week 8 preview

It's hard to believe it's week 8 already, but here we are. Just a few more weeks until we decide who's in the playoffs and who's not, so it's crunch time. There's a lot of big-time games coming up soon, but on paper this is a pretty laid back weekend. The top playoff contenders have it fairly easy.
As for me, I'll be working a bit overtime with three games in three days. I'll be traveling out to East Hartford on Thursday for Southington's game. Then I'll be covering Platt at Newington on Friday and Wethersfield at Weaver on Saturday. Should be fun.
Let's get straight on to the picks.

Friday
Manchester at New Britain, 7 p.m.: This is probably the biggest matchup on the schedule. But, as we've seen in the last couple weeks, the Indians are pretenders. Their 5-0 start was merely coincidence of a weak schedule, and now they are struggling against good teams.
New Britain certainly qualifies as a good team, and I think the 'Canes can overpower Manchester up front and win this fairly easily.
Windsor at Farmington, 7 p.m.: Windsor's been kind of a weird team this season, looking really strong one week and then pretty mediocre the next. But they can easily handle Farmington.
Hang in there, Indians fans.
Plainville at Cheney Tech, 7 p.m.: Usually if the word "Tech" is involved it means an easy win for the opponent, barring some sort of co-op team. This is not your ordinary tech school. Cheney is well on its way to the Class M playoffs, and while I still very much doubt their ability to win there, they can certainly beat teams outside their own conference.
Plainville could compete in this one, but to be honest, I'm guessing Cheney is quite a bit better at this point, and will come out victorious.
Saturday:
Middletown at St. Paul, 2:30 p.m.: The Falcons need a bounce-back game, and this should provide the opportunity. Middletown is clearly a few steps below where it has been for several years now.
But look out. Middletown comes off a somewhat solid performance against Northwest Catholic, so the Blue Dragons might be growing up a bit. This probably won't be a complete cakewalk for St. Paul.
Then again, with that offense, they could post 50 points at any time. St. Paul comfortably.
Berlin at Enfield, 7 p.m.: Believe me, Berlin's offensive line will push the Raiders in whichever direction they want, sometimes in both. There is simply no way Enfield can slow down Berlin on offense, and I don't see Enfield, even with very good running back Walter Moon and receiver Pascious Mink (the greatest high school name I've ever seen) putting up more than a few points.
Rocky Hill at Prince Tech, 6:30 p.m.: See above rule about tech schools. It applies here. This will be a nice breather for Rocky Hill after a pair of very tough games in the middle of the schedule. In fact, most of the remaining games should be a breather.
STATE GAME OF THE WEEK
Hillhouse at Shelton, Friday, 7 p.m.: Talk about an overloaded bracket, one could make the argument that the top three teams in the state are all in Class MM. New Canaan and Darien are getting top votes from some pollsters and Hillhouse is also unbeaten.
This is the toughest game remaining for the Academics until Thanksgiving when they face Wilbur Cross. So a win here and their playoff spot should be very secure (which I already think it is).
Meanwhile Shelton has lost to two very good teams (Hamden and Xavier) and by close margins. The Gaels are very good, and appear to be on a completely different level from anybody Hillhouse has played yet. Plus, Shelton needs the win to keep alive any slim playoff hopes. A third loss and they can forget about it.
I think Shelton will surprise Hillhouse with the home field advantage and will sneak out with a big win. But Hillhouse will still have quite a bit of leeway in Class MM, which thins out a lot after the top three teams.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Remember, get your trick-or-treating done early so you can get out to the games, preferably in costume. If I see any good costumes, I'll be sure to share them here.
Don't be too scared.