<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3nxmqJ_0vk9sOIY00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3nxmqJ_0vk9sOIY00" width="1625" height="1218" ><figcaption>New Canaan’s Andrew Esposito scores a touchdown against Fairfield Warde during Week 2 of the 2024 FCIAC season. (Photo courtesy of Chris Cody/New Canaan Football)</figcaption></figure>The current GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll heading into Week 3 is consistent with the previous couple state polls this season.Basically, the FCIAC dominates the upper half of the poll.New Canaan maintains the same No. 1 spot the Rams have been in since the preseason poll to lead a quartet of FCIAC teams ranked 1-through-4. The Rams are followed by second-ranked Darien, No. 3 Greenwich, and No. 4 Staples. Those four remain ranked in the same spots they were in the previous week’s poll after they all won their first conference games of the season to improve to 2-0.Daniel Hand (2-0) is No. 5 and Windsor (2-0) is No. 6 as they flip-flopped positions from where they were ranked last week.St. Joseph gives the FCIAC five teams ranked among the top seven as the 2-0 Cadets moved up two spots to No. 7.Masuk (2-0), Maloney (1-1) and Newtown (2-0) are ranked 8-10, respectively.New Canaan received 16 first-place votes and 732 polling points while Darien got eight first-place votes and 714 points from the 25 voting members of the media.Greenwich got 632 polling points, and Staples received 562 points and the one other first-place vote.There were no FCIAC teams among the 19 in the Others Receiving Votes group.As it has turned out, the coaches and athletic directors at several of this year’s top football programs in the state were quite adept at scheduling to set up quality matchups against non-conference teams in this Week 3 of the season. Three of the FCIAC teams ranked in the top four – New Canaan, Darien, and Staples – all play against teams also ranked in this week’s GameTimeCT Top 10 in a trio of Friday night games with 7 o’clock kickoffs.No. 1 New Canaan hosts No. 8 Masuk, the No. 2 Darien Blue Wave will travel about 83 miles to play at No. 6 Windsor, and No. 4 Staples hosts No. 9 Maloney.St. Joseph’s No. 7 Cadets hosts Bloomfield at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Bloomfield was ranked No. 10 while St. Joseph received the 26th most polling points in the preseason poll which was released Sept. 9.Since then, coach Joe DellaVecchia’s St. Joseph Cadets opened their season with a 17-7 non-league victory at North Haven and that led to them soaring up 17 spots in the rankings to No. 9 in last week’s poll. Then they moved up two more spots in this current poll, released Sept. 23, after winning their conference opener at Westhill, 44-0.Coach Lou Marinelli’s top-ranked New Canaan Rams opened their season with an impressive 42-13 victory at Maloney (now ranked No. 9) and they won their FCIAC opener last week at Fairfield Warde, 41-7.The No. 2 Darien Blue Wave of coach Andy Grant has also been quite impressive in outscoring its first two opponents by the combined score of 94-13. Darien opened with a 45-6 home victory over Cheshire and won at Brien McMahon last week, 49-7.Third-ranked Greenwich won its first two games on the road – 24-6 at West Haven and 37-7 at Stamford. Coach Anthony Morello’s Cardinals have their first home game this Friday afternoon (4:45 p.m.) against Bishop Hendricken High School, a strong program from Warwick, R.I.The No. 4 Staples Wreckers of coach Adam Behrends opened their season at home with a 48-7 victory over Hamden and last week they won at Ridgefield, 35-7.Staples and New Canaan are both defending state champions in their respective state playoffs classifications which they both remain in this year.New Canaan won the 2023 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Football Playoffs with a 28-21 victory over its annual Thanksgiving Day rival Darien, which also remains in Class L this year.Staples won a 21-20 thriller over West Haven in last year’s championship game of the 2023 CIAC Class LL Football Playoffs.Wilton hosts its bordering town rival, Ridgefield, in this week’s only matchup of FCIAC teams playing a conference game on Saturday at 2 p.m.<h2>Week 3 Football Schedule</h2>Thursday, Sept. 26Bridgeport Central at Bassick, 4:30 p.m.Friday, Sept. 27Bishop Hendricken (R.I.) at Greenwich, 4:45 p.m.Westhill at Farmington, 6 p.m.Fairfield Warde at Norwich Free Academy, 6:30 p.m.Masuk at New Canaan, 7 p.m.Darien at Windsor, 7 p.m.Maloney at Staples, 7 p.m.Fairfield Ludlowe at Notre Dame-West Haven, 7 p.m.Warren Harding at Brien McMahon, 7 p.m.Fairfield Prep at Trumbull, 7 p.m.Saturday, Sept. 28Stamford at South Windsor, 12:30 p.m.Newington at Danbury, 1 p.m.Bloomfield at St. Joseph, 1:30 p.m.Ridgefield at Wilton, 2 p.m.Glastonbury at Norwalk, 2 p.m.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

New Canaan leads FCIAC sweep of top four in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll

The current GameTimeCT Top 10 Football Poll heading into Week 3 is consistent with the previous couple state polls this season. Basically, the FCIAC dominates the upper half of the poll. New Canaan maintains the same No. 1 spot the Rams have been in since the preseason poll to lead...