Sports
Staples Football To Face Ridgefield At Wilton
Tuesday's Class LL quarterfinal game is set for 6:30 p.m.
Staples' game against FCIAC rival Ridgefield in the quarterfinals of the Class LL state football playoffs will be played Tuesday at Wilton at 6:30 p.m.
By finishing in the top four of the rankings, the second-seeded Wreckers (9-0) earned the right to play a home game.
However, the CIAC requires that the quarterfinal games be played in the evening. Since Staples doesn't have lights, that precluded the Wreckers fron hosting the game.
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Thus, the school had to find another location, and Wilton's Fujitani Field is a logical venue since it represents a true neutral field for the Wreckers and Tigers.
Ridgefield (8-2), which earned the No.7 seed after defeating Danbury 56-14 on Wednesday. is making its first state playoff appearance since 2002. The Tigers won the second of their two state championships that year with a 14-13 victory over Windsor in the Class L final.
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Staples, which rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Greenwich 31-27 in the FCIAC championship game in Thursday, is making its eighth state playoff appearance.
Staples has won three state titles, the most recent coming in 2005, when the Wreckers defeated Masuk 31-6 in the Class L final.
The Wreckers also played in the 2006 Class L and 2009 Class LL finals, but lost to Bunnell (28-26) and Cheshire (28-21 in overtime), respectively.
Last season, Staples dropped another playoff heartbreaker last year, falling to Glastonbury 7-6 in the Class LL quarterfinals. After scoring a touchdown with a minute remaining the Wreckers went for the win but failed to convert the two-point conversion.
In other quarterfinal games Tuesday, top seed Xavier (10-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the state, hosts No. 8 Glastonbury (8-2) at Palmer Field, No. 3 Hall (9-1) entertains 6 Newtown (8-2) and No. 4 Conard (9-1) is home for No. 5 Norwalk (8-1).
Staples and Ridgefield last met in 2010 with the Wreckers posting a 34-14 victory at Tiger Hallow.
Four FCIAC teams made the state playoffs as New Canaan (9-1), which is seeking a sixth consecutive state finals appearance, qualified in Class L.
The semifinals are set for Dec. 3 at 2 or 7 p.m. and the finals will be played at UConn's Rentschler Field in East Hartford the weekend of Dec. 9-10.
