Smith returns home to take over at his alma mater Lynn Classical

May 13, 2025

Courtesy of Kingstree Athletics Lynn Classical has hired alumnus Brian Smith to take over the football program after former coach Brian Vaughn left for Arlington Catholic earlier this off-season.  Smith most recently served as Head Football Coach & Teacher at Kingstree High School where he led his team to the second round of the playoffs the last two years and the first three years ago. Smith had eight players sign……

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Shawn Hill named new coach at Millis

May 12, 2025

Millis High School has hired former NIPMUC coach Shawn Hill as the program’s new coach. Hill, a Millis alumnus takes over for former coach Bob Martellio who recently stepped away from the program. Hill spent five seasons at NIPMUC and led the Warriors to the Division 5 Super Bowl in 2018. He turned a small co-op program into one of the best small school programs in the state during his……

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Prominent high school programs fill head coaching openings throughout New England this off-season

May 9, 2025

Several power programs throughout New England filled head coaching openings this off-season. In Connecticut, legendary Ansonia coach Tom Brockett stepped away after an impressive 19 year run that included eight state titles. He was replaced by trusted assistant John Mihalko. Earlier this off-season, Staples filled their head coaching opening after Adam Behrends left the program for an opportunity with New Mexico University. Behrends was replaced by offensive coordinator Matt Jacowleff,……

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Cliche named new head football coach at Portland High School

May 6, 2025

Image courtesy of Portland School District/@PHSBulldogs Portland High School has hired a familiar face to take over for Sean Green. Nick Cliche, who joined Green as offensive coordinator in 2023 now replaces him as head coach. Cliche, a native of Vermont has nine years of high school coaching experience. He spent five years with Portland Youth Football. From there, Cliche served as offensive coordinator under Jason Jackson at Deering High……

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First CIAC Showcase event draws big attendance

May 5, 2025

By Craig Boland NEFJ Correspondent DANBURY – On a rainy day at Western Connecticut State, 130 sophomores, juniors and seniors that play in the majority public CIAC conference, ran through athletic testing, position drills, and 1-on-1s in front of roughly 20 college programs (FCS, D2, D3) for a showcase. Following the massive success of the NEPSAC/ISL Prep showcases and the Catholic League showcases in Nee Jersey & New York, the…

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MHSFCA holds its annual banquet

May 5, 2025

Courtesy of Milton Athletics The Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association held its annual banquet on Sunday night. Several head coaches, assistant coaches and players were honored at the event which took place at the DoubleTree Westborough. Six head coaches were inducted into the hall of fame. Jeff Cormier (Auburn), Steve Dembowski (Milton), Shawn Maguire (Burlington), Dave Palazzi (Leominster) Bruce Rich (Chelmsford) and Dave Woods (Bishop Fenwick). I caught up with……

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Former Cheshire QB Dante Reno talks portal decision & goals moving forward

April 28, 2025

One of the top quarterbacks to ever come out of Massachusetts and Connecticut is available. Late last week, former Cheshire QB, Sturbridge native and son of Yale head coach Tony Reno, Dante Reno officially entered the transfer portal after spending the early stages of his college career at South Carolina. Coming out of high school, Reno was the apple of many major programs’ eye. Reno had offers from South Carolina,…

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First ‘A Shot For Life’ football event in Connecticut a big success

April 28, 2025

By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent-New Britain Herald WEST HARTFORD — Hosting its first A Shot For Life 7-on-7 football event in Connecticut at Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, Connecticut – run by founder Mike Slonina – it was a successful opening kick-off in the Nutmeg State. What was originally created as a ‘24-hour shoot-a-thon’ by Slonina in 2011 as an effort to spread awareness and funds for cancer…

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Ansonia promotes assistant coach John Mihalko to replace Tom Brockett as next football coach

April 23, 2025

It did not take long for Ansonia to find the program’s next football coach. Two weeks after legendary coach Tom Brockett stepped away, Ansonia hired a familiar face to replace in assistant coach John Mihalko. A native of Shelton, Connecticut and a graduate of Trinity College, Mihalko, 39, is a currently a history teacher at Ansonia and has served as the program’s offensive line coach for the past 11 seasons…….

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A Shot For Life event continues to be a smashing success

April 13, 2025

It seems like just yesterday, but the original ‘A Shot For Life’ has been around for 14 years. Back then, Mike Slonina became the first person in basketball history to shoot from all over a court for 24 hours straight in an effort to raise money for cancer. Since then, the event has morphed into various others involving baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, football, hockey and field hockey. On Sunday afternoon,…

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