Bloomfield, which has been a Class S finalist the last four years and won the title last year, is back in the CIAC high school football playoffs. The pairings were announced Friday and there are plenty of familiar names and some new ones in the mix, too.
Bloomfield lost a lot of players at skill positions from its championship team but there are 10 or so returning on the offensive and defensive lines and some linebackers that have championship game experience. In their last game before the playoffs, the Warhawks played Windsor, top-seeded in Class MM and No. 1 in the Courant’s state coaches poll, tough on Saturday losing 20-0 but the score was 0-0 at halftime.
“We feel ready for these playoffs,” Bloomfield coach Ty Outlaw said. “We played Windsor real tough. Windsor’s the No. 1 team in the state and we were right there with them. Windsor’s a really big physical team. Us hanging with them let us know we can pretty much hang with anybody.”
Bloomfield will face East Catholic, a team the Warhawks beat earlier in the year, in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
“I like playing teams that don’t know us,” Outlaw said. “It’s hard to beat a good team twice and East Catholic is pretty good, but we feel confident.”
All quarterfinal games will take place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the higher seed’s site. The semifinals will take place Sunday at the site of the higher seed and the finals will be spread over two days this year – Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14, with one game each at Rentschler Field and Central Connecticut Friday night and two games each at each location Saturday.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each division:
Class LL
Defending champion: Staples
Of note: Manchester advanced to the playoffs for the second straight year after a long drought and gets to run smack into defending champion Staples, the No. 2 seed, in the quarterfinal. Staples, ranked sixth in The Courant state coaches’ poll, lost only to New Canaan midway through the year and shut out Greenwich, 27-0, on Thanksgiving. Fourth-seeded Glastonbury, led by sophomore Dante Casdia’s 1,400-plus rushing yards, will host No. 5 (and eighth in The Courant poll) West Haven, which bookended its regular season with losses to Greenwich and Fairfield Prep, which is the top seed in Class LL. New Britain also got in as the sixth seed but faces No. 3 Greenwich, ranked fifth in The Courant’s poll.
Class L
Defending champion: New Canaan
Of note: No. 7 seed Maloney, of course, gets to square off with its FCIAC nemesis New Canaan in the quarterfinal. New Canaan, the second seed, beat Maloney, 42-13, to open the season, after knocking off the Spartans 11-8 in the L semis last year and in the finals the year before that, 16-13. Naugatuck is the top seed; while Darien, third in The Courant’s poll, is the No. 3 seed.
Class MM
Defending champion: North Haven
Of note: Last year, Windsor was the top seed and got shut out in the semifinals, 21-0, by eventual champion North Haven. This year, Windsor has been ranked No. 1 all year in The Courant state coaches poll, ascending to the top after beating No. 1 Darien in overtime Sept 27 when Windsor’s quarterback and top running back were out with injuries. Windsor is top-seeded again and unbeaten, opening Tuesday with Northwest United, coached by Jen Garzone, the only female football head coach in the state. Wethersfield beat Newington in overtime on Thanksgiving Eve to go from 0-10 last year to advancing to the playoffs and the two CCC teams will face each other once again six days later in a quarterfinal. Bristol Central, whose only loss came to Newington Oct. 25, is the No. 2 seed.
Class M
Defending champion: Hand
Of note: Hand (10-0) is the top seed and the No. 2 ranked team in The Courant’s poll. The Tigers’ closest game was against Hamden, a 15-7 win on Nov. 1. It seems like Rockville and Berlin play each other every year in the playoffs (last year, Rockville beat Berlin 14-13 in the quarterfinals, the year before, Berlin beat Rockville, 42-7 in the semis) and they are playing each other again in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
Class SS
Defending champion: Joel Barlow
Of note: Eighth-seeded Ellington gets a tough draw – No. 1 Killingly, which is undefeated. No. 6 Granby/Canton, with two close losses to Rockville and Capital Prep, will face third-seeded Sheehan, which has losses to Fairfield Prep and Killingly, Last year, Granby/Canton was the top seed and lost to Watertown in the quarterfinal so no doubt, that is on the Bears’ mind as they head into this game.
Class S
Defending champion: Bloomfield
Of note: Class S is tough. Capital Prep, which finished its regular season at 10-0, is the top seed. Bloomfield is the fifth seed and has to play East Catholic again in the quarterfinals Tuesday; the Warhawks beat East Catholic 46-18 on Oct. 18. It was the only loss for East Catholic this season. Ansonia, which is unbeaten and getting votes in the Courant state coaches poll, is the No. 2 seed. Last year’s Class S runner-up, Cromwell/Portland, is the No. 3 seed.
CIAC football playoff schedule
Quarterfinals: All games Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. at higher seed site
Class LL
No. 8 Kennedy at No. 1 Fairfield Prep
No. 5 West Haven at No. 4 Glastonbury
No. 7 Manchester at No. 2 Staples
No. 6 New Britain at No. 3 Greenwich
Class L
No. 8 Notre Dame-West Haven at No. 1 Naugatuck
No. 5 Fairfield Ludlowe at No. 4 Darien
No. 7 Maloney at No. 2 New Canaan
No. 6 Amity at No. 3 Newtown
Class MM
No. 8 NW United at No. 1 Windsor
No. 5 Wethersfield at No. 4 Newington
No. 7 Bunnell at No. 2 Bristol Central
No. 6 Masuk at No. 3 Torrington
Class M
No. 8 New London at No. 1 Hand
No. 5 Watertown at No. 4 St. Joseph
No. 7 Jonathan Law at No. 2 Brookfield
No. 6 Berlin at No. 3 Rockville
Class SS
No. 8 Ellington at No. 1 Killingly
No. 5 Waterford at No. 4 Bullard Havens
No. 7 Ledyard at No. 2 Windham
No. 6 Granby/Canton at No. 3 Sheehan
Class S
No. 8 WCA at No. 1 Capital Prep
No. 5 Bloomfield at No. 4 East Catholic
No. 7 Valley Regional/Old Lyme at No. 2 Ansonia
No. 6 Woodland at No. 3 Cromwell/Portland