Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. What a finish to the CIAC playoffs! There were wire-to-wire finishes, late-game heroics and historic feats by dominant teams. We’ll break down all the results, hear from players and coaches, and take a look at the final GametimeCT Top 10 poll of the season. Rundown: 0:00 - Football season closes with a bang13:45 - Final GametimeCT Top 10 Poll31:03 - Hand surges late to beat Killingly in Class SS title game43:50 - Sheehan edges NWC in Class S title game51:50 - Robinson leads Windsor past Bunnell in Class MM title game1:02:45 - New Canaan makes it four straight in Class L1:19:00 - Greenwich proves SPB wrong in Class LL title game1:37:40 - Berlin wins Class M title in improbable fashion1:57:41 - Thank you fans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. It's time for the CIAC championships! The schedule is set for Saturday, and all that's left is for the teams to battle it out and see who will be crowned a state champion. But first, we'll recap how we got to these final pairings after a wild day of semifinals that featured blowouts, upsets and down-to-the-wire finishes. After we break down each final pairing, we'll give our predictions on who will win. Rundown: 0:00 - Intro 3:38 - CIAC Championship schedule 10:18 - CIAC Semifinal summary 17:30 - Class LL Semifinal recap 19:40 - Class LL bracket + picks 24:00 - Class L Semifinal recap 28:39 - Class L bracket + picks 33:57 - Class MM Semifinal recap 40:10 - Class MM bracket + picks 44:45 - Class M Semifinal recap 53:55 - Class MM bracket + picks 59:35 - Class SS Semifinal recap 1:01:06 - Class SS bracket + picks 1:08:20 - Class S Semifinal recap 1:09:58 - Class S bracket + picks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. Wow, what a quarterfinal round in the CIAC playoffs! We saw upsets, blowouts, game-winning touchdowns and game-saving defensive plays. We’ll recap all of it, and we’ll also look ahead to a jam-packed semifinal round, where we break down every matchup and give our predictions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. It's time for the CIAC playoffs! With the regular season in the rearview, it's time to take a look at each playoff bracket for each class, as we'll breakdown the matchups and give our predictions for the quarterfinals. We'll also recap some of the wild Thanksgiving week games that helped determine the field.  They break down those games, the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll and more!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. It's our Thanksgiving football week preview episode! We'll breakdown all the important games on the slate that have playoff implications and hometown bragging rights. We'll also do more playoff point calculations.  They break down those games, the latest GametimeCT Top 10 Poll and some of results from Week 11. Rundown:  0:00 - Intro11:19 - Who's clinched. Who hasn't. 16:13 - Thanksgiving week schedule27:28 - GametimeCT Top 10 Poll29:31 - Class LL Playoff Standings33:06 - No. 9 Windsor rolls Bloomfield35:30 Hartford co-op outlasts Ellington45:55 - Class L Playoff Standings49:37 - Class MM Playoff Standings54:44 - Class M Playoff Standings56:27 - Berlin routs Middletown1:10:40 - Class SS Playoff Standings1:15:00 - Class S Playoff Standings Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. Fall state championships are over, and all the focus has turned to football as the season nears the home stretch. With Thanksgiving football only a couple weeks away, the class playoff pictures are starting to take shape, and in this episode we’ll begin breaking down where each team stands in the race to qualify. There were some big results in Week 10 that affected the outlook, as No. 4 St. Joseph took down No. 6 Wilton, No. 5 Greenwich rolled Darien, Southington beat Maloney in a thriller in overtime, and Rockville upset Cromwell/Portland in the final seconds. They break down those games, the ensuing shake-up in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll and some of the week’s other big results. Welcome back to another episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. Fall state championships are over, and all the focus has turned to football as the season nears the home stretch. With Thanksgiving football only a couple weeks away, the class playoff pictures are starting to take shape, and in this episode we’ll begin breaking down where each team stands in the race to qualify. There were some big results in Week 10 that affected the outlook, as No. 4 St. Joseph took down No. 6 Wilton, No. 5 Greenwich rolled Darien, Simsbury beat Maloney in a thriller in overtime, and Rockville upset Cromwell/Portland in the final seconds. They break down those games, the ensuing shake-up in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll and some of the week’s other big results. Rundown: 0:00 - Intro 5:52 - No. 6 St. Joseph stifles No. 3 Wilton 10:20 - Anthony Sagnella gets win No. 200 12:33 - Joey Montalvo makes CT history 17:50 - Who's clinched CIAC playoffs so far 36:18 - GametimeCT Top 10 Poll 40:35 - Southington wins thriller over Maloney 42:01 - Glastonbury rolls South Windsor 42:33: No. 5 Greenwich stays on track against Darien 44:13 - Class LL playoff standings 45:55 - Class L playoff standings 50:05 - Class MM playoff standings 52:15 - Guilford gets statement win over Lyman Hall 58:10 - Rockville upsets Cromwell/Portland 1:00:31 - Class M playoff standings 1:06:39 - Class SS playoff standings 1:13:06 - Seymour edges WCA 1:17:15 - Class S playoff standings 1:22:04 - Games to watch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut. It was a wild Week 9 in CIAC football, with huge upsets across the board on Friday night, as teams like Greenwich, Windsor, and Fairfield Prep all went down. St. Joseph head coach Joe Della Vecchia also reached a huge milestone on Saturday. They break down those games, the ensuing shake-up in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll, some of the week’s other big results, and, of course, give out their weekly shoutouts. Rundown: 0:00 - Intro: Wilton pulls off a stunner!4:15 - Wilton upsets Greenwich to rise in poll9:38 - Southington stuns Windsor12:15 - Hand prevails in ranked battle against Fairfield Prep15:10 - New Canaan shuts out Staples with no Marinelli19:00 - GametimeCT Top 10 Poll24:59 - Glastonbury takes down Maloney25:35 - No Jayden Allen, no problem for New Britain26:21 - West Haven gets back on track27:45 - Class LL standings30:05 - South Windsor rolls East Hartford30:30 - Cheshire enters Top 10 after Sheehan win31:11 - Class L standings34:45 - Barlow pulls off wild win over Masuk38:35 - Class MM standings40:45 - Della Vecchia earns 200th win with St. Joseph48:45 - Guilford rallies past Amity53:22 - Class M standings56:25 - Class SS standings1:00:30 - Woodland stays hot against Holy Cross1:03:02 - Seymour comes back against Naugatuck1:05:15 - Class S standings1:09:14 Games to watch1:14:16 - SHOUTOUTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut.  One ranked matchup highlighted Week 8’s slate of games, and it ended with No. 8 St. Joseph on top over No. 10 Staples. No. 3 Greenwich took care of business as well over Fairfield Ludlowe, as did No. 2 Killingly. No. 4 Fairfield Prep also needed a game-winning field goal to beat North Haven. They break down those games, the ensuing shake-up in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll, some of the week’s other big results, and, of course, give out their weekly shoutouts. Rundown: 0:00 - INTRO: Halloween weekend football doesn't disappoint 4:53 - No. 8 St. Joseph's defense stifles No. 9 Staples 7:12 - No. 2 Greenwich explodes in fourth quarter to beat Ludlowe 13:00 - GametimeCT Top 10 Poll 18:50 - Ellington overcomes 21-pt deficit to win in OT over Granby 26:10 - New Britain overcomes 21-pt deficit to beat Maloney 35:30 - No. 4 Fairfield Prep win against North Haven on game-winning FG 38:59 - Amity shuts out West Haven 40:05 - Class LL standings 40:45 - Southington routs Platt 42:30 - Danbury dominates Norwalk in the rain 46:57 - South Windsor hands Middletown first loss 47:35 - Class L standings 51:22 Class MM standings 55:25 - Holy Cross gives WCA first loss 57:20 - Class M standings 1:02:30 - CREC upsets Rockville 1:04:35 - Class SS standings 1:07:00 - Cromwell/Portland tops Haddam-Killingworth 1:09:19 - Class S standings 1:12:20 - Games to Watch 1:16:23 - SHOUTOUTS! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut.  On this week's episode, SPB and Pete will recap the No. 1 New Canaan vs. No. 2 Greenwich matchup on Friday as well as another ranked battle on Saturday. Plus other action across the state. We'll also take a look at the GametimeCT Top 10 Poll and see where things stand in the playoff standings for each class.  RUNDOWN: 0:00 — Intro: A historic matchup leaves No. 1 still on top5:00 — No. 1 New Canaan edges No. 2 Greenwich17:10 — GametimeCT Top 10 Poll29:30 — Woodland beats Ansonia for first time in 20 years32:00 — Sheehan gets late stop to beat North Haven36:15 — Bloomfield wins on blocked FG over NWC36:55 — Class S playoff standings38:13 — Nonnewaug knocks off ND-Prep39:20 — Woodstock upsets Waterford40:20 — Stratford stuns Weston40:55 — Barlow knocks off New Fairfield41:30 — Class SS playoff standings44:25 — St. Joseph's defense does it again over Darien49:50 — Berlin remains undefeated 50:45 — Pomperaug routs Branford51:35 — Class M playoff standings55:46 — Class MM playoff standings57:20 — Cheshire shuts out West Haven1:00:05 — Pavia leads Newtown over Brookfield1:01:05 — Class L playoff standings1:04:55 — New Britain rallies past Glastonbury1:08:43 — Class LL playoff standings1:12:51 — Games to watch 1:17:03 — SHOUTOUTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut.  It's the midway point in the CIAC football season, so on this week's episode, hosts Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga will take a look at how things stands in each Class as well as do a "fantasy football draft" of some of the top players in the state so far.  They'll also briefly go over some of the game's from Week 6, including an improbable comeback from NFA and look at where the GametimeCT Top 10 poll stands heading into a huge matchup between No. 1 New Canaan and No. 2 Greenwich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of high school football in Connecticut.  On this week's episode, SPB and Pete discuss two huge, but very different upsets to Top 10 teams: Wilton's rout of No. 5 Staples and Cheshire's 28-27 takedown of No. 4 Hand on a two-point conversion in overtime. They were two of a handful of surprising results during the first major bye week of the season. They also discuss Notre Dame-West Haven's first victory of the season, 42-14 over North Haven and Fairfield Prep's takedown of West Haven. They break down those games, the ensuing shakeup in the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll, some of the week's other big results and, of course, give out their weekly shoutouts.  Join us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WELCOME BACK to another thrilling edition of THE MEAT GRINDER, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut.  On this week's episode, we’ll recap several top-ranked matchups from Saturday and a game that set the record for the most points scored in a single game in Connecticut history. We'll also break down the latest Top 10 poll—and of course, give our SHOUTOUTS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WELCOME BACK to another thrilling edition of THE MEAT GRINDER, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut.  Join Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga LIVE at 7:30 p.m. as they discuss a wild Week 3, including Waterbury's Career Academy's historic win over Ansonia, Staples' win over West Haven on a game-winning field goal, the most recent Top 10 poll, and much more.  Rundown 0:00 - Intro5:30 — WCA pulls off historic win over Ansonia12:10 — Hand rolls through ranked Brookfield17:30 — Allard goes off in No. 3 Killingly win over Law20:20 — No. 10 Bunnell puts up fight, loses to No. 1 New Canaan29:45 — The latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll34:30 — Ross' FG wins it late for No. 7 Staples over West Haven38:00 — No. 5 Darien avoids upset from Masuk 40:25 — Fairfield Prep clinches Top 10 with tough win over New Britain41:15 — Dustin leads Wilton over Cheshire48:00 — Are these teams contenders or pretender?58:54 — Should we panic on these teams?1:11:30 — Peak at Alliance Scoreboard1:13:05 — Games to watch1:15:00 — SHOUTOUTS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WELCOME BACK to another thrilling edition of THE MEAT GRINDER, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut.  Join Sean Patrick Bowley and Pete Paguaga as they discuss what happened in Week 2 of the 2025 Connecticut high school football season.  This week, the guys discuss two of the biggest results in Week 2, and they both happened under the Thursday night lights: Connor Shea and Seymour's 21-14 victory over Ansonia, the Cats' first over the Chargers since 2004, and Glastonbury's Danny Wallace -- in the first football game of his life — helping the Guardians stun Southington in OT. Plus! West Haven's defense, and a couple of lethal strikes by new RB Amir Daniley, help the Westies knock off accident-prone Shelton, and Bassick — BASSICK! — rallies from 18 points down to beat rival Bridgeport Central. All of that, plus the latest GametimeCT Top 10 poll, other Week 2 games of note, and plenty of SHOUTOUTS as we head into a busy second Alliance brouhaha. WE DID IT LIVE! Monday night at 7:30. Now, you can can watch any time. Join us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Meat Grinder, hosts Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley break down an enlightening Week 1 of Connecticut High School Football Alliance games, including the big one at Dalling Field in Trumbull where Bobby Reh, the son of a St. Joseph state champ, rallied Hand to a thrilling, buzzer-beating victory over the No. 4-ranked Hogs — serving their barbeque chicken dish cold. Elsewhere, Pete takes a look back at No. 2 Greenwich's dominating victory over then-No. 8 Fairfield Prep and SPB check in with the new era — same stuff — at Ansonia. They also break down the latest GametimeCT Top 10 football poll and (try their best) to highlight some of the biggest of the 54 Alliance interconference matchups, including Killingly's eye-catching victory over Bishop Hendricken (R.I.). That, plus shoutouts and so much more as we head into Week 2. Join us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the SEASON 8 Premiere of THE MEAT GRINDER, Connecticut High School Football podcast from GameTimeCT.In the FIRST episode of the 2025 season, PETE'S BACK! Join Pete Paguaga and Sean Patrick Bowley as they look back on the offseason changes, say good bye to those lost, hello to 22 new coaches, unveil the preseason GametimeCT Top 10 Poll and, at last, break down all six playoff divisions and pick the winners. Join us? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's all over. We've crowned six state champions and concluded the 2024 CIAC high school football season. There were a few surprises -- Masuk knocking off No. 1-ranked Windsor to win the Class MM final and its first title since 2004 comes to mind. But for the most part, it was a weekend of Blue Bloods with Ansonia (22nd title), New Canaan (15th), Greenwich (10th), St. Joseph (16th) and maybe even Killingly (fifth) now, packing their displays with more championship trophies. But it was and especially big weekend for the FCIAC and Fairfield County at large, which won two thirds of the titles. The FCIAC alone won half of them. Overall, we ended the season right where it started: With Greenwich beating West Haven, this time to win the Class LL title, and New Canaan being crowned the No. 1 team in the state. This time, however, that ranking is etched in history. FIFTEEN-TIME championship coach Lou Marinelli joins us for our annual chat with the state's final No. 1 team. He talks about his players, his program's run of success and how it managed to win a third-straight title despite every team in the state chasing them. Join host Sean Patrick Bowley alongside Scott Ericson and Dave Stewart as they break down everything -- from the final GameTimeCT Top 10, weekend's best plays, the top performances and everything in between. It's a jam-packed episode you won't want to miss! So, for the final time this year, join us, won't you? RUNDOWN 0:00 — The Montage of Heroes 3:17 — New Canaan, Fairfield County are No. 1 10:00 — The final 2024 GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll 19:58 — Championship Weekend Impressions 22:11 — Ansonia wipes out Bloomfield in Class S final 27:59 — Allard, Killingly race past Sheehan in SS final 29:47 — Masuk stuns No. 1 Windsor to win Class MM title 37:04 — St. Joseph holds off Brookfield in classic M final 40:52 — D'Angelo, Greenwich leave little doubt in LL final 45:06 — Controversial play goes viral as New Canaan wins third-straight L title 49:06 — Interview with NEW CANAAN'S LOU MARINELLI 1:28:11 — Final PIcke'ms Results 1:30:11 — Who will be 2024's Player of the Year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WELCOME BACK to another edition of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut. And, at least, it's Championship Weekend! And that means it's the last week of high school football in Connecticut. Forty-eight teams entered, 12 teams remain to play for six (lol) CIAC championships. If the weekend's finals are even remotely as good as Sunday's semifinals, we're in for a treat because Sunday's were ridiculously good. We had thrills, like Ansonia's stunning, Hail-Mary victory over Woodland and Bloomfield's comeback win over WCA in Class S. We had spills, like St. Joseph intercepting four passes and dethroning defending Class M champ Hand and Greenwich dethroning defending LL champ Staples. And we had chills, like the way Windsor, Masuk, Sheehan, Killingly and West Haven (especially the Westies) dismantled their opponents in stunning fashion. JOIN host Sean Patrick Bowley and staff writers Dave Stewart and Scott Ericson as we recap the madness and make our picks for this weekend's 2024 CIAC Football Championships at CCSU's Arute Field and East Hartford's Rentschler Field Friday and Saturday.  It's a tight race in the annual staff pick'ems contest with a FIVE-WAY TIE heading into the final six games! Who will come out on top? As an added bonus, we roll back the clock to the preseason and see where how SPB and Pete Paguaga did on their 2024 state championship picks! (Spoiler alert: Mostly pretty well!) Join us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another thrilling episode of THE MEAT GRINDER, your weekly does of High School Football in Connecticut. Twenty-four teams are gone, 24 remain. We've reached Semifinal Sunday in the race for the six 2024 state championships! After a rainy Thanksgiving we were treated to snow, glorious and beautiful snow on Tuesday's CIAC quarterfinals (unless you were along the Connecticut shoreline) as we moved into playoff football in December. And, much like the weather, the first round of the playoffs brought us some surprises. Like two No. 8 seeds -- WCA and Notre Dame-West Haven -- knocking off a pair of No. 1 seeds -- Capital Prep and Naugatuck, respectively. The SCC and the FCIAC thrived while the Pequot -- all six teams -- was sent home for the holidays. It wasn't all rosy, however. Northwest United announced it would forfeit its Class MM against No. 1 Windsor, perhaps a foretelling of the mis-matched blowouts that pervaded the quarterfinal rounds, which got us thinking (again) about how we can improve these here playoff rankings. But, when the snow cleared, the semifinals were, at last, set with four rematches of regular-season games, including BOTH Class LL semis, and another playoff rematch between Hand and St. Joseph. Join host Sean Patrick Bowley, who, once again, is joined by Scott Ericson and Dave Stewart to break down the games and -- of course -- make their picks to reach next weekend's championships. Dave Stewart is leading the staff pick'ems contest with SPB a game back! It's a jam-packed show again, so join us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WELCOME BACK to another thrilling episode of The Meat Grinder, your weekly dose of High School Football in Connecticut. After a wild (and wet) week of great Thanksgiving games, we've finally reached the 2024 CIAC Football Postseason!  On Tuesday night, Valley Regional/Old Lyme rallied to knock off H-K and, ultimately, punch its Class S playoff tickets. On Wednesday night, Naugatuck out-slugged Ansonia in Ye Olde Valley Rivalry  to recapture the No. 1 seed in Class L. Wethersfield went from 0-10 to 9-1, riding QB Cam Righi to a glorious, Class MM-clinching overtime victory over rival Newington. Forty-eight teams enter, six teams leave. And we're excited to see some new... uh... well... many familiar matchups in Tuesday's quarterfinals. SEVEN, in fact, and potentially more in the coming rounds. There's lots to discuss -- especially with the tragic death of a Bloomfield Pop Warner player and a number of coaches already announcing their resignations — and 24 games to pick as we continue our march toward the 2024 CIAC championship games in two weeks. Your host Sean Patrick Bowley is once again joined by Dave Stewart and Scott Ericson as we break down everything that happened on Thanksgiving Week and decide who will advance to Sunday's semifinal round. Join us, won't you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices