By Hal Levy, Shore Line Newspapers
Special to MaxPreps.com
The oldest existing Connecticut high school football senior all-star game will be played Friday night (July 11, 7:30 p.m.) at West Haven High School’s Ken Strong Stadium.
The contest between the Gene Casey New Haven County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame and its Ralph DeSantis Fairfield County counterpart, will stage its 12th edition, making it two years older than the Governor’s Cup game between Connecticut and Rhode Island.
When the game began, it was unique nationally in that it was the only such contest involving two chapters of the Football Foundation. Bill O’Brien, who runs the New Haven chapter and was one of the prime movers in starting the game, believes that remains the case.
“There may be one or two around the country that play within the chapter, but as far as I know we are still the only ones who play between two chapters,” O’Brien said.
A game in the Los Angeles area and another around Phoenix are intra-chapter affairs, for example.
The game is a major fundraiser for the scholarship programs of the two chapters. To date, the New Haven County chapter has presented over $50,000 in scholarships as a result of the game, General Chairman Paul Criscuolo said.
O’Brien and Criscuolo have been driving forces behind this game since its inception and they still work very hard to make sure its success is on-going. In addition to being the general chair, Criscuolo handles the program book and media relations while O’Brien remains in charge of sponsorships.
The Walter Camp Football Foundation and the New Haven Register are presenting sponsors this year and Town Fair Tire is a contributing sponsor. Dick’s Sporting Goods is a silver sponsor.
A cadre of veteran committee chairs also is in place. Steve Fordyce deals with administration, John Barbarotta with equipment, Donna Limone and Dan Martin with tickets, Jim Brennan with field operations and Al Ruocco with hospitality.
Rehab Associates provides trainers and the New Haven County football officials offer their services.
“They have been very, very good to us under the directorship of Jim Brennan,” Criscuolo said.
New Haven County has an 8-3 lead in the series and has won the last five games in a row, including last year’s 31-6 contest in which Dan Awwad of Holy Cross-Waterbury was the offensive MVP and Curtis Smith of Wilbur Cross-New Haven won defensive honors.
Other scores in the streak which began in 2003 include: 42-8 in 2003; 28-0 the next year, followed by 19-3 and 25-14 before last year’s win.
Fairfield won successive games in 2001 (24-14) and 2002 (16-8) but has been silent since.
That’s something Fairfield head coach Lou Marinelli (New Canaan) hopes to change with players like his own superlative quarterback Charlie Westphal, Bridgeport Central defensive end Trevardo Williams (a UConn recruit who opted for prep school), and the Stratford high-octane duo of Torrey Mack (Virginia) and Octavious McCoy (prep school).
The New Haven team, coached by Shelton’s Jeff Roy, is missing a variety of big stars, mainly because college coaches have “asked” them not to play. But still on the scene is the state’s top running back from last year, the record-setting Alex Thomas of Ansonia. There is some speed and Xaver-Middletown’s Ryan Katon is a more than capable quarterback.
The game has had its share of big-name players in prior years including the Detroit Lions’ Dan Orlovsky, who was MVP for the New Haven County offense in 2001 before he went on to UConn and the pros; and UConn's Matt Nuzie, who won MVP honors for Fairfield County a year later as a kicker.
Another potential pro was Brad Listorti of Notre Dame-West Haven, now an NFL free agent and then (2003) a receiver from Notre Dame-West Haven.
Tickets for the game are $7 at the gate. For more on past games as well as other activities of the chapter, including every scholar-athlete dating back to 1962, the web site is www.newhavenfootballfoundation.org and it is well put together.
“We’re very proud of our game and I think we do a pretty good job with it.” Criscuolo said.
