SCC will consider welcoming Shoreline football teams

HIGHSCHOOL FOOTBALL

Southern Connecticut Conference commissioner Al Carbone will attend Monday’s Shoreline Conference athletic directors meeting to discuss the possibility of football expansion.

Though there is no formal proposal on the table, Carbone said “the SCC has always talked about getting bigger.”

There are currently eight Shoreline football teams and all played in the Pequot’s Sassacus Division this year. Ideally, those teams — North Branford, Hyde, Cromwell, Valley Regional-Old Lyme, Haddam-Killingworth, Old Saybrook-Westbrook, Morgan and Coginchaug — could move into the SCC and make up a third division. Right now the SCC has 19 teams, so that would give the SCC three nine-team divisions.

But nothing could happen until 2015 because SCC teams are already locked into a schedule for the next two seasons.

“I’m looking forward to talking to them and to see what’s proposed,” Carbone said.

He added travel, bye weeks and cross-over games could be an issue and will need to be addressed.

As for Shoreline coaches, Coginchaug coach John Bozzi said he did not hear of the idea and would not comment further. Other coaches entertained the idea.

“I think for Hyde, for our program, we wouldn’t have a problem competing,” Hyde coach Melvin Wells said. “Can we play a Division II schedule? Yes… It’s very interesting. The SCC is definitely one of those elite leagues in the Northeast. We’d be honored.”

North Branford coach Mark Basil said it is a rumor that has surfaced among coaches.

“In years past, the SCC to me, has been the top football conference in the state,” Basil said. “Schools in our league could play the M schools. The Ls and LLs scare you. I don’t know how scheduling would work out. It’s the early stages. I’d like to hear more.”