Who’ s No. 1 in H.S. football? Depends who you ask

The greatest football minds in Connecticut come together each week to determine the top 10 high school teams in the state.

And then there’s the GameTimeCT media poll.

Relax, scribbling scribes and talking heads, just a bit of self-deprecation before we delve into The Day of New London coaches poll and examine the vast disparity over No. 1 and No. 2 before they meet in the Game of the Year (October edition) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Trumbull.

Sixteen members of the media (including me) voted Darien No. 1 this week. Five have St. Joseph.

Ten coaches, meanwhile, have St. Joseph. Three have Darien.

“What would high school football be if we all agreed?” said Brookfield coach Bryan Muller. Isn’t that the truth? Coming off a year without football because of COVID-19, this has been a fascinating season. No. 3 Greenwich beat Ridgefield, only to get crunched by Shelton, which was promptly got crunched by Trumbull, which got crunched last weekend by Greenwich.

Two truths remain: FCIAC rules from its great throne of gold. At 6-0, St. Joe’s and Darien are the only unbeaten teams in the FCIAC.

Saturday afternoon at St. Joe’s, we find out who the real poll geniuses are.

Newtown coach Bobby Pattison, Ansonia’s Tom Brockett and Xavier’s Andy Guyon say they are the three who voted for Darien at No. 1.

Trumbull coach Marce Petroccio, Fitch’s Mike Ellis, Windsor’s Rob Fleeting, Southington’s Mike Drury, Amity’s Craig Bruno, Stafford/Somers/East Windsor’s Brian Mazzone, Woodland’s Joe Lato, Killingly’s Chad Neal and Muller say they voted for St. Joe’s.

St. Joe’s coach Joe Della Vecchia would only say he voted the teams No. 1 and No. 2. It’s OK, Joe, we figured it out by process of elimination.

Petroccio, Neal and Ellis each pointed to the fact St. Joe’s was No. 1 to end the 2019 season and has prevailed through a difficult schedule so far with wins over Staples, Windsor, Xavier, Greenwich and Ridgefield.

“So I don’t know why we should change anything,” Petroccio said.

“I truly believe until you’re beaten, you deserve that spot,” Ellis said. “I really don’t care how close the games are.”

Mazzone said he is a convert: “After St. Joe’s beat Greenwich, which I thought was a top dog, and the Darien-Wilton game that same weekend, that put St. Joe’s over the top with me.”

Wilton was up 36-35 in the fourth quarter two weeks ago before Darien ran off three late TDs.

Darien also beat Newtown, 27-14, in the season’s first celebrated matchup on Sept. 24. So Pattison knows the Blue Wave.

“They are both great teams,” Pattison said. “I’m kind of voting (Darien No. 1) off the experience of playing them. I was impressed. It’s hard to find a weakness on offense or defense. They’re very physical and technically sound.”

“Darien 1, St. Joseph 2, it’s the way I’ve been doing it since the beginning,” said Guyon, whose Xavier team lost to St. Joseph, 42-7, on Oct. 2. “Absolutely nothing against St. Joseph. Winning is in their DNA. Call it 1A and 1B.”

St. Joe’s has the homefield advantage Saturday.

St. Joe’s hasn’t lost since September 2018, a 29-game

winning streak.

Against Greenwich (2420) and Ridgefield (17-14) the past two weeks, the Hogs demonstrated they can pull out tight games against top teams with big plays. Or did those close games show St. Joe’s vulnerability?

“A bit of magic by St. Joe’s,” Petroccio said. “And the Darien defense did show a dent in its armor giving so many points up to Wilton.”

“St. Joe’s is just so efficient in what they do,” said Fleeting, whose 5-1 Windsor team lost to the Hogs, 45-22, on Sep. 24. “Their offense runs very smoothly. They don’t make too many mistakes. Defensively, they’ve got 11 guys running to the ball full speed every play. The combined talent, hustle and work ethic makes for a special team.”

Fitch scrimmaged against St. Joe’s.

“We also scrimmaged them two years ago and this is not as talented a St. Joe’s team as it was then,” Ellis said. “But every time they play you see they are wellcoached; the kids know exactly what they are supposed to do and execute it. They make plays when they need to make plays. You think you’ve got them, and you don’t have them.”

St. Joe’s quarterback Matt Morrissey can beat you with his arm or feet. With Maxwell Warren, Brandon Hutchinson and Tyler daSilva, there are versatile weapons.

“The biggest thing to me, is Darien going to take away No. 5 (Warren)?” Guyon said. “St. Joe’s does so much offensively. You look at them, try to break them down and what you have to stop. But there’s only so many hours in the day. That’s part of the problem we ran into.”

Muller, who plays neither team, has seen both in passing leagues and has watched a little film on both out of curiosity.

“There are a few games that catch everyone’s attention,” he said. “And this definitely is one of them. St. Joe’s is very balanced in what they can do, run and pass. Their offensive line maybe isn’t as big as historically in the past, but they look to me fast, aggressive and technically sound.”

Petroccio and Drury hit on the player whose performance I think is pivotal.

“Darien has a great pass rusher in (David) Evanchick,” Petroccio said. “I’d like to see the matchup with St. Joe’s there. That’ll be an interesting subplot all day.”

“St. Joe’s has great skill kids; so does Darien,” Drury said. “Their skills and schemes are both very good. Darien has a couple of really good kids on the defensive line. One of the big things is for St. Joe’s to block Evanchick. We played against them in 2019 and we had to scheme him up when he was just a sophomore. He can disrupt the run and passing game.

“How does St. Joe’s offensive line stack up against Darien’s defensive line will be the difference in the game.” Mark it down. Key to game.

St. Joe’s is playing the third of a killer three-game stretch against Greenwich, Ridgefield and Darien. The Hogs aren’t entirely alone. Between the Alliance and the FCIAC teams, a number of schools have demanding schedules.

“We’ve got everyone on our schedule except Darien, Ohio State and Alabama,” Xavier’s Guyon said.

Still, you wonder how banged up St. Joe’s might be. I think it is a factor. The coaches were split.

“Joe tries to two-platoon as much as he can,” Ellis said. “When you have guy essentially playing essentially half the game and 12-minute quarters go relatively fast. They’re not taking as many shots as a team with two-way guys. With his numbers he should be able to survive that stretch.”

Fleeting agrees: “They have numbers and resources.”

So beat up or battletested?

“I’d say more battletested,” Guyon said.

“Listen, every week in the FCIAC is a playoff game,” Muller said. “I think they’re used to it. They’ve both been there. For both of those programs it’s kind of business as usual.”

Beat up or battle-tested? “I would tend to say beat up,” Brockett said. “Both are battle-tested. At the end of three weeks like that, they’ll probably limp into the game a little bit.”

Pattison made a valid point when he said it varies position to position and who’s replacing what banged-up player. Without an injury report like the NFL that will go unanswered.

“I would have to imagine they have some kids who are beat up, key players who are sore,” Lato said. “That has an effect. And playing these nail-biter games, too.”

Lato said both his wife and his brother-in-law attended St. Joe’s and he was raving about what a cool experience going to a St. Joe’s game is. From the pregame tailgate on, all true. When I asked him if there was anything else?

“Well, they can draw from more towns than Darien,” Lato said.

A little school-of-choice humor is always appreciated.

“Both teams are at the top of the state, obviously,” Bruno said. “I’m sure it’s going to be a big-time heavyweight battle.”

If St. Joe’s wins, the Hogs will roll through the rest of the season to a Class L title and another No. 1 ranking. Darien will have to continue to prove itself against Norwalk and New Canaan in the regular season and all through LL playoffs.

Interesting that none of the coaches mentioned Darien running back Tighe Cummiskey. He is a gamechanger. And as the No. 1 vs. 2 Game of the Year draws to the final minutes, I see him grinding out yardage, bullying, using his speed to run out the clock in a 27-24 Darien win.