thanksgiving week means copious amount of playoff math, which begets playoff scenarios. Many, many playoff scenarios.

Because time is precious and short, Thanksgiving Week also means our annual hybrid episode, combining the Meat Grinder with the weekly Pick'ems Podcast!

So if you're not one of the lucky contestants to be playing this week, pull up a chair, kick back and relax. We've got everything you need to know, and then some. 

We start off with the usual, a breakdown of the latest GameTimeCT 10 poll, followed by a complete run down of all the teams vying for playoff spots. There are only 16 of 48 spots remaining and we'll tell you who needs what to keep playing next week. 

We also recap some of last week's big games with playoff implications, including Hand-Sheehan and South Windsor-Enfield. SPB also recaps two of last week's WILD NEPSAC Bowl games — Cheshire Academy's late rally past Avon Old Farms and Hamden Hall's thrilling conclusion to its Bowl game vs. Dexter Southfield-Mass.

And, finally, treat yourself to a full hour of Thanksgiving high school football picks. We're picking 20 games, including some of the week's biggest. 

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all. We do hope you will join us.

RUNDOWN

0:00 — Introduction

1:25 — It's Thanksgiving Football Week 2023!

7:13 — Wilton gets defensive with Shelton

8:25 — The Latest GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll (Windsor rips Bloomfield)

11:40 — Class S playoff situation

13:02 — Class SS playoff situation

14:23 — Hand tops Sheehan to qualify in Class M

17:13 — Class M playoff situation

18:00 — Class MM playoff situation

19:59 — Class L playoff situation: South Windsor knocks off Enfield to qualify

23:57 — Class LL playoff situation (Fairfield Prep getting closer)

25:59 — NEPSAC Bowls: Late TD propels Cheshire Academy over Avon Old Farms.

32:12 — NEPSAC Bowls: Hamden Hall holds off Dexter Southfield on final play

37:40 — THE PICKEM PODCAST

39:56 — Masuk at Newtown

43:27 — Prep at West Haven

45:58 — NWU at ATI

48:07 — Staples at Greenwich

51:00 — Guilford at Hand

55:16 — North Branford at Coginchaug

57:06 — Fitch at Ledyard

58:36 — NFA at New London

1:00:41 — Darien at New Canaan

1:04:24 — Naugatuck at Ansonia

1:09:04 — Green Bowl: NDWH at Hamden

1:12:27 — Stratford at Bunnell

1:14:41 — Central at Harding

1:16:21 — Cheshire at Southington

1:21:50 — Hartford Public at Weaver

1:23:18 — Battle for the Bell: Bristol Eastern v. Bristol Central

1:25:34 — Stoddard Bowl: Platt vs. Maloney

1:28:01 — Rumble in Trumbull: St. Joseph at Trumbull

1:30:15 — Elm City Bowl: Hillhouse at Cross

1:32:40 — Carini Bowl: Sheehan at Lyman Hall

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

The GameTimeCT Pick'Em podcast and board has returned for Week 11 of the 2023 football season.

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

We’ve reached the penultimate week of the 2023 regular season, the week where we set the Thanksgiving table and learn, definitively, who is in and who needs what to qualify for the CIAC playoffs. 

And, yes, your crack staff at GameTimeCT hunkered down with our slide rules and abacuses this weekend so that we may give you our best estimates on the latest scenarios heading into the final week and a half. 

We also run down the latest top 10 poll and recap some of last week’s big games, beginning with No. 9 Ansonia’s 35-0 takedown of Oxford in an unbeaten NVL battle at Jarvis Stadium last week in, perhaps, a harbinger of playoff matchups to come. 

We also recap the return of North Haven coach Tony Sagnella from his weekend suspension and sift through the ongoing soap opera in Monroe, where Masuk’s seniors have risen about the controversy surrounding their coaching staff, to deliver an emphatic, playoff-qualifying victory over New Milford. 

Don’t miss our weekly shoutouts and a look at the upcoming NEPSAC Bowl championship games. 

So join us, won’t you?

RUNDOWN

0:00 — Introduction

3:34 — Ansonia knocks off unbeaten Oxford, heads into Thanksgiving 9-0

9:42 — Week 11 GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll (Nos. 10-7)

11:38 — Sagnella returns from suspension for No. 6 North Haven

12:49 — Week 11 GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll (Nos. 5-1)

14:53 — 2023 Playoff Scenarios: Explaining CIAC's playoff formula and website issues

19:45 — Class S Playoff Scenarios (North Branford's huge win) 

22:38 — Class SS Playoff Scenarios 

25:16 — Class M Playoff Scenarios

26:35 — Class MM Playoff Scenarios (Cheshire in trouble)

32:22 — Class L Playoff Scenarios

34:22 — Class LL Playoff Scenarios (Can Fairfield Prep pull this off??)

43:20 — Seniors rise above the mess at Masuk

54:42 — SHOUTOUTS

1:03:43 — Suffield Academy upsets Cheshire Academy, NEPSAC Bowl matchups announced

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

Welcome to back to another episode of the Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. Do not adjust your YouTube or Spotify. It is Friday and it is a very special episode of the Meat Grinder.

Last week’s drop of the Alliance playoff proposal got our gears going, we discussed it amongst ourselves, and then had a lengthy discussion about it with Oxford’s Joe Stochmal, a member of the CIAC committee.

We also thought about how similar the proposal is to one enacted by Massachusetts a few years ago in how the MIAA, the Massachusetts version of the CIAC, virtually eliminated the state’s longstanding Thanksgiving Day football tradition at the expense of expanding the playoffs and starting it in early November.

To give us a window into how that went down, we reached out to Danny Ventura, the 30-year veteran high school sports reporter from the Boston Herald for his insights and opinions on how Massachusetts’ devaluation of Thanksgiving Day football has gone over.

Granted, the CT Football Alliance’s proposal suggests moving rivalry games typically held on Thanksgiving to Columbus Day, whereas Massachusetts allows teams to play Thanksgiving Day games in between the MIAA semifinals and championship weekend.

But it was still an enlightening conversation all the same. We just couldn’t fit it all into this week’s regular Meat Grinder without heavy edits. Since we appreciate Danny’s time and his insight, we present to you the full interview in a special episode.

ENJOY!

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

The GameTimeCT Pick'Em podcast and board has returned for Week 10 of the 2023 football season.

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