The Meat Grinder

Thanks to another round of nasty weather — this time a wave of torrential rain that drenched much of Connecticut and made playing football a slippery endeavor — it was a chaotic Week 4 of high school football.

For those who played Friday night, the rain disrupted just about every football team's delicate offensive choreography, which scripted some eye-popping results.

The one constant, however, was No. 2 West Haven's 31-21 victory over rival and No, 6-ranked Shelton at Finn Stadium. Now, the Westies are making a serious run at the state's top ranking as they head to face rival Hamden in a homecoming for RB Camren Kemp, who transferred a week before the season.

Join SPB and Pete Paguaga as they break down that matchup and everything else that happened over the four-day Week 4 weekend: St. Joseph's narrow FCIAC win over Stamford on Saturday, Cromwell/Portland's Pequot rout of the new MSW co-op on Sunday.

This week's special guest is first-year North Branford coach ANTHONY SALVATI, a T-Bird alum whose team is 3-0 going into a showdown with unbeaten Granby/Canton. Salvati talks about his squad, why he returned to his alma mater after spending four years at Guilford, and why he hopes the T-Birds will never have to co-op, as so many other Pequot programs have.

So join us, won't you?

RUNDOWN

0:00 — Opening Montage

1:43 — Surviving and drying from Friday night’s monsoon

8:40 — The Latest GameTimeCT Top 10

10:35 — Reid, No. 2 Westies make their case v. Shelton

17:02 — Hamden-West Haven outlook: Kemp comes home

21:36 — SCC: No. 3 Cheshire shuts out Prep

24:29 — CCC: Hall upsets No. 9 Southington

27:48 — SWC: Masuk gets defensive to beat Bunnell

36:03 — SPB’s Saturday NVL Tour (HC, Ansonia win big)

39:05 — FCIAC: St. Joseph holds off Stamford

49:02 — Pequot: Cromwell/Portland routs MSW

51:12 — INTERVIEW with North Branford coach Anthony Salvati 

1:08:30 — Wrapping up

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GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley are back for Week 4 of the staff pick'ems for the 2023 football season. Each and every week the duo will be selecting 10 games from across the state.

THE RUNDOWN 

0:00 - 4:01 — Intro

4:02 - 6:14 — Wethersfield at Berlin

6:15 - 9:25 — Bullard Havens/Kolbe at Northwest United

9:26 - 11:50 — ATI at Thames River

11:51 - 13:30 — Griswold/Wheeler at Bacon Academy 

13:31 - 16:24 — St. Joseph at Stamford

16:25 - 17:14 — Crosby at St. Paul

17:15 - 20:01 — Seymour at Holy Cross

20:02 - 22:12 — MSW at Cromwell/Portland

22:13 - 25:16 — West Haven at Shelton

25:17 - 27:28 — Bunnell at Masuk

27:28 - 29:00 — Wrap

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After a rough showing in the Alliance’s first week, the FCIAC roared back with three Top 10 Alliance victories in Week 3, including No. 1 Greenwich’s thrilling 30-28 win over No. 3 Maloney, unranked Staples' 34-27 takedown of No. 2 Southington, and New Canaan’s reaffirming 33-12 win over No. 10 Windsor. 

Though Newtown dampened league spirits when it rallied to beat Trumbull, Darien stifled Fairfield Prep and Ludlowe rolled past Hamden (or so we heard) to keep the good times rolling in Fairfield County. Meanwhile, Bloomfield made a bold mission statement with a 24-point comeback victory over No. 9 Masuk.

Join GameTimeCT's Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga as they — once again — sift through the wreckage of the week that was, including two programs that snapped long losing streaks and two programs lighting up the scoreboard. 

One of them involves this week's special guest star: Morgan/Saybrook/Westbrook coach KEVIN SULLIVAN, whose new co-op of former rivals leads the state in points scored and is 3-0 going into a huge test vs. Cromwell/Portland (2-0).

Join us, won't you?

RUNDOWN 

0:00 — Opener and Opening Salvos

4:18 — Perino's FG lifts No. 1 Greenwich past Maloney in classic

15:27 — The Latest Top 10 Poll (rankings 1-4)

18:16 — No. 5 Newtown rallies to stay unbeaten

20:21 — Latest Top 10 Poll (rankings 6-9): Staples rallies past No. 2 Southington

22:43 — Return of the FCIAC, New Canaan roars past No. 10 Windsor

32:45 — Bloomfield bests No. 9 Masuk in wild shootout.

39:57 — Darien drops Fairfield Prep to 0-3.

45:51 — Ludlowe overwhelms Hamden, but how??

46:14 — Wrapping up Week 4: Berlin, Manchester win; Bethel, Derby snap losing streaks

50:43 — Roberts, East Hartford lighting up scoreboard

52:13 — Alliance Scoreboard

54:27 — Interview with MSW Co-Op's KEVIN SULLIVAN

1:10:21 — Week 4 look ahead

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GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley are back for Week 3 of the staff pick'ems for the 2023 football season. Each and every week the duo will be selecting 10 games from across the state.

THE RUNDOWN

0:00 - 5:00 — Intro 

5:01 - 7:22 — Oxford at Seymour

7:23 - 8:46 — Bullard Havens/Kolbe at Cheney Tech

8:47 - 12:11 — Capital Prep/First Achievement at Morgan/Old Saybrook/Westbrook

12:12 - 16:18 — Greenwich at Maloney

16:19 - 18:21 — Bloomfield at Masuk

18:22 - 21:02— Newtown at Trumbull

21:02 - 24:20 — Staples at Southington

24:21 - 26:37 — Notre Dame-West Haven at St. Joseph

26:38 - 29:37 — Windsor at New Canaan

29:38 - 32:06 — Fairfield Prep at Darien

32:07 - 34:05 — Wrap

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Welcome to another edition of The Meat Grinder, Connecticut's only award winning high school football podcast, brought to you by GameTimeCT and CT Insider.

A supposed off-week was anything but as several big results rocked the early 2023 season — Cheshire topped Shelton in overtime, Darien rallied to beat McMahon and Hand bested Fairfield Prep in overtime. All three featured crucial, if not controversial, late-game calls.

Those games at least matched, if not overshadowed, several big games on the docket, including North Haven's triumphant return to the field after forfeiting its season opener due to alleged student misconduct, and Cheshire Academy's big New England showdown with defending champ Brunswick.

Join GameTimeCT's Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga as they sift through the wreckage of the week that was, including a rundown of the latest top 10 poll and the upcoming slate of Alliance games, headlined by No. 1 Greenwich at No. 3 Maloney. 

RUNDOWN

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GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley are back for Week 2 of the staff pick'ems for the 2023 football season. Each and every week the duo will be selecting 10 games from across the state.

The Rundown

0:00 - 3:41 — Intro

3:42 - 4:57 — Avon at East Catholic

4:58 - 6:23 — Prince Tech/Innovation at ATI

6:24 - 8:25 — Fitch at New London

8:26 - 10:54 — McMahon at Darien

10:55 - 13:09 — Holy Cross at Naugatuck

13:10 - 15:29 — North Branford at Ellington

15:30 - 18:12 — Shelton at Cheshire

18:13 - 21:30 — Bunnell at New Fairfield

21:31 - 23:40 — Killingly at Notre Dame-West Haven

23:41 - 26:20 — Ridgefield at Staples

26:21 - 26:53 — Wrap

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GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley are back for the staff pick'ems for the 2023 football season. Each and every week the duo will be selecting 10 games from across the state.

The Rundown

0:00 - 0:53 — Intro 

0:54 - 2:47 — Woodland at Holy Cross

2:48 - 3:58 — Trumbull at Hamden

3:59 - 5:13 — Wilton at Berlin

5:14 - 6:48 — Rockville at Granby/Canton

6:49 - 8:38 — Masuk at Killingly

8:39 - 10:02 — West Haven at Staples

10:03 - 12:22 — New Canaan at Shelton

12:23 - 13:59 — St. Joseph at Newtown

14:00 - 16:31 — Darien at North Haven

16:32 - 18:23 — Fairfield Prep at Greenwich 

18:24 - 20:03 — Wrap

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The SCC’s big dogs, West Haven, Shelton, Hamden and Cheshire knocked off the FCIAC’s big dogs in a stormy (figurative and literal) start to the 2023 Connecticut High School Football season.

Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley return to break down the Top 10 carnage and hit on some of the big performances of Week 1. 

While Masuk’s coaching situation remains unknown, the investigation surrounding North Haven’s sudden forfeit to Darien apparently is complete and the Nighthawks will get to kick off their season Saturday.

Plus, join us for our new segment: What Did We Learn from Week 1?

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Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga return with a full hour of 2023 Connecticut High School football season previews in the Season SIX premiere episode of the Meat Grinder.

The guys look over what's new, who's who and what's what; go on some rants, run down the GameTimeCT preseason Top 10 football poll and, finally, make their state championship picks and all sorts of other goodies as we begin what we hope is another great year.

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GameTimeCT's Pete Paguaga and Scott Ericson are back with the ninth and final episode of the High and Tight high school baseball podcast for the 2023 season.

The champions were crowned this weekend at Palmer Field and all four champions joined the show this week.

Class S champion: Haddam-Killingworth coach Mark Brookes joined the show with Joseph Giaccone, Blake Kamoen and Callen Powers.

Class M champion: Nonnewaug co-coach Kyle Brennan joined the show with Dylan Chung and Matt Palumbo.

Class L champion: Brookfield coach Matt Hart was joined by the entire Brookfield tea.

Class LL champion: Fairfield Warde coach Brett Conner and assistant coach Jim Pjura were joined by Garrett Larsen, Griffin Polley, Paddy Galvin and Will Stellato.

Rundown

0:00 - 11:51 — Opening

11:55 - 25:30 — Class S champions Haddam-Killingworth

35:53 - 59:28 — Class M champions Nonnewaug

59:32 - 1:15:10 — Class L champions Brookfield

1:15:14 - 1:44:45 — Class LL champions Fairfield Warde

1:44:47 - 1:51:04 — Closing

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