The CIAC high school football semifinals were moved from Sunday to Monday after the quarterfinals were moved from Tuesday to Wednesday last week due to inclement weather. The times of many of the games, originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m., have been moved up due to the frigid weather forecast for Monday night.
Here are the semifinal matchups:
Class LL
No. 8 NFA (7-4) at No. 4 Southington (8-3), 5 p.m.: NFA stunned top-seeded New Britain 35-0 in the quarterfinal while Southington avenged its early-season OT loss to Glastonbury, 35-30.
No. 3 Greenwich (9-2) at No, 2 Fairfield Prep (9-2), 6 p.m.: Greenwich defeated Staples for the second straight game, 41-7 in the quarterfinals after beating the Wreckers on Thanksgiving. Fairfield Prep defeated Danbury 31-17 in the quarters. Greenwich handed Fairfield Prep one of its two losses, 31-14, in the opening game of the season.
Class L
No. 4 Weaver/Hartford Public/Classical (9-2) at No. 1 New Canaan (11-0), 3:30 p.m.: The Hartford co-op, which has won seven straight, will face by far its toughest opponent of the season in New Canaan, the three-time defending Class L champion.
No. 7 Ridgefield (8-3) at No. 3 Cheshire (8-3), 6:30 p.m.: Cheshire rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit to beat Fairfield Ludlowe in the Class L quarterfinal game in the last 10 seconds, 32-29, while Ridgefield defeated Newtown 24-13.
Class MM
No. 4 Newington (9-2) at No. 1 Windsor (10-1), 4:30 p.m.: This is a rematch of last year’s Class MM semifinal game which Windsor won 50-0. Windsor quarterback AJ Robinson was named state Gatorade Player of the Year last week and broke the career TD passes record in the Warriors’ 61-0 win over the Valley Panthers.
No. 3 Bunnell (9-2) at No. 2 Wilton (10-1), 4:30 p.m.: Wilton’s only loss came to St. Joseph, the No. 1 seed in Class M and last year’s Class M champion. Bunnell beat Fitch 42-6 to advance to the semifinals.
Class M
No. 5 Brookfield (9-2) vs. No. 1 St. Joseph (9-2) at Derby High, 3:30 p.m.: St. Joseph’s only losses this season came to two state semifinalists – Hand and New Canaan, the three-time Class LL state champion. Brookfield, which also lost to Hand in the regular season, beat Guilford, 24-17 in the quarterfinal game.
No. 6 Holy Cross (8-3) at No. 2 Berlin (11-0) at Sage Park, Berlin, 6:30 p.m.: Holy Cross defeated No. 3 Rockville 51-21 in the quarterfinal. Two of the three Crusaders’ regular season losses were to state champions (Masuk, Ansonia). Berlin’s closest game this season was a 38-20 win over Bloomfield. The Redcoats beat Platt Tech 42-0 to advance to the semifinal.
Class SS
No. 5 Ledyard (8-3) at No. 1 Killingly (11-0), 3:30 p.m.: Killingly is the defending Class SS champion and has won 24 straight games. Ledyard beat Law, 32-29 to advance to the semifinal.
No. 3 Nonnewaug co-op (11-0) at No. 2 Hand (10-1) at the Surf Club, Madison, 3 p.m.: Nonnewaug got a dramatic victory in the quarterfinal game 38-36 when Robert Metcalfe kicked a 32-yard field goal with no time left against New Fairfield. Hand, which won the Class M title two years ago, beat Waterford 43-19 to advance.
Class S
No. 5 Sheehan (9-2) at No. 1 Woodland (11-0), 5 p.m.: Sheehan, last year’s Class SS runner-up, shut out North Branford 42-0 in the quarterfinal game. Woodland beat Bloomfield 42-14 in the quarterfinal.
No. 7 Ansonia vs. No. 6 Northwest Catholic, 5:30 p.m. at Veterans Stadium, New Britain: Ansonia, the defending Class S champion, beat Seymour 34-14 in the quarterfinal and Northwest Catholic knocked off third-seeded Cromwell/Portland, 31-21.