Ruden Sports News

The Fairfield Ludlowe football team has never played a postseason game. Talk about the school’s rich sports history and Friday Night Lights and scenic autumn Saturday afternoons are almost certainly not part of the conversation.

That could all change, as quickly as Friday night. The Falcons host Wilton in one of the biggest league games between teams not considered possible title contenders in some time.

Ludlowe is 5-2, with losses to New Canaan and Darien, but a win against the Warriors, with Norwalk and Fairfield Warde looming, would all but clinch it a spot in the Class L Tournament. The Falcons are currently ranked fifth in the division (the Rams and Blue Wave are second and third, respectively).

Ludlowe this season — and for most of Mitch Ross’ seven-year tenure as coach — looks like the embodiment of a top of the second tier team. The Falcons are 0-13 against the five league teams currently ranked in the state top 10 poll, but have beaten everyone else — pretty much soundly. Their offense is fun to watch and tough to prepare for.

The Warriors seemed headed for the unwanted title of best team not to make the state playoffs. They are 14th in Class MM with a 3-4 record. They have a win over Greenwich, which was No. 1 at the time. They hung with Darien until late in the game. There is a seven-point loss to 6-1 Masuk. They were shut down by New Canaan’s defense, 32-0.

In the game that could haunt them, Wilton missed a last-second field goal in the second week and lost to Norwalk, 21-19. If the Warriors, Class MM runners-up a year ago, were 4-3 this game would have even greater urgency, but now they are likely relegated to playing spoiler.

Still, these are two solid teams and it is nice for the Ludlowe players to have this opportunity.

The other big game is Saturday morning in Trumbull, as Staples travels to St. Joseph. The Wreckers are one of the quietest 6-1 teams in recent memory, largely because of easy victories in three of the last four weeks. The one outlier was a 23-10 loss to Staples.

The Wreckers are fifth in Class LL. The only league team ahead of them is No. 2 Greenwich, their Thanksgiving opponent. A second straight state title would appear to be in their grasp.

The Cadets have been the main source of recent interest in what has been for the most part a by-the-book football fall. They are 5-2 and fifth in Class M. They have been stripped of depth due to injuries and have been operating for two weeks without starting quarter HT Jones, who was concussed in a loss to Darien. They were competitive in both losses — 14-0 to the Blue Wave and, last week, 23-14 to Greenwich.

The Cadets have flourished mostly because of their defense. And since a loss for either team will only hurt ranking, the game against the Wreckers is mainly another measuring stick.

The Ruden Report Podcast

This week a review of the football weekend, plus a visit from two female stars from FCIAC Championship Week – New Canaan’s Ceci Patterson and Staples’ Sofia Fidalgo Schioppa.

Schedule

Tomorrow

• Wilton at Fairfield Ludlowe, 6
• New Canaan at Brien McMahon, 6
• Norwalk at Fairfield Warde, 6
• Stamford at Danbury, 7
• Greenwich at Ridgefield, 7

Saturday

• Staples at St. Joseph, 11
• Trumbull at Westhill, 1
• Bridgeport Central at Darien, 1:30