week 4 preview

[BLOGGER'S NOTE: Due to a change in coverage schedules for this weekend, I have removed my prediction on the Newington-Conard game. I will be covering that game on Saturday afternoon, and I do not want there to appear to be any conflict of interest in the coverage.
However, as it is an interesting matchup, I will provide some thoughts on it]

Things are starting to get much clearer, and after a muddy week 3, let's all hope things stay dry this weekend. The forecast is calling for it to be a little chilly at night, but sunny and dry during th day. So it should be good football weather, thankfully.
Of course, it will be the rare weekend where I happen not to cover any games. I'll be in the office on Friday, and while I may get out and watch a game on Saturday, I won't be reporting. Those duties will go to writers Ken Lipshez and Andrew Lovell, as well as a talented group of freelance writers.
That means I get to make picks in every local game this week, which is a bit of a treat. Let's see how things go.
Friday:
Bristol Eastern at Southington, 7 p.m.: Last year this would have been a big matchup. But the results so far this year don't look great for Eastern, but Southington keeps rolling along looking very strong against CT competition.
This is Southington's first home game, and the Knights are rested after a rainout last weekend. The fans should be into it, and the players eager to get back out there.
I expect Southington to jump all over the Lancers from the start and win this pretty easily.
South Windsor at Farmington, 7 p.m.: I know, every week the Indians seem to have an opponent among the weaker in the CCC conference. But it may be time to face up to facts. The Indians themselves are near the bottom of the conference.
I don't think South Windsor is as good as Fermi or Platt were, but they are probably better than E.O. Smith was, and I just don't see a lot of positives coming from Farmington.
I think South Windsor will win.
Weaver at New Britain, 7 p.m.: This has all the signs of being the trap game that New Britain has fallen victim to in recent years to teams like Windsor and Bloomfield. This is a good Weaver team, but certainly one the Hurricanes should beat. New Britain has to be careful not to let its early success blind it. It's still VERY early in the season.
Good teams lock down and win these games with relative ease. I don't know that New Britain does anything easily, but I will pick the 'Canes to come out on top.
Wethersfield at Manchester, 7 p.m.: The schedule gets a little bit tougher for the Eagles after East Hartford, E.O. Smith and Bulkeley, but not by much. Manchester just hasn't gotten back to the competitive level it was at a few years back.
The Eagles, like New Britain, need to make sure not to get caught up in early success. I hope the players realize they haven't beaten a good team yet, though they are capable of it.
I think Wethersfield will win this one, but it might get closer than comfort would allow, particularly on the road for the first time.
East Catholic at Berlin, 7 p.m.: Forget that after watching them I don't think anybody will beat Berlin. East Catholic isn't the team to even put up a fight.
I don't really have much more to say than I hope the Berlin fans don't mind blowouts. They will get very used to them.
Enfield at Rocky Hill, 7 p.m.: Sure, the Terriers lost to NW Catholic on Monday, and it was a heartbreaking game that they probably should have won. But the season is not lost, and the coaching staff will have to make sure they know that.
Lose to Enfield, and the playoffs will be almost definitely lost, and the Raiders are not a team to overlook. Enfield's passing attack happens to oppose one of Rocky Hill's minor weaknesses, so this won't be the best matchup for Rocky Hill.
But, I did see enough of the Terriers to know that they have a talented team. That was what made the NWC loss so difficult for them. This team can go places.
This is where they start to regroup. I'll pick them in a pretty close contest.
Saturday:
Newington at Conard, 2:30 p.m.:
This is easily the best matchup of the week. These teams will both be fighting for a playoff spot in Class L, and the loser of this game will be put in a very precarious situation in that regard.
Conard is always praised as a well-prepared team, while Newington has surprised many people so far this year.
Both are for real, and have competed very well against good competition so far. This should be a very close matchup.
In fact, there's the litmus test for it:
New Britain 24, Conard 19
New Britain 23, Newington 17
Can't get much closer than that.
Plainville at St. Paul et. al.: Who could have predicted St. Paul would be 4-0 after this week? Probably not many people.
At this point, I'll be very surprised if they aren't. The Blue Devils just need to worry about improving in practice and games each week, and hope for some bright spots to follow. I don't think wins will be coming.
St. Paul will win.
STATE PICK OF THE WEEK
Wilbur Cross at Cheshire, Saturday, 7 p.m.: At the office this week, we passed by a high school game on local TV and stopped to see who it was. It ended up being a thriller last weekend between Cheshire and Shelton, and it got us talking about how Cheshire has fallen far from the powerhouse it was in the 90s.
I think the Rams aren't as far away from being very good as their record shows lately. They are 1-2, but lost by one touchdown to a good Hamden team, and by a point in overtime to that unbeaten Shelton team.
Meanwhile, Wilbur Cross is solid again, with an overtime win against a very good small school in Hyde, a dominant win over Xavier and a win over Amity.
Both teams beat Amity, by similar scores, so this should be pretty close if you use standards like that to judge. I do.
In that case, I give the edge to Cheshire being at home, and I think it could be a spark for the team the rest of the year. I don't think either of these teams is going to be close to the playoffs in the end, but they won't be easy wins for anybody on their schedule.