NEWPORT – The bustling summer scene on Thames Street steadily gave way to something different on this Monday night under overcast skies.
A short drive down the road to Murphy Field saw Rogers hard at work on Aug. 17 while preparing for the upcoming football season. Two pickup volleyball games and a couple basketball workouts on the courts sitting along the public park’s perimeter couldn’t distract from the action on the grass.
The Vikings left just short of nightfall with their first three hours in the books. They made the short walk back to school after opening pursuit of a latest winning season, one of the state’s most storied programs looking to get back on track.
“To me this is just Christmas in August,” Rogers coach Charlie Bibeault said. “It’s the best day of the year. I think with how we ended last year we’re really excited to be back out here to turn a new leaf and start fresh.”
Rogers defeated Chariho and Juanita Sanchez in a curtailed 2-8 season, one that was brought to a premature halt after some off-field controversy. It was a sour ending to Bibeault’s debut, a locker room incident that forced the Vikings to pull out of a planned Thanksgiving meeting with Tiverton. This occasion marked a return to play, with Rogers scrimmaging starters against scout teams to end the evening.
“We like being physical,” Rogers captain Jay Northup said. “We’re very young – a lot of young kids coming in. Everyone is hungry.”
Injury Fund action at Portsmouth on Sept. 3 will serve as a tuneup for a Sept. 11 opener against Middletown. Those two Aquidneck Island grudge matches lead to a first Division III game against North Providence on the road. The Vikings don’t see Toppa Field until a Sept. 25 clash with Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout under the lights.
“We’re in a much better spot in terms of understanding the offense and the scheme of things, understanding how we do stuff,” Bibeault said. “Our relationship is a lot better because we understand them and they understand us.”
High expectations in North Kingstown
Save the talk of rebuilding for another program.
Dave Giorgi wouldn’t bite on it. Nick Stafford outright rejected it going into his senior season.
North Kingstown is gunning for a Super Bowl berth at the state’s top level, the same goal it carried into 2025 with a loaded, proven roster. The Skippers expect to grow into the same sort of contender that gave eventual champion Bishop Hendricken everything it could handle in two meetings last season and beat La Salle in a September thriller.
“People are saying it’s more like a rebuild – just something I’ve heard,” Stafford said. “I feel like it’s almost the same. With the talent we have and the coaches we have we shouldn’t struggle at all.”
The Hawks outlasted North Kingstown in a soggy 12-3 opener before outscoring them, 38-34, in a semifinal thriller. Those were the only two defeats the Skippers suffered in an 8-2 campaign, one that included a 21-20 triumph over the Rams and a 29-28 squirmer against Central. North Kingstown finished an 8-2 campaign with a comfortable 42-12 win over rival North Kingstown in their annual Thanksgiving meeting.
“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Giorgi said while gearing up for his fourth year in charge. “We have a lot of new faces. But we have kids who got a lot of experience last year – I think we’re going to be fine.
“We’ll take some hits and bumps at the beginning, but we’ll be in the thick of things at the end.”
Matt Auclair is in line to replace the graduated Jack Diano under center and is already receiving college interest thanks to his 6-foot-4, 190-pound frame. Stafford leads the cadre of position players who raced around the turf Monday afternoon at Perry Athletic Complex. His junior season finished with All-State honors at running back and early college offers from the likes of the University of Rhode Island and Merrimack.
“I was happy with the year I had,” Stafford said. “But I was kind of disappointed – I wanted to do more. That’s my goal this year.
“I want to do more than I did last year. And not just by a little bit.”
Scituate looking to make it 3 in a row
While North Kingstown is one of the bigger football communities in the state, but some of Rhode Island’s smaller communities do what they can to match the passion for high school football.
Scituate is the second-smallest school fielding a football program – Narragansett is the only smaller school participating without a co-op – but had a respectable showing at Monday’s opening practice, with 30 kids on the field.
The Spartans are chasing history this season as they try to have a third straight winning season, something the program’s never done. Scituate graduated some stars from last year’s semifinal team, but it wasn’t hard to see where their strengths could be this size.
What the Spartans lack in numbers they make up with decent size. Country strong is a phrase that comes to mind and while The Journal was at Monday’s practice, Scituate was putting in considerable work with their linemen as the skill position players worked on the stuff that shows up in highlight films.
The Providence Journal spent about 40 minutes at practice and there was one highlight that stood out. Punter Caiden Reikhrud showed why he was a First Team All-State pick last year during Scituate’s special teams work. The Spartans probably hope Reikhrud won’t have to punt once this year, but it’ll be a must-see event whenever he has an opportunity.
Ponaganset prepares for tougher schedule
Working further west, Ponaganset was certainly not messing around with its first practice and a new addition could be a difference-maker as it prepares to make the jump to Division II.
Last season the Chieftains were a run-first – and really a run-always – team and don’t expect that identity to change. Dave Caito briefly experimented with passing the ball in his debut season, only to abandon it midway through and, in doing so, became the team that went on to win the Division III Super Bowl in 2024.
This year Caito added Bill Samaggio to his staff. Samaggio built a reputation for himself as one of the state’s best offensive line coaches. He left Chariho after last season and was asked by Caito – a longtime friend – to bring his knowledge to Glocester.
It should pay dividends. While The Journal was at Monday’s practice, Ponaganset worked on its offensive sets, flashing the misdirection that allowed for quite the season last fall. With Samaggio now on staff, a sneaky tough Chieftains line is only going to get better and the team could be a darkhorse playoff contender in Division II in 2026.
New era in Smithfield
Moving back to Division IV for the final stop of the afternoon practices, a new era has begun in Smithfield as Rob McCoy ran his first official practice for the Sentinels.
Last season was filled with controversy and the school decided – predictably – to go in a different direction with their head football coach. McCoy is a chance at a clean slate – he’s a longtime coach in Massachusetts who’s familiarity with Smithfield is from the opposing sidelines.
The Sentinels spent the early portion of their Monday practice away from their turf field, but closed the final hour – following the boys soccer team – at their home stadium. Smithfield had a senior-heavy roster last year and while that usually means rebuilding, it doesn’t look like that will be the case in 2026.
Speed and efficiency was the name of the game for the Sentinels, who return Kyle Blakely at quarterback. With Blakely, now a junior, one year older, you could see chemistry has already been build with his bevy of fast and athletic weapons. Expect fireworks from Smithfield’s offense this fall and don’t be surprised if the defense does some things you’ve never seen.
With Day 1 of the Rhode Island high school football season in the books, don’t forget to stick with The Providence Journal from now until the final game is played. We cover high school football different than the rest and Monday was just a start.
Burrillville opens at Eccleston Field
Burrillville football opened the 2026 season in a familiar spot at Eccleston Field.
But that won’t be the Broncos home this year and neither will be Saturday morning’s at Alumni Field. The high school’s new artificial turf stadium is ready to become Bronco Country.
The turf was opened to spring sports earlier this year, but football’s christening doesn’t come until Week 2 against West Warwick. And it might be the perfect year for Burrillville to open the venue as the Broncos should be early contenders for the Division II crown.
“We had 7-on-7, but there's nothing like this,” quarterback Chase Gavis said. “Putting helmets on the first day and coming back as a team. I couldn't go to bed last night. I got no sleep last night. I was up just thinking about this first day back, senior year, it's going to be an amazing time.”
Burrillville has 43 players in the program with 13 seniors leading the way. Gavis is back as the team’s signal caller with Jack Belluzzi likely being his top target this fall. The Broncos are back in D-II after two seasons in the state’s top league. They’re confident in their chances in the league, and they should be with a cast of returnees that sharpened itself in D-I.
“I feel like we we’re kind of looking at it as we were the underdog in D-I,” Jack Belluzzi said. “We're in D-II now and it's more of our own division. People want to beat us, we're more of a top dog in D-II.”
Burrillville ended the last hour of Monday’s practice with individual defensive skill groups and a 15-minute period of team defense. The defense is hoping to keep the new endzones clear on Friday nights, and all season long.
“Every day we walk in the locker room, everyone's playing music, jumping up and down,” Gavis said. “We’re just excited as a team, getting out here and playing as a team.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Afternoon practices bring excitement for schools big and small on Monday