Warren/Mt. Hope High School Football Champions
Champions Teams that are members of Warren Athletic Hall of Fame
1933 (one loss, two ties): Pat Casteldi, Mack Dyman, Paul Ramsden, Ben Polak, and Joe Sagan played every single minute of this eleven’s 5-1-2 Class B Championship season. Shutouts of St. Raphael, Classical, Barrington, Westerly, and Central Falls were only somewhat offset by a one-point loss to De La Salle and ties with Coyle of Taunton and Bristol’s Colt Memorial. None of the team members were named to the All State eleven.
Running back Duke Abbruzzi, backup fullback Les Burdge, coach Jim McGeough, and running back Bennie Polak, who as a fifteen-year-old senior! scored the winning touchdown in the championship game, are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1935 (one loss): A non-league loss to Classical, 0-7, was the only negative mark on the Red Raiders’ record. After downing St. Raphael in a scrimmage and falling to Classical, they shut out De La Salle, Burrillville, Colt Memorial and the Warren High 1933 title team by a combined score of ninety-three to nothing. In addition, they defeated Barrington and Class A Central’s Junior Varsity on their way to the Class C title.
Running back Duke Abbruzzi and end Donat Brochu were named to the All State gridiron squad. Duke Abbruzzi, Donat Brochu, Les Burdge, coach Jim McGeough (in his last year of coaching Warren High football), Pete Mogayzel and Paul Sevigny are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1936: Then known as the Red Raiders, the Warren eleven knocked Barrington from the undefeated ranks and also downed St. Raphael, De La Salle, East Greenwich, South Kingstown, Colt Memorial, and Burrillville on its way to the undefeated Class C title. (Warren did not beat Burrillville’s Broncos again until 1956, when the Redskins tied with East Greenwich for the Class C Co-Championship.) The team scored one hundred and six points and gave up only twenty.
Running back Duke Abbruzzi and guard Pete Mogayzel were named All State. This was the fifth consecutive season that Duke was named All State, a streak that he added to when he earned All State honors in the 1937 basketball season. Duke Abbruzzi, first-year coach Charlie Burdge, freshman Flash Greenwood, Tom McKale and Pete Mogayzel are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1956: After having defeated Colt Memorial for the first time in eighteen years in 1955, the Redskins returned most of their starters and downed Burrillville for the first time since 1936. In the process, they shared with East Greenwich the Class C Co-Championship. (With seconds remaining in the Harrisville section of Burrillville, Charlie Burdge dug into his bag of tricks and end Warren Proulx, who had switched from the right side to the left side for this one play, scored on a double reverse.) Victories over North Providence, North Kingstown, Pawtucket Voke, Barrington, Colt Memorial, and Burrillville overshadowed a loss to the Avengers of East Greenwich and a tie with the prior year’s champions South Kingstown. North Providence, North Kingstown, and Pawtucket Voke all failed to reach the end zone.
Guard Pete MacDougall, who made the key defensive stop in the Burrillville contest, was named to the All State team.
James “Shoes” Abbruzzi, signal caller Ed Abrain (as a contributor), tailback Chico Andrade (an All State pitcher and shortstop), tackle/linebacker Pete Andreozzi, assistant coach Donat Brochu, coach Charlie Burdge, wingback Dick DeBlois, manager John Jannitto (as a contributor), statistician Jack Flynn (as a contributor) and Pete MacDougall are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1972: All you need to know about Warren High’s Undefeated Football Champions of 1972 is that Pat Abbruzzi called it “my best team ever.” The undefeated and untied Class C Champions compiled a 9-0 record, shutting out Bristol, 28-0, and edging one of the best Barrington High Schools ever (in a non-league contest), 24-20. Tolman’s legendary Gig Pariseau called this Eagles team the best Class B eleven he had seen in more than twenty years of competition. Besides Bristol, other opponents who were shut out were Ponagansett, Central Falls, Scituate, North Smithfield, and Tiverton.
The team was led by All Staters Francis “Tut” Jamiel, who finished second in Rhode Island scoring, and Dave Lamarca, who paced the defense with forty-five solo tackles. It also included future All Staters Gary Lavey and Jim Merolla. Captained by John Braz and Tut Jamiel, the team was coached by Pat Abbruzzi, who was assisted by Foxy Marshall, Mike Crane, and scout Jack Flynn. Coach Pat Abbruzzi, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), Tut Jamiel, Wayne LaChance, Dave Lamarca, Gary Lavey, cheerleader Karyn McCahey Monti (as a multi-year All Stater in Track) and Bob Proulx are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1975 (Super Bowl Champions): The Redskins’ 1975 Undefeated eleven capped off the greatest four-year record in the history of Warren High School sports. From 1972 to 1975 the ‘Skins captured thirty-two straight league victories, won four consecutive championships, and finished on a high note when they downed East Greenwich in the second-ever Class B Super Bowl. Putnam, Connecticut was able to score twenty-four points in a four-point loss, but other than that the 12-0 Warren High School team never allowed more than a touchdown in any game. Four shutouts were recorded by the defense in defeats of St. Raphael, Central Falls, North Smithfield, and Tiverton. And rival Bristol was annihilated, 42-8, Warren’s fifth consecutive win over the Colts.
Led by All Staters Jo-Jo Jamiel and Wayne Lachance, the Redskins won every league game by a minimum of eighteen points. In the Super Bowl, Jo-Jo fumbled a kickoff, picked it up, and ran it back for Warren’s first touchdown. When he later notched what proved to be the winning score, he tied the state scoring record of 206 points that was originally set in the 1950s. Captained by Peter Annarummo and Jo-Jo Jamiel, the eleven was coached by Pat Abbruzzi, who was assisted by Foxy Marshall, Dave Booth, and scout Jack Flynn. Coach Pat Abbruzzi, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), Jo-Jo Jamiel, and sophomores Larry McPhillips and Joe Penkala are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1979 (Super Bowl Champions): After falling in a non-league game to West Warwick, 6-21, the Redskins opened the Class B Small regular season with shutouts of Ponagansett, Central Falls, Narragansett, East Greenwich, and Burrillville, a team that managed only four yards rushing. At this point their league points for and against were 141-0. Victories over North Smithfield, Hope, and Scituate (another shutout) were followed by a second non-league loss, 0-14, to Bristol. Subsequent to shutting out Tiverton, the Foxy Marshall-coached team then defeated Smithfield in the Class B Super Bowl, Warren High’s second and last Super Bowl victory. (Mt. Hope’s Huskies, who lost only to State Champion Portsmouth, captured the Division Two Super Bowl in 1998.)
Coach Foxy Marshall was assisted by Joe Almeida and Tom Vendituoli.
State scoring leader and Captain Andy Vollaro was named All State by the Providence Journal. He, fullback Kevin Almeida, wide receiver George Andrade, tackle Matt Ferrara, and quarterback Jim Martel, who was named Coaches All State with Vollaro, were named All Class B Small. Paul Morris, Andy Vollaro and Coach Marshall are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame, as are cheerleader Cheryl Silva Bayuk ( as a volleyball player ) and Bruce Hutchison ( as a wrestler).
Other Championship Football Teams
1964 (two losses): Pat Abbruzzi’s first title team earned the Class C Eastern title. The eleven did lose non-league tilts to Class B’s Cumberland and West Warwick’s Deering, but shut out North Providence, Bristol, and Cranston West within their division. Their key victory came in a 13-6 defeat of Barrington’s Eagles. Running back/linebacker Jerry Marino, who was voted the Providence Journal-Bulletin Honor Roll Boy at the end of the school year and went on to play in the famous Harvard versus Yale 29-29 tie, was named All State.
Coach Pat Abbruzzi, quarterback Bob Brochu, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), tackle Angelo Marino, and Jerry Marino are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1966 (two losses): Victories over Middletown, Scituate, Portsmouth, De La Salle, and Burrillville put the Redskins in a position where a final game loss to Bristol’s Colts and the amazing Roy Ferreira still left them with a share of the Class D Championship. In a non-league contest, they fell to neighboring Barrington as well.
Tackle Angelo Marino garnered All State honors. Coach Pat Abbruzzi, running back Mert Caton, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), and Angelo Marino are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1973 (one loss): Sophomore Jo-Jo Jamiel paced the Redskins to victories over Bristol, North Smithfield, Burrillville, Ponagansett, Portsmouth, Central Falls, Scituate, and Tiverton. A non-league loss to Barrington, in which the Eagles overcame a sixteen-point deficit as Warren failed to score on a fourth down try from the one-yard line, was the only smudge on the Class C Champions record.
Tackle Jim Merolla was named All State, while coach Pat Abbruzzi, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), Jo-Jo Jamiel, Gary Lavey, and Charlie Millard (the team doctor) are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1974 (one loss): In this first season of Super Bowl pairings, star lineman Kenny McPhillips was absent as he sat for his SAT exams. Partially as a result, the Class B Small Champions gained only five yards on the ground in the first half of their twenty-five point loss to Class B Large titlist Westerly. During the very successful regular season, shutouts were dealt to North Smithfield, Burrillville, Bristol, and Tiverton, while other teams that were defeated included Scituate, Ponagansett, South Kingstown, St. Raphael, and Central Falls.
Running back Jo-Jo Jamiel and guard Gary Lavey were named to the All State eleven. Jamiel scored six touchdowns in the whippings that were handed to long-time tormenters Bristol and Burrillville. Coach Pat Abbruzzi, scout Jack Flynn (as a contributor), Jo-Jo Jamiel, Gary Lavey, and team doctor Charlie Millard are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1983 (one loss, one tie): A 6-6 tie with South Kingstown did not prevent this Redskin team coached by Pat Abbruzzi from garnering the Class B Small championship. With three quarterbacks injured, normal lineman Scott Laroche stepped in and almost led the Redskins to a thrilling come-from-behind victory over St. Raphael in the Class B Super Bowl, 26-30. Regular season opponents who were shut out by a total score of one hundred and seventy-nine to nothing were Burrillville, Mount Pleasant, North Smithfield, Ponagansett, and Tiverton.
Center Thad Chrupcala, running back Ken O’Brien, and running back/linebacker Ron Silva were named to the All State squad. Coach Pat Abbruzzi, Thad Chrupcala, Glenn Conway, Scott Laroche (an All State baseball player), Ken O’Brien and Ron Silva are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1986 (four losses): After beginning the season with losses to Burrillville, Portsmouth, and Mount Pleasant, this Warren High eleven came roaring “back from the dead” and with a Thanksgiving Day shutout of Tiverton, qualified for the Class B Super Bowl. Sadly, they ran into Portsmouth again and lost by ten points.
Offensive and defensive guard Frank Medina was named to the All State squad. Freshman punter Paul Boulanger and coach Pat Abbruzzi are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1995 (one loss): The Mt. Hope Huskies opened the season by shocking Division One Portsmouth, 8-0, the first shutout that the Patriots suffered in ten years. Led by head coach Tom Vendituoli, Mt. Hope then rolled to an eight win, one loss record in Division Two, missing a Super Bowl berth due only to a controversial interpretation of the tiebreaker rules and their emphasis on points allowed. With freshman Jason Proulx starring at quarterback, the Huskies shut out St. Raphael, Central, Warwick Veterans, and Westerly and also downed South Kingstown, Cranston West, East Greenwich, Johnston, and, in a non-league Thanksgiving game, Super Bowl-bound Barrington. Their only loss came to West Warwick, 14-34; with three Mt. Hope starters injured, the Wizards scored the game’s last twenty-seven points and these points came back to haunt the Huskies as West Warwick and St. Raphael earned Super Bowl berths.
Running back Mark Rhynard and punter Jay Rogers of Warren, along with Bristol’s Jerrod Grifka (linebacker) and Chris Viveiros (lineman) were named to the All State eleven. Assistant coach Pat Abbruzzi, Mike Marolla, Jason Proulx, Mark Rhynard and Tim Shaw are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
1998 (one loss): Mt. Hope’s gridiron squad defeated St. Raphael, 15-14, thus adding the Division Two Super Bowl Championship to their regular season Division Two title. With little time remaining in the game, St. Ray’s, leading by a point, intercepted a pass on their own five-yard line. But almost immediately, Mt. Hope’s defense tackled a runner on the sidelines at the one-yard line; he fumbled and the ball rolled over the back end line for a safety and the Huskies’ win. After shutting out Tiverton in an Injury Fund contest, the team registered regular season whitewashes of Pilgrim, Toll Gate, Warwick Veterans, Westerly, and West Warwick. In addition, rival Barrington was held without a point in a Thanksgiving Day tilt. The team’s only loss came in a non-league game against the eventual State Champions, Division One Portsmouth. Quarterback (and linebacker) Jason Proulx ran for eleven touchdowns and threw for eighteen more during the regular season. He, as well as offensive ends Adam Abilheira and Jared Medeiros, both from Bristol, were named to the All State squad.
Tom Principe (a 1999 Football All Stater) and Jason Proulx are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.
2009 (four losses): Mt. Hope captured the Division Two-A Co-Championship with a 6-1 regular season record. With Aaron Booth, James Olson, Robert Pompey, and Chris Raiola notching multiple-touchdown games, the Huskies shut out Warwick Veterans, previously undefeated Westerly, Chariho, and Tolman. In non-league contests the Huskies lost to Division One powers, Portsmouth and Barrington. In the Division Two playoffs the eleven downed Cranston East, 7-2, when thankfully a potential game-winning punt return was called back because of a penalty. Then in the semi-finals two-time defending champion South Kingstown was defeated, 13-12. However, in the Division Two Super Bowl, Mt. Hope was held to ninety yards rushing and was shut out by Woonsocket for the second time in the season, 0-13.
Bristolians Aaron Booth, Ben Choquette, Karsten Moritz, and James Olson were named to the All State eleven. No team members are individual members of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame.