Inside Week 8 of CIAC football: A streak ends, No. 55 comes home, and 10 remain unbeaten

Ludlowe's Carlo Noecker (58) says the Falcons are No. 1 during their football game against New Canaan on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (Dave Stewart/Hearst Connecticut Media) One thing was proven in Week 8 of the football season: Love conquers all.That is, of course, Ludlowe quarterback Ryan Love.Love and the No. 6-ranked Falcons overcame a rough start, falling into a 17-point hole, before rallying for a 34-31 victory over No. 1 New Canaan, ending the Rams' 29-game winning streak.Ludlowe has been on an upward trajectory in recent years, going 29-10 over the past three-plus seasons and earning the program's first two CIAC tournament bids the past two years.But this? This is on a different level."We know that we had a lot of doubters around us and not a lot of people believed in us," Ludlowe senior Carlo Noecker told GametimeCT. "But Fairfield Ludlowe is just one big community. I had people I haven't talked to in years or months, texting me before the game. Everyone in that locker room, everyone on the team, all my friends, and everyone who goes to Ludlowe believed in us."Love is the headliner for the Falcons and, at this point, is a front-runner for the state Player of the Year.Against New Canaan, he passed for 382 yards and three touchdowns, including a 76-yard score to Jackson Danylko while the thumb on his throwing hand was cramping. Love also rushed for an 18-yard touchdown after controlling a low snap and improvising.For his career, Love has surpassed 4,000 yards, with 33 touchdowns, and the interception he threw against the Rams was his first of the season.And he had veteran coach Lou Marinelli of New Canaan impressed."We knew he was good, but I didn't know he was that good," Marinelli said. "He played the game of his life and their coaching staff did a tremendous job too. There was no quit from either team and it was a great high school game. We just came up a little bit short tonight."So what are the repercussions?Long-term, Ludlowe and New Canaan could be headed for another clash in the Class L tournament. The Falcons moved up to second place in the standings as of Saturday morning, jumping ahead of the Rams, who are now third. Naugatuck (7-0) leads the division.Short-term, we could be headed for a shakeup in the GametimeCT Top 10 poll. New Canaan had held down the No. 1 spot since the final poll in 2024, but that will likely change with the loss. St. Joseph, the Rams' next opponent, is currently No. 2 and logically, could take over as No. 1.Where Ludlowe will land is the biggest question. The Falcons are No. 6, but should gain plenty of votes this week, meaning the Falcons could end up leapfrogging several teams and end just about anywhere near the top. A new poll comes out Monday. Stay tuned.No. 55 comes homeThe Nonnewaug football team had a special guest at its home game against Naugatuck on Friday night.Someone who is a teammate, an inspiration and most importantly, a friend.Jonathan Cheung, a 2026 graduate of Nonnewaug, made it to the show when the Chiefs hosted a benefit in his honor, raising funds to help Cheung and his family in his ongoing battle with cancer.Cheung's appearance was a bit of a surprise. He started his eighth round of chemotherapy earlier in the week and wasn't feeling well Thursday, but improved Friday and was cleared by his doctors at the Connecticut Children's Hospital to go home for the weekend."I'm super excited to be here tonight," Cheung told GametimeCT's Bryant Carpenter. "The football team and the school and the community, they've done so much for me and it's just amazing to finally be back in town."Cheung wore his old No. 55 jersey and joked with Nonnewaug coach Scott Lynch: "Bro, can you get me in tonight?"Earlier this week, Nonnewaug athletic director Sean McGee said the Nonnewaug football team "lives and breathes through Jonathan Cheung.""In the school, it's really brought us closer together, making us more unified," McGee said. "There's not a day where you do not see Jonathan Cheung's name or see 55 somewhere."And then there were 10New Canaan's loss knocked the Rams from the undefeated ranks, which have now dwindled to just 10 teams.That group includes Hand, Ludlowe, Lyman Hall, Masuk, Naugatuck, New London, North Branfordand Southington at 7-0, along with two teams in action Saturday:Plainville (6-0), which plays at Northwest Catholic, and St. Joseph (5-0), which plays at Stamford.Bullet pointsZhi'Mir Maddox-Moore rushed for 276 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 9 New London past Ledyard 27-16 in a key ECC matchup.North Branford remained unbeaten with a 42-0 shutout of Granby/Canton. Billy Criscuolo and Jack Sigel each had three touchdowns and the Thunderbirds overcame the loss of quarterback Matteo Anderson to injury.Nate Maurillo and Dylan Lust each had two interceptions as No. 8 Staples dominated defensively in a 24-7 win over Wilton.Cheshire shut out Fairfield Prep 20-0, holding the Jesuits to just 56 yards of offense.Law and Shelton combined for 11 touchdowns and 76 points in a 41-35 Law victory. Matthew Witteman threw five touchdown passes in the win.Southington improved to 7-0 atop the Class LL standings with a 42-6 win over Enfield.Class M has three unbeaten teams, the most of any division, with Lyman Hall, which defeated East Haven 42-6, and Masuk, which defeated Harding 56-16, joining New London at 7-0.No. 4 Hand defeated West Haven 48-28 and that, combined with New Canaan's loss to Ludlowe, gives the Tigers the longest winning streak in the state at 15 games.Newtown defeated Bunnell 39-28 to improve its record to 4-3 and move to 10th place in the Class MM standings. After a 1-3 start, the Nighthawks have won three straight while getting back in the hunt.Up nextTurn the calendar ahead and set the clocks back. It's the home stretch of the 2026 CIAC football season.There are several key matchups on tap for Week 9, including another battle of unbeatens, when No. 4 Hand hosts Lyman Hall at the Surf Club on Friday at 7 p.m. Both teams are 7-0 and the Tigers now own the state's longest winning streak at 15 games.Current No. 1 New Canaan and No. 2 St. Joseph are also slated to play Friday at 7 at Dunning Field, although those rankings may not hold given the Rams' loss to Ludlowe in Week 8.Here are a few more games to watch for Week 9:Thursday, Nov. 5New Britain at Southington, 6:30 p.m.Windsor at Maloney, 6:30 p.m.Friday, Nov. 6Ledyard at Waterford, 6 p.m.Wilcox/Kaynor Tech at Cheney/Windham Tech, 6 p.m.Branford at Guilford, 6:30 p.m.Holy Cross at Woodland, 6:30 p.m.New Milford at Newtown, 6:30 p.m.Woodstock Academy at New London, 6:30 p.m.Darien at Ridgefield, 7 p.m.Seymour at Naugatuck, 7 p.m.Wilton at Greenwich, 7 p.m.Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at Inside Week 8 of CIAC football: A streak ends, No. 55 comes home, and 10 remain unbeaten.