NVL week two

Summer 2010 is officially history, despite the temperatures, leaving us to wonder two things:

1.) Where the heck did it go; because yesterday, I was staring out our timeshare towards Newport Harbor, and;

2.) Is week two of the NVL football season the first to feature divisional contests?

Answering question one is difficult, because every year, I keep asking myself: Where did it go...no really, I do that waaaay too much.

Ah, but the second inquiry is easy to reply to.

Yes, week two of the NVL season will feature division rivals, with the exception of Sacred Heart/Derby, but that's what you get when you have two seven-school divisions; there will never be a week when it's all divisional...unless you have byes (yech).

Campare it to MLB; if they went to a pair of 15-team leagues, you'd have to have an inter-league game every night (double-yech).

Oh, well, let's look a little deeper into things, shall we?

The game I'll be at will be the second of a two-sport double-header at the Mills Complex.

At 3:30, the undefeated Watertown High School boys' soccer team will face Wolcott; as soon as the final horn blows, down will come the nets and out will come the ten-yard sideline markers for the Indians' Brass Division game against Seymour, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start, but if everyone is in their seats, perhaps they'll kick off at 6:55 as the Indians' opener against Kennedy did last week.

Arrive early, in other words and not just because the traffic situation should be interesting.

The Indians are feeling pretty, pretty good about things after their 32-6 win over the Eagles, but they know full well that a proud and wounded group of Wildcats will be after them from the get-go.

"We know we have to prepare our hardest for every game," Indians' quarterback/defensive back Matt Quatrano told me. "We have to work hard and not take anything for granted."

Indeed, they do, but the Indians appear to have good balance on both sides of the ball.

Have the 'Cats recovered from the 54-6 bomb dropped on them by Naugatuck last week?

If they have, most but not all will be forgiven, because while a 48-point is never forgiven totally, a 1-0 divisional record represents a fresh start where it matters most, and a big credit to head coach Tom Lennon.

The odds of it happening are small; I like the Indians.

Wolcott, Crosby, Torrington and Sacred Heart are all playing their first league games of the season; last week, all except the Bulldogs emerged with a crooked number under the left side of the W-L-T line.

Crosby is not likely to do so this week; they'll have the unenvious task of hosting Ansonia; if Montrell Dobbs, who torched Woodland for 213 yards last week misses the bus, that would help.

Torrington, which squeaked out a 20-14 win at East Lyme last week, must have had a fun breaking down the Naugy game film, trying to figure out whom to key on: Reuben Berger, Marquan Williams, Shawn Freeney or quarterback Erich Broaderick, who spread the ball out to seven different receivers in the pasting of Seymour.

Have fun with that.

Wolcott hosts Wilby, which yielded 45 points to Holy Cross in their opening 25-point loss; the Eagles should soar.

Kennedy, which gave it everything, and I do mean everything they had and still was no match for Watertown, visits Woodland, which should come out on top.

Holy Cross hosts St. Paul, both easy winners last week, although the Falcons cut it a little closer than they might have liked against Derby.

DeVonte Gardner comes off a 174-yard effort against DHS; the Crusaders gave up over 130 yards against Wilby, so this could be interesting, because I love watching Jude Kelly-coached teams.

Sacred Heart, one of the speediest teams I've seen in awhile, is still a desperately undermanned program, but they play hard for new coach Chris Ortiz and they'll battle Derby.

When the action is all said and done, the Wolcott-Watertown-Ansonia axis should be atop the Brass, with Naugatuck, Holy Cross and Woodland emerging as the top three in the Copper as we head towards next week and the first games of October, leaving us all to wonder:

Hey, where in heck did the summer go, anyway?

Get out and enjoy a game!