Inside Week 5 of CIAC football: ‘Eat the Bear,' 5-0 starts and an NVL thriller
· Yahoo Sports
It's hard to believe, but with Week 5 of the 2026 CIAC football season mostly in the books, many teams have already completed half of their schedule.
This week and next are heavy with byes before we get back to wall-to-wall action, but Friday night's slate featured some memorable and emotional moments.
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Six teams are now 5-0, two more could join them in the next few days, and another 11 are 4-0 with Week 5 byes and will return to the field next week.
But among the wins and losses this week, it was anything but a usual Friday night, and the epicenter of the CIAC football universe was the Surf Club in Madison, where Hand and Cheshire united in support of Mike Ciotti.
A Madison native, Ciotti played and coached in the Tigers' football program, founded by his father Larry Ciotti back in 1971, and has since become Cheshire's offensive line coach for the past seven years.
Ciotti has been battling Stage 4 Acinic Cell Carcinoma, and the night was about honoring and supporting the coach with family and friends in attendance.
Many in the crowd wore T-shirts carrying Ciotti's "Eat the Bear" motto, which signifies overcoming adversity, whether that's on the football field or in life.
"Football has created a rivalry between Cheshire and Daniel Hand, but some things are bigger than the scoreboard right now," Hand athletic director Chris Farrell told the crowd during a halftime ceremony. "We stand together, not as opponents, but as one team. We wanted to make sure that Mike understands that we love him. We are here with him, and we'll continue to stand with him and his family every step of the way."
On the field, No. 4-ranked Hand defeated No. 9 Cheshire 38-0, but the night was "bigger than football."
"Just being here makes me feel alive," Ciotti said of football. "It makes me feel alive yelling and screaming or stomping my feet, pounding my fist on the table. It makes me feel great."
Five and oh!
Perfection is hard to come by. Getting even halfway there deserves a tip of the cap.
Six Connecticut teams are 5-0 and are set up for strong playoff runs in the second half.
Guilford, which was ranked second in Class M following Friday's games, defeated West Haven 35-24, reaching five wins to start the season for the first time in 33 years.
That would be 1993, when it finished 8-2-1 and lost to Ledyard in the Class MM final. That year, the Grizzlies lost to Foran in the sixth game, so they will have a chance to go one step further, although it will come in a barnburner: They play at Lyman Hall, 4-0 with a bye this week, on Oct. 23.
North Branford defeated Rockville 38-27 for its fifth straight win Friday, with Jack Sigel and Matteo Anderson combining for five touchdown runs. The game was 21-21 in the third quarter before the Thunderbirds soared away.
It's the first time North Branford has been 5-0 since 2012.
"It's a huge win for us, for our program, for our guys," North Branford coach Anthony Salvati said. "We've been working really hard for the past three years."
Among the rest of the 5-0 field:
- Southingtonrolled to a 29-6 win over Manchesterfor its first 5-0 start since 2022. The Blue Knights have won 12 of their last 13 games dating back to last season.
- New London continued to thrive under new coach Jack Cochran, overcoming Fitch 42-28 in a big ECC clash. The Whalers were last 5-0 in 2016.
- Hand's 38-0 win over Cheshire gave the Tigers their second 5-0 start in three years. They accomplished the feat in 2024, but were 4-1 last season after losing a thriller to Cheshire 28-27 in OT in their fifth game.
- Waterfordupended Killingly 36-26 in a Thursday night game and also has a five-win start for the second time in three seasons. Perhaps even bigger, it was the Lancers' first win over Killingly since 2014, a stretch of seven games.
NVL redemption
Holy Cross lost a three-point thriller to Ansonia back in 2022. It dropped a two-pointer in last year's clash.
The Crusaders weren't about to let this one slip away.
Behind four touchdowns from Nate Craft, three rushing and one receiving, Holy Cross defeated Ansonia 48-37 on Friday at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury. It was the Crusaders' first victory over the Chargers since 2009.
Both teams are 4-1 with byes on tap next week.
"It feels awesome," Holy Cross senior quarterback Brady Lombardo told GametimeCT's Kevin Roberts. "All year, since last year when we lost to them, we've been thinking about this game. The whole year, and now that we've actually won, it feels so great."
The Crusaders have won four straight since a Week 1 loss to Naugatuck.
Bullet points
- Simsbury is 4-1, a huge step forward after the Trojans went a combined 4-26 during the past three seasons. Their latest win was a 16-0 shutout of Farmington on Friday, as new coach Jim Caouette has his team in contention for a Class L playoff berth.
- Danburyknocked off No. 6 Staples 17-10, its first win against the Wreckers and the signature win the Hatters have been looking for. Danbury reached the postseason for the first time in 23 years last fall and is in the thick of the Class LL race again.
- Shelton was nearly perfect in the first half, scoring on six of seven possessions and rolling to a 45-20 victory over defending Class S champ Sheehan. Cole St. Pierre scored four touchdowns to help the Gaels improve to 4-1 after back-to-back 3-7 seasons.
- St. Joseph's homecoming game against Westhill, originally set for Saturday, was moved to Monday at 3 p.m. St. Joseph athletic director Kevin Butler and football coach Joe Della Vecchia said the change came from the Westhill side.
Up next
It's another short schedule for Week 6, with just 35 games on deck as teams work through their byes.
The FCIAC features a clash of teams ranked in the GametimeCT Top 10 when No. 10 Ridgefield (3-1) plays at No. 7 Ludlowe (4-0) on Friday at 7 p.m.
There are a few key games for the SWC on Friday, including New Milford (3-1) at Bethel (4-0) at 7 p.m. Both teams have experienced dramatic turnarounds this fall after New Milford went 1-9 and Bethel 2-8 last year.
Here are a few more Week 6 games to watch:
Friday, Oct. 16
- Branford at Ledyard, 6 p.m.
- Granby/Canton at Cromwell/Portland, 6 p.m.
- Rockville at Valley Regional/Lyme-Old Lyme, 6:30 p.m.
- Notre Dame Prep at Newtown, 6:30 p.m.
- Darien at Staples, 7 p.m.
- Bunnell at Masuk, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 17
- Wilton at St. Joseph, 1:30 p.m.
This article originally published at Inside Week 5 of CIAC football: ‘Eat the Bear,' 5-0 starts and an NVL thriller.