BURRILLVILLE — The fall months are always far more welcome in Burrillville.
And this summer might have dragged more than most years. The football program is ready to debut its own version of the Greatest Show on Turf. The long-awaited artificial turf field opened to spring sports earlier this year and now it’s time for football to have its ribbon-cutting ceremony.
That showcase comes in Week 2 against West Warwick on Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. A night game in Burrillville will come with some shock factor – gone are the afternoon games on Alumni Field. The town shouldn’t have any troubles adjusting to the new scheduling – it waits for these next three months all year – but new traditions are needed.
Burrillville’s 2026 prep began as soon as last year ended. Its first official day back together started on Monday, Aug. 17 at Eccleston Field.
“We finally got that field and I could not be more amped to get on it,” Lucas Gustafson said. “The whole offseason, anytime I trained, I went to that field. I'm just picturing that turf field in my mind. I can't wait to get on it.
“We had pretty packed crowds, but not everyone wants to get up that early on Saturday morning. Getting the whole school out there, getting families out there on Friday nights, it's going to be electric. I'm going to be enjoying it as much as I possibly can.”
Burrillville dropped to Division II this fall after two seasons in the state’s top league. It fell in the non-state D-I final against North Kingstown in 2024 and managed three wins last year. Burrillville tried what most small schools are afraid to attempt — it took on the challenge of playing against the best.
It likely would have added to its 24 football titles if the last two seasons were played in D-II. But now it’s a better program for having tested itself and the Broncos’ impressive run should only continue.
“I thought it was great for these kids, the sophomores on this team that played for the divisional championship [two years ago],” Burrillville coach Gennaro Ferraro said. “They want to get back to Cranston Stadium. They understand what it takes.”
“It was a learning curve,” Gustafson said. “It was a big test, especially to about 95% of the team that was new to varsity, including myself.”
The Broncos scheduled a difficult regular season, something every team should strive for in the RPI system. The Broncos sandwiched that home-opener against West Warwick, the league’s runner up last year, against two D-I programs in Barrington and Portsmouth. A loss against either the Eagles or Patriots still boosts their RPI rankings.
Sneaking out a win against either team would go a long way toward hosting a playoff game on that new field. But the Broncos certainly won’t play against a team like either of those programs in its divisional games. The harder schedule makes preparation for a playoff run that much easier as the Broncos can ride the rest of the schedule knowing that the toughest games of the year are behind them.
“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.”
“Iron sharpens iron,” Chace Gavis said. “Being able to play them last year, I feel like moving down to D-II will set us up great.”
Burrillville has 13 seniors and 43 total kids in the program. Every coach in the state hopes for more participation in its program, but the 40-some in Burrillville’s group are in step with Ferraro. Belluzzi nearly matched his coach’s words verbatim on how the start of the season felt.
“No, there's nothing like it — it’s like Christmas morning coming out here with all my boys,” Belluzzi said. “We worked all offseason to get here, and I'm a senior, so it's my last one. There’s a little bit more juice in my bones.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Burrillville football ready to debut on new turf for 2026 season