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It’s been a relatively busy week in offseason high school football.

First, the 10th Governor’s Cup between Rhode Island and Connecticut all-star teams, kicks off Saturday night at Southington’s Fontana Field. The Hall of Fame Classic comes two weeks after. Pomperaug elevated Dave Roach to head football coach. And a bunch of teams culminated spring practice with their annual (color)-(color) scrimmages. Also, we know the 2011 playoff divisions.

Here’s a run-down of the stories published locally over the last week or so.

Pomperaug names Roach new head football coach

This caught no one by surprise. From the moment we heard coach Chuck Drury might be stepping down to join his son Michael at Southington, Roach’s name was the first from everybody’s lips. He’s a teacher, he’s an alum, he was a no-brainer for a school trying to suppress transitional chaos stemming from the first significant regime change in 35 years.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be major changes in Southbury. Philosophical, organizational and tactical tweaks aside, there have been rampant whispers that other coaches from Pomperaug’s staff will be jumping ship shortly. Like we’ve said, what looked like a bona fide contender could be indistinguishable from 2010.

Ansonia moves up to Class M and other (less significant) CIAC football division shuffling

The official packet hasn’t been released, but the 2011 CIAC playoff classes are set. This was a separate post from late last week, but worth mentioning again in case you missed it. Check your team’s CIAC playoff division.

We have updated this slightly since the original post. Derby’s placement dropped from Class M to Class S over the weekend, presumably its loss of the O’Brien Tech enrollment hadn’t been counted.

Spring Game Updates

The Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time and Danbury News-Times published a variety of spring reports from their immediate coverage areas last week.

• Stamford eager to prove its back and here to stay – Stamford Advocate
• White Warriors beat Blue Blazers in McMahon scrimmage - Stamford Advocate
• Spring practice kicks into gear for Danbury football – News-Times
• Milano sets the tone for New Canaan- Stamford Advocate
• Norwalks Ireland lays the groundwork in first camp – Stamford Advocate
• Massie becoming the man for Staples – Stamford Advocate
• Trinity Catholic works on building chemistry - Stamford Advocate
• Greenwich shows promise in Red and White Game - Greenwich Time
  VIDEOS: Action from the 2011 Red and White game – “Extra Time” sports blog
• Meanwhile, off the Hearst CT grid, the NVL Football Blog has been busy checking out the NVL spring practices.

All-Star Season

As mentioned, the Governor’s Cup all-star game between Connecticut and Rhode Island kicks off Saturday, June 25 at 4:30. The game is being held at Southington’s Fontana Field due to field renovations at the game’s traditional spot at Rentschler Field. Tickets are $8.

The all-star committees from Rhode Island and Connecticut, along with the YouthFootball Coaches Association will be holding a free youth football clinic at 1 p.m. before the game. Registration is at noon.

To purchase tickets contact John Fontana, P.O. Box 632, Southington, CT 06489 or call 860-628-4122, fax 860-628-7652 or e-mail: jfontana01@snet.net. For additional information go to www.cthssports.com.

Here is the Connecticut roster for the Governor’s Cup

Two weeks later is the New Haven-Fairfield County Hall of Fame Classic at West Haven’s Ken Strong Stadium.

The rosters for the Hall of Fame Football Classic are listed here. Game time is Friday, July 8, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7. Visit www.newhavenfootballfoundation.com for more information.

From upstate:

An absolutely wonderful Father’s Day column from Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant on the subject of Fermi football coach Bill Beeler: Shooting Makes Fermi Coach, Manchester Officer Beler Appreicate Father’s Day More.

Beeler, if you recall, was shot in the shoulder during a hostage standoff in Manchester a month ago. He’s recovering with spirits flying. Great to hear. Great read.

Notebook

Notre Dame-Fairfield released some news on a pair of their athletes, Nigel Beckford and Theo Tumba, earning MVP honors in their respective classes at the National Underclassman Scouting Combine in Hartford. Click here for more details.

Add: League changes

A quick glance at the Connecticut football leagues shows that the CCC has realigned its monstrous conference again into more of an SCC model. The league goes one further than the SCC, with three divisions split into east and west. Division I has 10 teams (5 each); Division II has 12 teams (6 each) and Division III has 10 teams (5 each).

No other changes are listed (yet).

Camp Listing

From July 15-17, Jack Cochran’s ‘The Program’ football camps will be hosting a several summer clinics. The Friday Night Lights QB-WR Academy; the Dwight Freeney D-Line, pass rush academy; the Andrew Pinnock running back adcademy and the All-American linebacker academy. Go to http://www.theprogram1.com for more details or contact Jack Cochran at (860) 748-8899 or cochranjack@att.net.

Anything else?