CT high schools are making moves ahead of football season: What you should know
Just thought I’d empty out my reporter’s notebook while wondering why DeAndre Hopkins and Dalvin Cook aren't getting ready for training camp in Foxborough right now ...
Killingly is one of three Connecticut football programs that has been to the state semifinals for seven consecutive seasons. State powers New Canaan and Ansonia are the others.
Now, due to the CIAC’s “success in tournament factor," Killingly has been placed up to Class L for the 2023 football season.
“We saw this coming so it’s not a surprise,” Killingly coach Chad Neal said. “There’s teams that went down and some that moved up. It’s where we are and we’ll just play our schedule.”
You can question the fairness of it, and maybe that’s a column for another day, but right now Neal’s thoughts are on his team’s season opener against Masuk.
“Our focus is week one and that’s Masuk,” Neal said. “It’s one game at a time and let it take care of itself. We have a good core to build around. Our success goes back to hard work and the kids, who work hard year-round. It’s a matter of us preparing and getting ready and continuing to do our best to play well.”
The game against Masuk, a rematch of last year’s epic Class MM state semifinal game, won by Killingly 54-51, is part of The Connecticut High School Football Alliance, a crossover scheduling arrangement between six of the state's eight CIAC football leagues.
The following week Killingly travels to Class M champion Notre Dame-West Haven in another great Alliance matchup. Notre Dame has moved up to Class LL this season. Killingly also plays Class LL Norwich Free Academy this season, while the rest of their schedule is against Class MM, Class M, and Class SS teams.
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Neal guided Killingly to state championship seasons in 2017 and 2021. Killingly was also a state finalist in 2019 and 2022.
In the Class L playoffs, Killingly is looking at matchups against teams like Darien, New Canaan, Maloney, Newtown, Shelton, and Windsor to reach a fourth straight state title game.
“It’s tough in terms of, if you do qualify, having to go through L schools in three games,” Neal said. “But we’re not going to back down from anybody by any stretch of the imagination. If we get there, we’ll be prepared.”
Missy Gil named Norwich Free Academy cheerleading coach
Norwich Free Academy announced this week that Missy Gil has been named the Wildcats cheerleading coach. Gil was NFA’s cheerleading coach from 2017 to 2021.
“I was thrilled to be rehired,” Gil said in a press statement. “While it will take time to rebuild the program, my assistants and I are very excited and ready for the challenge.”
Gil graduated from NFA in 1996. She served as the Wildcats assistant cheerleading coach under Diane Leone and was elevated to the head coaching role when Leone retired. Now, she replaces Shaheer Ahmed, who resigned after two years.
“Missy knows our school, knows our program and knows what it takes to succeed,” NFA Athletic Director Roy Wentworth said in a press statement. “I’m confident in her ability to re-establish our program as one of the strongest in not only the conference, but the state.”
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Gil has coached cheerleading for more than 25 years at the middle and high school level.
“I made the right move to step away in 2021,” she said, citing pandemic challenges and family responsibilities. “But I soon began to realize how much I missed it. Cheerleading has been part of my life for so long, and it truly is part of who I am. Some of my favorite coaching memories are from here.”
Boston Red Sox standings: What to know
The Boston Red Sox are still stuck in the AL East Division cellar but all is not lost. After taking two of three from the first-place Texas Rangers, the Sox are still in the hunt for a playoff berth. Yup, the Sox are only three games away from a Wild Card spot. Here are the American League Wild Card Standings (as of Friday morning). The top three teams make the playoffs.
Baltimore: 51-35
Houston: 49-39
New York: 48-40
Toronto: 48-40
Boston: 45-43
What to look for in the 2023 Home Run Derby
Like the NBA 3-point shooting contest, the annual Home Run Derby the day before the MLB All-Star Game is one of my favorite sporting events of the year. I still get goosebumps watching Josh Hamilton launch one home run bomb after another in the 2008 contest at Yankee Stadium. Thanks, YouTube!
The competitors for Monday night’s Home Run Derby in Seattle are Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox), Adley Rutschman (Orioles), Pete Alonso (Mets), Mookie Betts (Dodgers), Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (Blue Jays), Adolis Garcia (Rangers), Randy Arozarena (Rays), and hometown favorite Julio Rodriguez (Mariners).
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Imagine if there were a Home Run Derby in the early 1970s.
In 1971 at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium, you could have seen a Derby featuring Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, Carl Yastrzemski, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Willie McCovey, and Willie Stargell. They might have run out of baseballs during that contest.
Thoughts on the Boston Bruins free agency period
I already feel better about the Boston Bruins now that veteran forward Milan Lucic is back on Causeway Street. A key member of the Bruins’ 2011 Stanley Cup championship team, Lucic, 35, signed a one-year deal after spending eight seasons in exile playing for the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.
"It's really exciting for me and it's really exciting for my family," Lucic, a Bruins draft pick, told The Sports Network. "It's been eight years since I was a Bruin. My kids are older, and they get to watch me and remember me as a Bruin."
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Reflecting on 1970s baseball
STUCK IN THE ‘70s: On July 9, 1972, Nolan Ryan, playing in his first season with the California Angels, tossed a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Anaheim Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski’s two-out single to right in the top of the first was the Sox’s only hit.
On the same day seven years later – July 9, 1979 – Ryan, playing in his final season with the Angels, scattered six hits and struck out 12 in a 6-0 win over the Red Sox at Anaheim Stadium.
With 324 career wins, 5,714 strikeouts, seven no-hitters, and 51 MLB pitching records, a case can be made that the “Ryan Express” was the greatest pitcher of all time.
Jimmy Zanor can be reached at jzanor@norwichbulletin.com.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: CT high school football: What to know about Killingly's move
