SIGNING DAY - Football

Check out area football players who signed National Letters of Intent to play in college (for a full list of Connecticut signees, click here):

Xavier
Ryan Jacobucci, WR
University of New Haven

Ryan Murphy, WR/LB
Southern Conn. State Univ.

Pat D’Amato, QB
Stony Brook University

Jovan Santos-Knox, LB/TE
Univ. of Massachusetts

Austin Wezenski, OT
Central Conn. State Univ.

Middletown
Chuck Watson, LB

Central Conn. State (via Dean College)

Cromwell

Mike Antonio, WR/DB

Southern Conn. State Univ.

Haddam-Killingworth
Will Ellery, QB/FS

Curry College

Ty Soobitsky, OL/DE
Merchant Marine Academy

ON BALANCE: Some Shoreline gymnastics (PICS)

Gymnastics, anyone? Not a lot of people are aware of the CIAC's vibrant gymnastics community, and Haddam-Killingworth, Hale-Ray and Old Saybrook have a co-op team. Valley Regional also competes as a team. Press Correspondent Todd Kalif stopped by Shoreline Gymnasium in Old Saybrook Wednesday to check out some action, and while there were a few who missed the meet because of injury, he caught Hale-Ray's Samantha Lemire and Old Saybrook's Olivia Pugliese in action.

Here's Lemire:

And here's some of Pugliese:

Learn more about the Shoreline Gymnastics facility here.

PIC: Coginchaug's sixth man

Biesak made that 3, by the way, and the Devils solved Portland, 35-25. Special thanks to our outstanding photographer/correspondent Sandy Aldieri.

PICS: Xavier hockey vs. Cheshire

Xavier topped Cheshire 4-2 Wednesday at Wesleyan's Freeman Athletic Center, and Press Correspondent Todd Kalif was on hand to capture some of the action:

WEDNESDAY RESULTS: Mercy, Middletown, Cromwell, Hale-Ray, H-K all winners on opening night

Whew, lovely opening night. Great showing from Mercy in a rematch of last year's Class LL title game, equally great play out of the gates from Middletown and Cromwell. H-K and Hale-Ray were winners as well, and Portland couldn't finish a comeback against Old Saybrook.

Results:

• Mercy def. Career Magnet, 62-51
• Old Saybrook def. Portland, 41-36
• Middletown def. Fermi, 51-38
• Cromwell def. East Hampton, 44-19
• Hale-Ray def. Westbrook, 33-13
• H-K def. Old Lyme, 58-34

Joe's Three Cheers of the Day:

• Cromwell's Janelle Harrison - 19 points, eight rebounds, two steals
• Mercy's Jordyn Nappi - 19 points (11 in first quarter)
• H-K's Kiley Anderson (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Tori Peterson (14 rebounds)

Notable:

• Middletown girls racked up 51 points in their opener against Fermi, and Rajeen Mayo had 12 points and seven assists. Big start for the Dragons. We'll see if they can keep it going Friday against Platt.

Upcoming:

• Thursday's only area contest is Coginchaug at Valley Regional, 7 p.m. If all goes to plan, Coginchaug should win comfortably. 

XAVIER FOOTBALL: Mastro, Marinan & more

A pair of features from Jim Bransfield leading up to Xavier's title game against Staples:

• His coach calls him the heart and soul of the Xavier offense, an offense that has blitzed 12 opponents so far this season. But at heart, star running back Mike Mastroianni is a lunch pail kind of guy ....
  
• Sean Marinan Jr. on having his father as coach: “I see all the behind-the-scenes stuff that most people don’t know about. He’s a great coach and a great teacher. I try to make him proud."

Xavier, Cromwell, Valley/Old Lyme move into semis

Yup, three out of four. The only area loss was H-K, who fell victim to a very tough Holy Cross team. Cromwell, trailing 8-0 early in their contest, battled back to earn a spot in the Class S semifinals. Xavier rolled over G'bury, and Valley/Old Lyme earned a gritty playoff win against Rocky Hill.

• Xavier 35, Glastonbury 6
• Cromwell 23, Capital Prep/Classical Magnet 14
• Holy Cross 42, Haddam-Killingworth 14
• Valley/Old Lyme 14, Rocky Hill 12

OH. And how sweet is this picture (below) from Catherine Avalone at the Xavier-Glastonbury game?

So how does it pan out? Locations and times have not been finalized (although one game will be played at Middletown's Skubel-Rosek, we just don't know which), but here are the semifinal matchups for Class LL & S (check out all of 'em here):

Class LL

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals
1 Xavier 34-6 8 Glastonbury @Palmer Field, Middletown	11/29	1 Xavier (11-0) 5 Norwalk (9-1) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00	@Rentschler Field	12/9-10 Time TBA
4 Conard 5 Norwalk 21-15 @Conard	11/29
2 Staples 48-21 7 Ridgefield @Wilton	11/29	2 Staples (10-0) 6 Newtown (9-2) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00
3 Hall 6 Newtown 36-22 @Hall	11/29

Class S

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals
1 Capital Prep/Classical Magnet 8 Cromwell 23-14 @Dillon Stadium, Hartford	11/29	8 Cromwell (9-2) 5 Northwest Catholic (9-2) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00	@Rentschler Field	12/9-10 Time TBA
4 North Branford 5 Northwest Catholic 22-19 @North Branford	11/29
2 Holy Cross 42-14 7 Haddam-Killingworth @Holy Cross	11/29	2 Holy Cross (10-1) 3 Valley Regional/Old Lyme (10-1) @Site TBA	12/3 2:00/7:00
3 Valley Regional/Old Lyme 14-12 6 Rocky Hill @Valley Regional	11/29