Archive for July, 2011

Derrick Lewis named next head coach at Bassick

Friday, July 22, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Derrick Lewis (via MySpace)

Derrick Lewis, a former player and assistant coach under Ed McCarthy at West Haven, has been named the next head football coach at Bassick, the school announced today.

Lewis, 29, was an all-state guard and a 2001 graduate at West Haven. He played college football at UConn and Southern Connecticut State, where he was a two-time All-American and served as team captain in 2005.

Since then, Lewis has served as an assistant football coach at West Haven, Harding and, most recently, McMahon — where he coached the lines. He was a finalist for both the McMahon and Norwalk head coaching vacancies the last year.

Lewis is also heavily involved in the Bridgeport community. He works for the Board of Education as a behavior specialist. He and his wife, Daria, are ordained ministers at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on the East End. They have three children.

He takes over for Frank Marcucio was was fired after two seasons. Bassick was 1-9 last season.

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The (somewhat) definitive Connecticut Class of 2012 recruiting list

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran is widely considered the top recruit in Connecticut for the class of 2012.

With some fanfare, top college recruiting website Rivals.com unveiled its state-by-state recruit rankings a couple of weeks ago. So we here at Connecticut Football HQ thought it would be nice to take those and compile a comprehensive list of the state’s top recruits heading into the 2011 season.

This is purely a list based on website reports. None of it has come from actual reporting on our end. This list designed to give fans a comprehensive look at our state’s prospects in the eyes of the recruiting world. And what you see on those sites is what you’ll get here.

Also, this is just for the Class of 2012. So you won’t be seeing any reports on Brookfield QB Boeing Brown, or Sacred Heart WR David Coggins, etc.  or Masuk’s Shawn Flynn, etc. (Brain freeze on Flynn. He’s a part of this mix.)

We’ve added links to each players’ junior year profile page on MaxPreps.com.

If we could find them (and we usually did), we added recruiting videos below each profile.

Here are the actual Connecticut recruiting pages: Rivals.com | Scout.com

REGIONAL CIAC RECRUITS

Casey Cochran

CASEY COCHRAN, QB, Masuk
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 1) – Boston College*, UConn, Harvard, Princeton, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Yale
Scout – Alabama, Boston College, Connecticut, Duke, Harvard, LSU, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State, Rutgers, Stanford, Texas A&M, Virginia, Yale
ESPN – Boston College, Michigan State, Duke, UConn, North Carolina State
Highlight Video

Mike Money

MIKE MONEY, OT, Fairfield Warde – 6-4, 275
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 5) – No schools listed.

TAREK BRUCE, LB, Stamford
Reported Interest
Scout: UConn, Maryland, Rutgers
Note: Scout.com lists Bruce as A) a quarterback; B) from Westhill. Maybe I missed something? He has no listing on Rivals.

Shane Nastahowski

SHANE NASTAHOWSKI, LB, Greenwich – 6-2, 210
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 9): No schools listed

AUSTIN CALITRO, LB, Danbury – 6-2, 220 | COMMITTED: Villanova
Rivals.com CT No. 3
Highlight Video

AMIHR BESS, RB, Notre Dame-WH – 5-9, 165
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 10): No schools listed
Highlight Video

ELIOTT CHUDWICK, QB, Ansonia – 6-1, 200
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

Brandon Williams

BRANDON WILLIAMS, DE, Bassick – 6-2, 220
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Scout: Maryland
Highlight Video

DAVID CAMILLE, CB, Bunnell – 5-9, 166
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

JAKE TOMCZAK, WR, Derby – 6-1, 200
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed

JAWAD CHISHOLM, CB, Bunnell – 6-1, 175
Reported Interest
Scout: Penn State
Highlight Video

ARDIAN SAHINOVIC, P/K, New Fairfield – 6-5, 190
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

CIAC STATEWIDE RECRUITS

AARON BERARDINO, WR, Windsor – 5-10, 180
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn, Duke, Penn State, UCLA
Highlight Video

TAYLOR WRICE, ATH, Bristol Eastern – 5-9, 165
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 8 ) – Boston College, Cincinnati, UConn, Northwestern, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple
Scout: Boston College, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, West Virginia
Highlight Video

RYAN MURPHY, TE, Xavier – 6-3, 215
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 9) – No schools listed
Highlight Video

TOMMY UNDERCUFFLER, DB, Berlin – 6-1, 185
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn
Highlight Video

JONATHAN SNYDER, ATH, Newington – 5-10, 175
Reported Interest
Rivals: UConn
Scout: UConn
Highlight Video

NICOLAS VITALE, WR, Hand (Madison) – 5-9, 183
Reported Interest – No schools listed
Highlight Video

JOVAN SANTOS-KNOX, OLB, Xavier – 6-2, 220
Reported Interest
Rivals.com – No schools listed
Highlight Video

KELLY DOBBINS, WR, Putnam – 6-1, 175
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools reported
Highlight Video

CHRIS RECKMEYER, DE, Conard – 6-3, 220
Reported Interest
Scout: No schools listed
Highlight Video

BOBBY SOLECKI, WR, Glastonbury — 5-10, 180
Reported Interest
Scout: UConn, Maryland, Massachusetts, Yale
Highlight Video

NON-CIAC RECRUITS

DONQUATE ROBINSON, WR, Brunswick (Greenwich) – 6-2, 210
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT No. 4) – Boston College, UConn, Duke, Temple
Highlight Video

HAKI DENNIS, DB, Canterbury (New Milford)
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

JONATHAN PIETERSE, QB, Salisbury School
Reported Interest
Rivals: Buffalo, Montana
Highlight Video

MALIK GOLDEN, ATH, Cheshire Academy (Newington) — 6-1, 185
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 2) – Akron, Boston College, Bryant, UConn, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Towson, Tulane.
Scout: Akron, Boston College, Bryant, Central Connecticut State, Central Michigan, Connecticut, Iowa, Penn State, Rutgers, Stony Brook, Syracuse, Towson, Tulane
Highlight Video

KESHAUDAS SPENCE, Taft School (Watertown)
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed
Highlight Video

BUNTU BIYANA, DT, Canterbury School – 6-2, 285
Reported Interest
Rivals: Boston College, UConn, Temple
Scout: Bucknell, Cornell, Fordham, Georgia Tech, UCLA
Highlight Video

MICHAEL GRADY, LB, Canterbury School – 6-1, 220
Reported Interest
Scout – Boston College, Bucknell, Colgate, UConn, Holy Cross, Villanova, Wake Forest
Highlight Video

CURTIS ANTRUM, RB, Hamden Hall – 5-11, 175
Reported Interest
Rivals (CT Rank No. 6) – No schools listed.
Highlight Video

TEVAUN SMITH, WR, Kent School – 6-0, 185
Reported Interest
Scout: Boston College, Connecticut, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Temple
Highlight Video

ROMAINE NICHOLSON, DT, Forman School – 6-1, 340
Reported Interest
Rivals: No schools listed

ESPN.com’s RECRUITING LIST

ESPN’s recruiting site is decidedly more liberal than any of the two big recruiting sites. Lots of names, little substance and somewhat inaccurate. Danbury’s Austin Calitro, for example, is listed as undeclared. Who knows how this list is compiled and curated.

Still, it adds a lot more names. So take these as just an expansive list of other prospects/good players who may or may not end up playing in college.

Again, by no means is this an all-encompassing list, just what the internet bots at ESPN have collated for our fair state.

Players in bold are not found on either Rivals.com or Scout.com rankings. We’ve thrown in a few recruiting video links for local players.

Update: We’re going to cheat a bit and add players we know are being recruited, but not on the ESPN recruiting site to this list. They’ll be given an asterisk. We’ll post info as necessary.  (I’ve changed this. See below.)

CIAC PLAYERS

  • Casey Cochran, QB, Masuk (ranked 38 in QBs)
  • Demetrius Bailey, CB, Torrington – 5-9, 174
  • Adedayo Bakre, DE, Glastonbury – 6-0, 194
  • Shawn Baldez, QB, Fitch – 5-11, 150
  • Amihr Bess, RB, Notre Dame-WH – 5-8, 151
  • Frederick Burgos, CB, Newington – 5-6, 124
  • Brandon Caires, LB, Newington – 5-11, 183
  • Michael Campbell, QB, Bloomfield – 5-11, 161
  • Austin Calitro, ILB, Danbury — 6-2, 220 [COMMITTED: Villanova]
  • Don Cherry, FB, Trumbull — 6-2, 200
  • Kobey Coburn, LB, Waterford – 6-0, 195
  • Jonavan Colon, WR, New Britain — 5-8, 152
  • Pat D’Amato, QB, Xavier — 6-1, 187
  • Joe Desandre, RB, Lyman Hall — 5-10, 182
  • Brett Director, WR, Cromwell – 5-8, 166
  • Aaron Dixon, S, Danbury — 6-0, 179
  • Matt Duignan, LB, Masuk — 5-9, 209
  • Michael English, WR, Farmington — 6-3, 188
  • Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, S, Valley Regional — 5-9, 165
  • Patrick Farrell, LB, Manchester — 5-11, 193
  • Louis Fennarolli, RB, Newtown – 5-9, 206
  • Myles Gaines, RB, Fairfield Prep — 5-4, 129
  • Larry Garcia, QB, New Britain — 5-10, 165
  • Leaon Gordon, RB, Brookfield — 5-10, 173
  • Ryan Jacobucci, CB, Xavier — 5-10, 166
  • Chris Jerome, RB, McMahon — 5-11, 184
  • Ryan Lumpkin, WR, Windsor — 5-7, 141
  • Jay’len Mahan, WR, Wilby – 5-10, 150
  • Davante Mallard, LB, Notre Dame — 5-9, 173
  • Sean Marinan, G, Xavier — 5-10, 229
  • Jonathan Marks, QB, Platt — 5-11, 185
  • Carlos Martinez, LB, Stamford — 5-10, 165
  • Mike Mastroianni, RB, Xavier — 5-8, 169
  • Mike Money, OT, Fairfield Warde – 6-4, 280
  • Shane Nashtahowski, OLB, Greenwich – 6-0, 190
  • Ryan Nobile, DT, Notre Dame-WH — 5-11, 306
  • Adrian Sahinovic, K, New Fairfield –
  • Nick Salza, OT, Bunnell – 6-4, 306
  • Mike Sineiro, LB, Fitch — 5-8, 175
  • Bobby Solecki, WR, Glastonbury — 5-8, 159
  • Isaiah Thomasson, ILB, Maloney – 5-10, 208
  • Jake Tomczak, WR, Derby – 6-0, 196
  • Tommy Undercuffler, S, Berlin – 6-0, 185
  • Nick Vitale, ATH, Hand – 5-9, 185
  • Giovanni Viven, LB, New Britain — 5-10, 206
  • Andrew Vollaro, RB, Haddam-Killingworth — 5-8, 162
  • Zachary Voytek, DT, Trumbull – 6-5, 295
  • Derek Ward, QB, Griswold – 5-10, 178
  • Jonathan Ware, DE, Fitch – 6-2, 217
  • Shaquille Watkin, DE, Stamford — 6-0, 212
  • Brandon Williams, DE, Bassick
  • David Wolff, LB, Fairfield Warde — 5-8, 200
  • Taylor Wrice, ATH, Bristol Eastern – 5-8, 165

NON-CIAC

  • Malik Golden, ATH, Cheshire Academy — 6-1, 185
  • Bunta Biyana, DT, Canterbury — 6-2, 285
  • Kevin Carey, DT, Taft — 6-0, 181
  • Darnell Davis, LB, Avon Old Farms — 6-2, 228
  • Herbie May, QB, Salisbury — 6-0, 190
  • Kevin Peabody, QB, King — 6-1, 180
  • Bryce Peters, WR, Avon Old Farms — 6-0, 200
  • Keshaudas Spence, FB, Taft — 5-10, 230
  • Billy Weyrauch, LB, Cheshire Academy — 5-9, 194

BRAND NEW!
THE RECRUITING WRITE-IN PAGE

OK, since everyone’s anxious to add their favorite player (or son ;) on the list, I’m creating the write-in section below. Players who did not appear on any of the big recruiting lists (as of July 21) will appear here. I’ve added a few of my one from the previous list.

Immaculate works quick, goes exotic with coaching hire from Georgia

Thursday, July 14, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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New Immaculate football coach Brian Pinabell

UPDATED (8:45)

News-Times writer Kevin Duffy has the whole story on how Bryan Pinabell landed in Connecticut at Immaculate after an entire coaching career spent in the south.

Immaculate pegs Georgia high school assistant as next football coach

Hint: His wife led him to Shangri La.

UPDATED (4:10)

We just got off the phone with new Immaculate coach Bryan Pinabell and, yes, it is the same Bryan Pinabell of Atlanta that showed up in our cursory web searches.

It’s an exotic hire to be sure. But for a foundering program like Immaculate, desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.

Pinabell’s quick bio, taken from the St. Pius X high school website and a Q&A he did with with a Catholic news site in 2006: Pinnabell is 39-years old and was born in Boston, but moved to Florida as he was entering his freshman year of high school.

He played football (linebacker and guard) and was an all-state baseball catcher at Melbourne Central Catholic High School. He went on to play baseball at Central Florida and graduated with degree in secondary education.

Pinabell spent several years as an assistant coach, first at his alma mater Melbourne Central Catholic, then moved to Georgia and spent a year at North Gwinnett (Ga.) and, beginning in 2001, five years St. Pius X under coach Paul Standard.

Pinabell took over as head coach of Our Lady of Mercy in Fairburn, Ga. in 2006 and spent two seasons there going 1-9 and 4-6.

He returned to St. Pius X where he remained until now.

We briefly caught up to Pinabell today, but he was attending a party for his young son. “My CEO and CFO won’t be too happy if I stay on the phone,” he joked in reference to his wife, Andrea. “I get the feeling I won’t get too much more time (with his family) over the next six months.”

He said he’d get back to us later.

PREVIOUS POST (3:30)

With the start of fall practices just over a month away, time was of the essence.

Still, Immaculate worked surprisingly quick to hire its next football coach. It took a week and a half since Gary Bellagamba suddenly resigned. It took just six days since Immaculate announced the opening publicly.

And the new head coach is…

Bryan Pinabell.

I’m sure everybody is having the same reaction as me:

“Um… who?”

Immaculate is working to get out a bio to us, but a cursory web search of his name only brought up one Bryan Pinabell from Tucker, Georgia — a suburb of Atlanta.

Incidentally, this search says he’s also a football coach who spent 2006 and 2007 2006 to 2009 as the coach of Our Lady of Mercy catholic school in Fairburn, Georgia, just south of Atlanta. Several other bios (from when he took the job at OLM), describe Pinabell as a Boston native who moved to Florida when he was a high school freshman. Pinabell is 39-years old now.

Football coach. New England and catholic school connections… our Spidey sense says this is the same coach who just took the job at Immaculate.

That’s enough spelunking for today. We’ll confirm all these details when Immaculate releases a bio.

Hey, lookit this: Fairfield County wins — convincingly

Monday, July 11, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Fairfield County's Tyler Matakevich catches a touchdown pass in the 15th Annual Hall of Fame Football Classic at Ken Strong Stadium Saturday, July 9, 2011. | Photo by Christian Abraham

This time there were no doubts.

No one could question it. No one could stir controversy, suggesting that the outcome should have been different.

This time, Fairfield County’s amalgamation of football talent, if not a true all-star team, actually went out and brutally snatched back the Hall of Fame Classic football trophy from the bullies of New Haven County on Saturday.

For the first time since — hold on, let’s check the program — um, ever? the Fairfield County all-stars put a whupping on New Haven County.

The 34-14 victory in Saturday’s regional all-star game was just the fifth Fairfield County win in the series’ 15-year history.

[SLIDESHOW]

The 20-point win was also the county’s biggest margin of victory of the series, topping a mere 10-point margin in 2001.

Aside from controversial, one-point, double-overtime Fairfield County victory in 2008, New Haven County’s all-stars had annually beat on Fairfield County like a speedbag, winning seven of eight years by an average of 24 points.

And it gave a few of Fairfield County chapter members stomach aches, culminating in Jerry McDougall‘s impassioned plea to members  to make sure “we win that game!” at a chapter meeting following an embarrassing 49-0 loss in 2009.

And, honestly, Fairfield County’s 2011 roster didn’t exactly look like a world beater on Thursday. Sure, it had Tyler Matakevich, Joe Della Vecchia, Phil Terio, the Brothers Maxen (Willie and Kevin) and a couple others from the Governor’s Cup all-star game two weeks ago.

But missing were large chunks of significant Fairfield County programs. Greenwich, New Canaan, Staples, Brookfield, Bunnell, Ridgefield, Bethel… New Haven, meanwhile, brought kids from almost all of its member schools, including everybody’s MVP Montrell Dobbs of Ansonia.

We’d seen this many, many times before. Just with different names.

So, yeah. That equation didn’t look like it would add up to a Fairfield County victory.

And when Foran’s Tucker Schumitz threw a touchdown pass to Notre Dame’s quarterback Sean Goldrich, in a flaunting display of New Haven ingenuity and dominance that has come to define these games, it looked as if the rout would be on again.

Of course, it was. Just not the team we thought.

Thankfully, Fairfield County coach Joe Della Vecchia had the big guns from his back-to-back St. Joseph state championship teams on his side — son Joe Della Vecchia and Tyler Matakevich.

The teammates (who were joined by fellow St. Joseph alums Jerry Kramer, Nick Adzima, Mike Marini and Ryan Mrozek) partied like it was 2010, hooking up three times for touchdowns.

The other touchdown toss was to Trumbull’s Phil Terio, who, until practices began two weeks ago, represented St. Joseph’s mortal enemy.

“There’s the whole Trumbull/St. Joe’s thing, but me and Phil are friends. I knew he’d catch it,” Della Vecchia said of his toss to Terio.

As for his four-year teammate: “Tyler, he’s just really reliable.”

It also must have helped that Della Vecchia had spent his last two games preparing to stop Dobbs. Perhaps armed with lessons learned in the Class S state championship victory over Ansonia, in which Dobbs ran for 303 yards, Della Vecchia’s Fairfield County all-stars put the breaks on the UConn recruit.

Two weeks after torching Rhode Island in the second half of the Governor’s Cup, Dobbs was held to 32 yards on just 12 carries by a front seven defensive unit that included Masuk’s Tim Allen (I was told he was “out for blood” by one of his assistant  coaches from Masuk), Pomperaug’s Willie Maxen, Harding’s underrated big man Alvin Garcia, Stamford LB Mark Robinson and Harding LB Myles Gordon.

Fairfield County sacked Goldrich (the New Hampshire recruit who was 11-for-11 passing until leaving the game with a separated shoulder) and Schumitz seven times.

Schumitz, who I submit would have been an all-star had he not broke his collar in Week 3, was the New Haven MVP. Shelton’s Cody Kitson was also a standout on the defensive side.

But, for now, all’s well for now in the Ralph DeSantis Fairfield County chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

Do they have to work to shore up participation in the coming years? It can’t hurt.

But as the 2011 Fairfield County edition showed Saturday, all you really need is the right mix of outstanding football players to win the Hall of Fame Classic.

♦♦♦♦

AN ASIDE: No, I did not attend. I had tickets to see Yankees-Rays at the Stadium Saturday. So I got to witness this from the bleachers.

Sorry. It’s my summer vacation. Hey, at least I got to catch the second half on Sportingnewsct.com.

Thanks to all the seniors who participated in the game. It’s been a pleasure watching all of you play these past four years.

As for the rest of us returning, unless something breaks, we’ll see you in a few weeks.

-SPB

Hall of Fame Football Classic postponed

Friday, July 8, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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The Hall of Fame Football Classic at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium has been postponed due to inclement weather, according to organizer Paul Criscuolo.

The game is rescheduled to 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Criscuolo and the organizers had originally said the game would go on as planned, but the severe weather, flooding and all-around chaos across New Haven forced the postponement at 6:30 p.m. Friday evening.

Updated: Your Hall of Fame Football Classic XV kickoff page

Friday, July 8, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Ansonia's Montrell Dobbs runs for a touchdown during the Connecticut High School football all-star game against Rhode Island. The recent UConn commit leads New Haven into the 15th Hall of Fame Football Classic. Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg / Connecticut Post

Updated: Paul Criscuolo says the game is on this evening, despite threats of heavy rain. As of 4:40 p.m. West Haven remained dry while northern parts of the state were being pounded.

More rain is on the way, however. Criscuolo said lightning would, of course, delay the game.

Follow the radar here.

♦♦ Original Post ♦♦

It’s your last chance for real, live football for a couple months.

The Hall of Fame Football Classic, part 15 kicks off tonight at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium at 7:30. Tickets are $7 at the gate. Come one come all.

Here are your morning links for pregame coverage of the game, which is showdown between West Haven coach Ed McCarthy (New Haven) and one of his former players — St. Joseph coach Joe Della Vecchia (Fairfield County).

Of course, all the focus will be on a certain Ansonia tailback.

Quick note on the rosters, you’ll notice major portions of Fairfield County — mostly lower/eastern schools — are missing from the All-Star roster, which is once again causing consternation and ire among those in the Fairfield County chapter. Several showed up for the pre-practice meetings, but never again.

You won’t find the same problem on New Haven County. Twenty-nine schools are represented as opposed to Fairfield County’s 19.

The issue was discussed in Tuesday’s Connecticut Post: Filling Fairfield County roster a classic challenge

Sounds like a repeat episode. But we will try not to dwell on who isn’t here, but the players and teams who are — including eight players from the Connecticut Governor’s Cup team from two weeks ago, as opposed to four from New Haven.

But will it be enough for the first Fairfield County victory since the 31-30 overtime thriller of 2008? New Haven leads the all-time series 10-4 and won last year’s game 16-13.

Once again, we’ll be live tweeting the game at @CTHSFootball. You can follow along on Twitter, or in the red window at right.

Immaculate looking for a new football coach

Thursday, July 7, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Immaculate is searching for a new football coach.

Coach Gary Bellagamba resigned earlier this week after one season for personal reasons, according to a story by Rich Gregory of the NewsTimes. He had been an assistant coach prior to last year.

From the article:

“We’re very thankful for the five years he gave us,” Immaculate athletic director Michael Bierwirth said. “He worked with the kids on and off the field and was a mentor to a lot of kids. It’s difficult right now.”

This marks the fourth coaching change for the embattled program since Steve Kaplanis died suddenly in the spring of 2005.

Immaculate was 60-25-3 in eight seasons under Kaplanis, including three SWC playoff and two state playoff appearances. The Mustangs are 8-53 since his death.

Bellagamba went 0-10 in 2010, his only season at the school. He took over for Roger Hancock, who was 3-18 over two seasons. The coach before that was Sean Mahon (5-25).

The search for a new coach is underway. Send resumes and references to Bierwirth at mbierwirth@immaculatehs.org.

15th Annual Hall of Fame Football Classic all-star game rosters

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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The final rosters for the 15th Annual New Haven County-Fairfield County Hall of Fame Fooball Classic all-star game have been released. The game will be played at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven, Friday, July 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $7 and proceeds go toward general fundraising and scholarships. For more information visit NewHavenFootballFoundation.com.

Players who were on Connecticut’s Governor’s Cup roster are designated with **

NEW HAVEN ALL-STARS Coach:
Ed McCarthy, West Haven
NO. PLAYER POS HIGH SCHOOL HGT WGT COLLEGE
1 Anthony Vorio DB North Branford 5’9″ 165 Gateway CC
2 Nick Donofrio DB Oxford 5’10″ 185 Springfield
3 Kevin Phillps RB West Haven 5’9″ 170 Hudson Valley CC
4 Jordan Sebastian DB Hopkins 6’1″ 215 U. Rhode Island
5 Sean Goldrich QB Notre Dame 6’3″ 195 U. New Hampshire
6 Tucker Schumitz QB/DB Foran 5’11″ 175 Western New England
7 Steve Dejournett WR Hillhouse 6’1″ 175 Dean
8 Mike Georgalas** WR Shelton 6’3″ 190 Gettysburg
9 James Ward Jr.** RB Wilbur Cross 5’8″ 175 Williston-No. Hampton
10 Zach Miller QB Hand 5’11″ 175 Gettysburg
11 Ruben Berger DB Naugatuck 5’11″ 190 Milford Academy
12 Jon Groth K Shelton 5’10″ 150 No. Carolina
13 Dante Brito DB Hamden Hall 5’11″ 194 Stonehill
14 Matt Murray DB Notre Dame 5’8″ 165 UConn
15 Robert Williams WR Wilby 5’11″ 175 Naug. Valley CC
16 Tremayne Barnes WR West Haven 5’10″ 150 Nichols
17 Rohan Ifill DB Sacred Heart 5’9″ 175 SCSU
18 Kosy Broderick DB Xavier 6’3″ 195 UConn
20 Montrell Dobbs** RB Ansonia 5’11″ 187 UConn
21 Jordan Teague DB Hamden 5’9″ 175 Kent
25 Riley  Lefebvre WR Maloney 5’9″ 160 Undecided
30 Ian Bures TE/LB Woodland 6’3″ 217 Plymouth State
32 Sebastion Aliberti LB Amity 5’9″ 195 Norwich
33 Kunimel Lomotey DL Branford 6’2″ 221 Keane
34 Trevor Keyes DL North Haven 5’8″ 195 Lincoln College
35 Zach Salazar LB Derby 6’1″ 215 ECSU
44 Cody Kitson LB Shelton 5’8 185 New England College
50 Shaun Reiss OL West Haven 6’2″ 265 Merrimac
51 Conor Shea OL Fairfield Prep 6’1″ 226 Georgetown
53 Anthony Sanders DL Platt 6’1″ 295 undecided
55 Matt Washburn OL/DL Cheshire 6’1″ 240 Norwich
56 Marquis Leigh LB Hyde 5’11″ 230 Wesley
65 Dashon Riley** OL Hillhouse 6’2″ 330 Dean
66 Andrew Bielefield OL Maloney 6’4″ 290 Westen New England
70 Chris Laporte OL Law 6’5″ 295 Dean
76 Tyvon Williams DL Hillhouse 6’2″ 365 Mt. Ida
78 Andrew McCloskey OL Guilford 6’2″ 283 Wesleyen
80 Ed Glenn TE North Haven 6’4″ 230 Milford Academy
95 Paul Perrotti DL North Branford 5’11″ 260 Curry

♦♦♦♦♦

FAIRFIELD ALL-STARS
 Coach
Joe Della Vecchia,
St. Joseph
NO. PLAYER POSITION HIGH SCHOOL HGT WGT COLLEGE
1 Jerry Kramer WR St. Joseph 5’6″ 165 WCSU
2 Craig Lowery DB Warde 5’10″ 165 Bridgton Academy
3 Phil Terio** WR Trumbull 5’9″ 170 Salve Regina
4 Zaire Reiph DB St Lukes 5’10″ 180 Stonehill
5 Giuseppe Parisi WR Danbury 6’3″ 180 Naug. Valley CC
6 Zach Emilcer DB Westhill 5’10″ 160 Lackawanna JC
7 Joe Della Vecchia** QB St Joseph 6′ 185 Stonehill
8 Myles Gordon LB/TE Harding 5’10″ 214 WCSU
10 Adam Eyerman K/P Stratford 5’10″ 165 Springfield
11 Matthew Becker WR New Milford 5’8″ 170 BYU
12 Marc DesRuisseaux** DB Stratford 6’1″ 160 Milford Academy
21 Mike Rivas RB Trinity Catholic 6′ 215 Undecided
22 Clement Abonyi DB McMahon 6′ 185 St. Francis
29 Lucas DeSouza** DB Central 6′ 192 Milford Academy
30 Alex Delaney RB Warde 5’7″ 185 Hobart
34 Matt Lena FB/LB Trumbull 5’10″ 195 Salve Regina
38 Kevin Maxen** LB Pomperaug 5’11″ 225 Endicott
44 Tyler Matakevich** LB St. Joseph 6’1″ 216 Milford Academy
52 Dominique Williams DL Stratford 6 2″ 250 Undecided
55 Mike Marini OL St Joseph 6’1″ 255 Endicott
56 Ryan Phillips LB Wilton 6′ 220 UMass
57 Evan Opdahl OL Norwalk 6’1″ 265 ECSU
58 Kevin Harrigan OL Notre Dame FFLD 6’5″ 290 CCSU
59 Willie Maxen** DL Pomperaug 6′ 265 CCSU
65 Nick Adzima OL St.Joseph 6’1″ 250 Fairfield
68 Pat Roeker DL Danbury 6’4″ 255 WCSU
71 Alvin Garcia DL Harding 6’1″ 250 Undecided
72 Matt Datin OL Newtown 6’4″ 260 SCSU
73 Jeff Wright OL Masuk 6’2″ 265 ECSU
75 Ryan Mrozek OL St. Joseph 6′ 265 Bridgeton Academy
80 Joe Diaz WR Masuk 5’11″ 165 Trinity
92 Tim Allen DL Masuk 6’1″ 230 Elon
99 Mark Robinson** DL Stamford 6′ 225 CCSU

Marcus Easley hosting free football clinic at Bunnell

Sunday, July 3, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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Marcus Easley at UConn in 2009 | Getty Images

Buffalo Bills wide receiver and Stratford native Marcus Easley is holding a one day free football clinic — The Marcus Easley E.A.S.Y. Football Clinic — July 9 at Bunnell High School from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The clinic — which will be run by Bunnell coach Craig Bruno and local Stratford Pop Warner coaches — is open to Stratford residents, both boys and girls, ages 7-15. It will be attended by NFL players, college players and Bunnell high school football players. Players will sign autographs for participants.

Attending players should wear T-shirts, shorts and sneakers.

Download registration forms here. For more information call Mike James at 203-258-1444 or email koachmj@yahoo.com

Easley was an all-state linebacker/receiver at Bunnell who led the Bulldogs to their first state playoffs in 2004. He walked on at UConn, eventually earned a starting spot and became one of the Huskies’ best receivers. Easley was drafted in the fourth round by the Buffalo Bills in 2010. He is returning from a knee injury that derailed his first season in the NFL.

Holiday Extras: Croce to Gunnery; Calitro to Villanova; DesRuisseaux to Milford

Friday, July 1, 2011 by:Sean Patrick Bowley
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This week has been a whirlwind of statewide high school football news and tidbits. Here’s the latest as we head into the July 4 weekend.

Pomperaug QB Kellen Croce | Photo by Chris Ware

QB CROCE LEAVING POMPERAUG – Pomperaug quarterback Kellen Croce will likely enroll at The Gunnery prep school in Washington, Conn., his father, offensive coordinator Steve Croce said.

Croce was an all-SWC first team quarterback in his first year as a starter for 8-2 Pomperaug. He threw for 1,958 yards and 16 touchdowns. But his future, his father said, might be in baseball. Croce was a left-handed starter for the school’s outstanding baseball team.

Gunnery baseball coach Jeffrey Trundy is the manager for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Code Baseball League.

Meanwhile, Steve Croce said he is staying on as offensive coordinator for Pomperaug, where he said three players — 6-1 senior Garrett Delotto, 5-10 junior Eric Beatty and incoming freshman Wade Prager will vie for the starting job under new coach Dave Roach.

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Not only will the Panthers have a new QB, they will have a new defensive coordinator, too.

John Pereira, who consistently molded Pomperaug’s defense into one of the region’s best, has taken an assistant coaching job at Southington, joining former Pomperaug head coach Chuck Drury and new head coach Mike Drury. Pereira coached Pomperaug’s outstanding 2004 state championship defense, which included Connecticut Post Defensive Player of the Year Mike Kielt.

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Danbury's Austin Calitro | Photo: Barry Horn

DANBURY’S CALITRO COMMITS – Austin Calitro, a hulking 6-foot-1, 215-pound fullback and linebacker, has committed to Villanova for football. He reportedly chose the Divsion I-AA school over Temple.

We learned via a separate source Thursday, but on Friday we realized Calitro had already announced the news on Twitter a day earlier.

Calitro ran for 300 yards and scored 4 touchdowns at fullback. On defense, he made 75 tackles and forced five fumbles. He also served as the team’s punter. He was a second-team All-Connecticut Post

CALITRO’S HIGHLIGHT REEL

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Marc DesRuisseaux. Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg

STRATFORD’S DESRUISSEAUX  SWITCHES –Stratford all-purpose back Marc DesRuisseaux will be heading to Milford Academy instead of Lackawanna Junior College, Stratford coach John Svatik confirmed. “I don’t know what led to the change, but as far as I know he’s real happy with the decision,” Svatik said.

DesRuisseaux, who is listed at 6-2, 170, earned all-state Class S and all-SWC as a defensive back in his first full year of playing football. He played primarily quarterback and safety for the 3-7 Red Devils and earned a spot on both the Governor’s Cup All-Star team and the Fairfield County All-Star team.

He’ll join Ansonia’s Montrell Dobbs (off to UConn), St. Joseph’s Tyler Matakevich and Montville’s Tyler Girard-Floyd at the New Berlin, NY prep school.

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TORRINGTON’S TSOPANIDES TO IOWA — According to the Register-Citizen of Torrington, the All-State OL/DE was supposed to attend Milford Academy, but caught the eye of offensive coordinator Ken O’Keefe during a combine and was offered a scholarship after a visit to the University.

Anything else? Drop me a line at sbowley@ctpost.com

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