Friday night's Cheshire/Xavier game drew attention for a variety of reasons. One thing that intrigued me was seeing a pair of players pretty high up on Yale's recruiting radar in action.

Xavier senior offensive guard and defensive tackle Sean Marinan and Cheshire linebacker/receiver Sebastian Little are both expected to be in attendance when Yale hosts Dartmouth on Saturday. But their attention was squarely focused on Friday's matchup of Southern Connecticut Conference unbeatens.

Marinan and Xavier emerged with a convincing 42-20 and moved back into the No. 1 spot in the Register's Top 10 poll.

Marinan played a key role in the Falcons piling up more than 400 rushing yards in the victory.

"We have a new offense this entire year," Marinan said. "We hear that we are supposed to be the best line in the state. We started off shaky because we had new guys but I thought we did really well working together today.

"We love when they gain yards, they run hard and they never stop. If there is a little hole, they will get 10 yards."

Marinan and his father, Xavier coach Sean Marinan Sr., visited with Yale coach Tom Williams during the summer and dad would certainly give his blessing if his son chose to head to Yale.

"I like the coaches there, I think they do a great job," Sean Marinan Sr. said. "I think the program is headed back in the right direction. One of the things we talked about and I think I got away with it because I am a coach (was asking) ‘what happened?’ Two of the other guys, Rick Flanders and Duane Brooks were on the staff with (former Yale coach Jack) Siedlecki. They told me exactly what had happened, what the problem were. I think they’ve got it fixed. My wife would be thrilled and my dad went there so it is not the end of the world for me."

Marinan Jr., admits that Yale is the only school actively pursuing him but he sees plenty of similarities between the Xavier program and the one at Yale.

"I have to get my SATs up (he retook them on Saturday). I need 30 more points on my math and they said they’d come through with something but I have to do that. They are the only ones interested in me. If they show interest in me, I will show interest back.


"I like that they are about. They are a good team and they have the same mentality as us. It is just like (Xavier)."

Another state player being looked at by Yale is Notre Dame of West Haven defensive tackle Ludovic Richardson.

"I have visited there unofficially, I watched a game," Richardson saod. "If they ask me at the end of the season, maybe there will be an official visit but I haven’t talked to the coaches about that yet. I am still talking to every other school that is interested in me at the time and that is about it."

Richardson said that Princeton, Dartmouth, Army, Sacred Heart, Stonehill, Maine and Bates are other schools recruiting him.

Richardson's main focus is Notre Dame's big game with West Haven on Friday night.
"This is really a deciding factor for us to see if we are going to be one of the best teams (in) the SCC and depends how our season is going to go as well," Richardson said. "West Haven is a good football team. We need to play our best and see how we compare to them.
"It is definitely more intensified because it is the battle for the town, it’s a crosstown rivalry and really split so we are trying to see who’s the best in West Haven. I think Notre Dame is, to be honest."

This is a big recruiting weekend for Yale as about 10-12 prospects are expected to be visiting campus including Little, Marinan and Berlin receiver Tom Undercuffler. Also expected to be in attendance are Tyler Drake, brother of Yale junior defensive end Dylan Drake, and Cole Champion who are teammates at St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, the second-ranked team in the latest USA Today national poll.