Connecticut high school football is back and so begins our Player of the Week polls for the state. Teams showcased more of what they’ve got heading into Week 5 of the regular season.

As such, we have 15 athletes nominated this week for the SBLive’s Connecticut Football Player of the Week award from October 3-5, and we ask you, the fans, to help decide who should indeed be the top athlete selected.

D’Angelo led the charge in the Cardinals’ 21-20 victory over Bishop Hendricken (Rhode Island), accounting for 210 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.

SBLive voting polls are intended to be a fun way to create fan engagement and express support for your favorite high school athletes and teams. Unless expressly noted, there are no awards for winning the voting. Our primary focus is to highlight the abilities and accomplishments of all the athletes and teams included in our poll. You can vote as often as you wish and are encouraged to share our polls with others. The use of voting bots and other forms of automated voting are not allowed. Individuals will be removed from the poll if any form of automated voting can be verified. – SBLive Sports

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13th. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:

The Crosby running back had one of the top rushing performances in a 48-25 win over St. Paul Catholic, rushing for 250 yards on 11 carries and scoring four touchdowns.

Lewis had a big night receiving wise in Windsor’s 35-0 win over South Windosr, hauling in seven catches for 168 yards and a touchdown.

In West Haven’s 40-14 win over Hamden, Conlan accounted for 277 yards of offense and totaled four touchdowns. Conlan completed 10-of-15 passes for 175 yards through and the air and rushed for 102 on the ground.

The McMahon quarterback was extremely efficient in the team’s 48-0 win over Bridgeport Central, completing 5-of-9 passes for 160 yards and four touchdowns.

Pagano was lockdown at defensive back in St. Joseph’s 38-13 win over Stamford, intercepting a pass and returning it 74 yards and batting away two other passes.

The Cardinals’ running back was the workhorse in Greenwich’s 42-14 win over Danbury, rushing for 132 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns.

New Canaan’s strong safety was everywhere on the field in the team’s 30-14 win over Ludlowe, making 13 tackles, intercepting a pass and deflecting three others.

Casdia was the offensive workhorse in Glastonbury’s 35-25 win over Manchester, rushing for 142 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns.

In East Hartford’s 49-30 loss to Maloney, Roberts rushed for 140 yards on 24 carries and scored four times.

Puzio accounted for 194 yards and four touchdowns in Berlin’s 48-21 win over Conard last week.

The Jesuits’ quarterback was on point in a 42-19 win over Xavier, completing 10-of-19 passes for 239 yards and five touchdowns.

Goldhill only needed five carries to rush for 93 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 47-0 win over Westhil.

The Hand Tigers’ quarterback completed 9-of-13 passes for 142 yards and three touchdowns in a 52-29 win over Shelton.

Deitelbaum went off in Naugatuck’s 58-36 victoy over Watertown, rushing for 248 yards on 19 carries and scored five touchdowns.

In Fitch’s 35-33 win over East Lyme, Carter accounted for 213 all-purpose yards and three touhdowns.

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

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— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveconn

The Minnesota Lynx have advanced to the 2024 WNBA Finals after defeating the Connecticut Sun by a score of 88-77 on Tuesday.

Per usual, the Lynx were led by superstar and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, Napheesa Collier. “Phee” finished the game with 27 points on an efficient 10 of 16 from the floor while adding 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks; cementing her case as perhaps the WNBA’s best two-way player.

It was very clear that Nike was excited about Collier’s performance on Tuesday. The @nikebasketball X account made multiple posts shouting the Lynx superstar out during their Game 5 win over Connecticut. And at one point, they even took a shot at the Sun.

“Phee and the Lynx making the Sun go down quicker than the end of daylight savings time,” Nike Basketball wrote on X.

Fans on social media are finding it hilarious that Nike came out of nowhere to take this shot at the Sun, who never really showed up to perform against Minnesota on Tuesday.

Nike also had another post praising Collier Tuesday. One post wrote, “Never too late to become a Pheend”. For context, ‘Pheend’ is the unofficial name of Collier’s fanbase.

The account also showed love to Collier’s teammate Kayla McBride by writing her nickname, “Kayla McBuckets” in another post.

Nike had no issue showing their bias for these Lynx players on Tuesday. But that will surely change during the WNBA Finals when Collier and the Lynx team face top-performing Nike athlete Sabrina Ionescu and her Liberty squad.

U.S. Rep Joe Courtney (D-2nd District) is looking for a 10th term in office this November, but he’ll have to win a rematch to accomplish that.

That’s because former state lawmaker Mike France, who ran in 2022, is once again looking to regain the seat for Republicans.

Courtney beat France by 18 percentage points two years ago and he’s hopeful he can get the same level of support from voters this time.

“I think I have a record that I can present to the voters that they can trust me,” said Courtney, who won his first election in 2006 by beating incumbent Republican Rob Simmons.

That includes continuing to support Electric Boat, as the submarine manufacturer based in New London is a major employer for the region.

Courtney has earned the nickname “Two Sub Joe” because of his continued push for Congress to fund the construction of two submarines.

Courtney also touted federal funding for programs teaching people how to work at EB, which hired more than 5,000 more employees last year.

“It does show this is a long game, you know, this is going to be going on for a while,” he said.

But France, an engineer with a defense contractor after serving 20 years in the Navy, believes he can do a better job ensuring the funding continues.

In recent years, some in Congress have looked to scale back submarine construction to use that money elsewhere in the military budget.

“I understand the challenges their facing and know how to figure out how to help EB be successful,” France said.

France, who spent four terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, said his biggest issue, in his view that the Democrats, including Courtney, have pushed policies that hurt the U.S. economy.

He wants to reduce government spending. He also wants to increase energy production, saying those costs are a big driver of inflation.

“The biggest challenge people are feeling is the cost of inflation,” he said, adding he thinks that reducing inflation would bring down interest rates for things like mortgages.

Courtney said the federal government can find other ways to help families with the cost of living, including programs that bring down the cost to care for children and for seniors.

He also wants tax credits and incentives to encourage the construction of more affordable housing.

“We need more supply, I mean that’s the bottom line,” Courtney said.

The two candidates also disagree on foreign policy, notably their stance on Israel.

Courtney said the U.S. needs to remain a strong ally to Israel, but he also thinks Israel should agree to a ceasefire that avoids a “forever war.”

France said he wants peace, but the U.S. needs to stand by its ally because “Hamas doesn’t want that and that’s the challenge we’ve had.”

The two candidates also have different views on reproductive healthcare.

Courtney supports a federal law that codifies the abortion access provided under Roe V. Wade, but France said the issue should be decided by each state.