Windsor's Aaron Berardino caught two touchdown passes from Xavier's Pat D'Amato as Connecticut escaped with a 14-8 victory over Rhode Island in the 14th Governors' Cup game before an estimated 3,000 Saturday at Rentschler Field.

Berardino (five catches, 87 yards) caught TD passes of 34 and 13 yards from D'Amato and was named CT's offensive MVP.

New London's Jevan Elmore made three interceptions and was named CT's defensive MVP. Bunnell's Jawad Chisholm also had an INT.

Connecticut has won 10 straight meetings and leads the series 11-3.

Connecticut has won nine straight meetings over Rhode Island in the Governors' Cup football series. The 14th edition takes place Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. (Tickets are $8).

Not only has CT won the last nine games, but it hasn't been close. CT has won by an average of 24 points, and has scored more than 40 points four times. CT leads the series 10-3.

It's a trend that CT is hoping continues.

"We not only want to win the game, but we're trying to dominate the game," Xavier linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox said. "We think we have one of the best teams CT's ever had."

The CT roster is certainly an impressive group and includes 12 that made the Register All-State team and four more that made the All-Area team.

Five are headed to Ivy League schools, including Cheshire's Sebastian Little (Yale) and Notre Dame-West Haven's Ludovic Richardson (Brown), and four more are headed to NESCAC schools.

"I think we go under the radar a lot," said Santos-Knox, who will play at UMass. "I think a lot more people can go to bigger schools, but we get overlooked because we're from Connecticut. As you can see, we get some players that go to some big-time schools. We get our names out there."

The reason?

"We just do it the hard way," Santos-Knox said. "We come out and we play physical. There's no excuses. We work hard all the time."

CT coach Harry Bellucci admitted this year's roster is impressive in several ways.

"Not only are they great players, but they're just really good kids," Bellucci said. "When we discuss these kids we may make a call to a coach asking what kind of kid he is. You can't have a team full of problem kids because we have 10 days to get ready for a football game. These kids are such great character kids. That's why they're here.

"They're all-state kids for a reason. They take to coaching, they listen, they hustle, and they try to get better every day. They compete hard against each other, and there's a great little window for them to see what football's going to look like at the next level."

Cortez Johnson was named head coach at Sacred Heart High on Friday. Johnson previously served as that school's defensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Johnson takes over for Chris Ortiz, who stepped down earlier this year. Johnson was formerly an assistant at Guilford.

Johnson graduated from Ansonia in 1998 and made the Register's All-State team as a running back in 1997. Johnson finished his high school career with 4,013 rushing yards.

Here's some information about the 14th Governors' Cup football game:

♦What: Pits graduated seniors from Connecticut against their counterparts from Rhode Island

♦When: Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

♦Where: Rentschler Field, East Hartford

♦Tickets: $8

Read more here.

SERIES HISTORY

1999 Connecticut 28, Rhode Island 16
2000 Rhode Island 13, Connecticut 7
2001 Rhode Island 28, Connecticut 7
2002 Rhode Island 50, Connecticut 22
2003 Connecticut 41, Rhode Island 16
2004 Connecticut 52, Rhode Island 14
2005 Connecticut 24, Rhode Island 10
2006 Connecticut 40, Rhode Island 21
2007 Connecticut 59, Rhode Island 27
2008 Connecticut 31, Rhode Island 10
2009 Connecticut 31, Rhode Island 13
2010 Connecticut 29, Rhode Island 7
2011 Connecticut 37, Rhode Island 6
Connecticut leads series 10-3

No. Name Height Weight Pos. School College
1 Jason Piontkowski 5-10 170 WR Masuk Salve Regina
2 Pat D’Amato 6-2 200 QB Xavier Stony Brook
3 Ian Dugger 6-0 180 WR Hall Trinity
4 Kyle McKinnon 5-11 195 RB New London Kent
5 Ryan Lumpkin 5-10 165 WR Windsor Dean
6 Henry Foye 6-2 190 QB Hand Trinity
7 Vance Giarratana 6-1 205 S Hand Trinity
8 Sebastian Little 6-1 205 WR Cheshire Yale
9 Jovan Santos-Knox 6-3 235 LB Xavier UMass
10 Devon O’Reilly 5-10 175 CB Glastonbury Albany
11 Michael Antonio 6-3 185 WR Cromwell Assumption
12 Anthony Morales 6-3 170 QB Cromwell Yale
13 Chandler Foster 6-0 195 S Stamford Central Conn.
14 Brandon Martin 5-10 190 CB Notre Dame-W.H. Southern Conn.
15 Jevan Elmore 5-10 190 CB New London West Point
16 Genois Nelson 6-5 235 DL Maloney New Mexico Military Institute
17 Adrian Sahinovic 6-6 205 P New Milford Cornell
18 Daniel Palmer 6-1 220 LB Hartford Public Hyde Prep
19 Aaron Berardino 5-10 175 WR Windsor Central Conn.
20 Tommy Undercuffler 6-1 195 S Berlin Yale
22 Leon Gordon 5-11 190 RB Brookfield Worcester Academy
23 Jawad Chisholm 6-0 175 S Bunnell Bridgton Academy
24 Brendan Lytton 5-11 190 RB Torrington Milford Academy
25 A.J. Pascuzzo 5-9 165 WR Sheehan Western New England
26 Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn 5-10 175 CB Valley Regional/Old Lyme Amherst
29 Matt Paola 5-9 170 K Pomperaug Endicott
30 Brett Director 5-10 170 WR Cromwell Assumption
36 Brandon Birdsall 5-10 215 LB Bethel Central Conn.
38 Jonathan Ware 6-2 230 LB RHAM Maine Maritime
40 Dallas Smith 6-1 215 LB Ledyard Plymouth State
41 Matt Duignan 5-10 215 LB Masuk Catholic University
45 Billy Weyrauch 5-10 215 LB Cheshire Stonehill
49 Isaiah Thomasson 5-11 225 LB Maloney New Mexico Military Institute
51 Nicholas Colasante 6-1 250 OL Glastonbury Western New England
52 Jamar Johnson 6-1 215 DL Bloomfield Central Conn.
55 Maleek Riley 6-1 275 OL Northwest Catholic Western Conn.
56 Giovanni Viven 5-11 225 LB New Britain Tunxis CC
57 Emir Kuljancic 6-2 290 DL Wethersfield Cushing
58 Shaun Bowman 6-2 280 OL Cheshire Sacred Heart
59 Wesley Hopkins 6-2 265 DL Northwest Catholic UConn
61 David DiGiorgi 5-6 195 LB Holy Cross Gunnery
64 Khamil Rangolam 6-5 300 OL Hillhouse Dean
66 Sean Marinan 6-0 260 DL Xavier UConn
67 Evan Foster 6-4 295 OL Bunnell Kings
71 Timothy Farina 5-9 275 OL East Lyme Becker
72 Hakeem Martin 5-11 265 OL Ansonia Western Conn.
73 Zach Voytek 6-5 295 OL Trumbull New Haven
75 Ludovic Richardson 6-2 285 DL Notre Dame-W.H. Brown
77 Dylan Vano 6-5 285 OL Ansonia Southern Conn.
85 Ben Compton 6-3 215 LB Windsor Undecided
88 Tyler Wood 5-11 180 LB Ansonia Undecided
93 Jose Forestier 6-2 210 DL Bulkeley Undecided
94 Robert Rose 6-2 235 LB Shelton Western New England
99 Austin Wezenski 6-3 270 DL Xavier Central Conn.

VIA PRESS RELEASE

 

THE 16th HALL OF FAME FOOTBALL CLASSIC WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, JULY 14 AT 5 PM AT KEN STRONG STADIUM in WEST HAVEN.

THE GAME PITS GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS FROM FAIRFIELD COUNTY AGAINST GRADUATED SENIORS FROM NEW HAVEN COUNTY. NEW HAVEN LEADS THE SERIES 10-5.

THE GAME IS PRESENTED BY THE RALPH DeSANTIS FAIRFIELD COUNTY AND THE GENE CASEY NEW HAVEN COUNTY CHAPTERS OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION AND COLLEGE HALL OF FAME. 

IT IS THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME BETWEEN CHAPTERS IN THE COUNTRY AND RAISES FUNDS FOR DESERVING SCHOLAR-ATHLETES. MAJOR SPONSORS FOR THE GAME INCLUDE THE WALTER CAMP FOOTBALL FOUNDATION, NFP SPORTS, TOWN FAIR TIRE AND JL SPORTS.

TICKETS ARE $ 7 EACH AT THE DOOR AND $5 IN ADVANCE BY CALLING (203) 231-3992. 

FAIRFIELD COUNTY IS COACHED BY STRATFORD’S JOHN SVATIK AND NEW HAVEN COUNTY BY MARK ECKE.

ROSTERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY.

FOR ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND CHECK OUT THE GAME’S INFO AND ARCHIVES AT WWW.NEWHAVENFOOTBALLFOUNDATION.COM.