North Kingstown's Super Bowl appearance shows a path for RI public school programs

CRANSTON — Dave Giorgi watched from the stands at Pierce Field in 1993 when the North Kingstown High School football team lost to Portsmouth in the State Championship Super Bowl.

Rhode Island high school football has changed in the three decades since. Private schools have come to dominate. Bishop Hendricken has made it to the Super Bowl in 15 straight seasons. Ten of those times, La Salle was its opponent.

Giorgi and the Skippers were back on the championship stage on Sunday. The outcome was not what they dreamed of — a tight game slipped completely out of their grasp in the fourth quarter for a 35-7 loss. But the Super Bowl appearance was a significant achievement and an important step for the program. For the rest of the state, it was a reminder that competing against the private school powerhouses is not impossible.

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“It’s definitely a big jump, competing with a private school,” North Kingstown senior Victor Encarnacion said. “It’s been a while, obviously. We beat La Salle. We weren’t able to beat Hendricken. Hopefully, next year brings new light. Coming here is no easy feat. Hopefully, the freshmen, sophomores, juniors that are coming up see that it’s possible to get here.”

North’s title hopes were intact through much of the game. When Brayden Rogers and Cooper Berthelot connected for a 71-yard touchdown pass late in the first half, the score was 7-7.

Hendricken had enough time on the clock for a lightning strike of a momentum change. Oscar Weah busted a 64-yard run and soon afterward punched the ball into the end zone to restore Hendricken’s lead.

“Football is all about momentum. I say it all the time,” Giorgi said. “We tried to eliminate big plays. They ended up spreading us out on that play. Before, they had a jack-back and a tight end in, and they decided to spread us out. It was a big play, a big break and that hurt. That’s kind of what changed the game.”

The Skippers threatened once more after two defensive stops in the third quarter but couldn’t find the end zone. Hendricken forced two turnovers and scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to lock up the victory. The long touchdown in the first half ended up as the only points Hendricken allowed.

“We struggled to move the ball,” Giorgi said. “Their defensive line took advantage of our offensive line.”

The loss may someday go down as another step on a ladder to the top. The Skippers have been steadily climbing and knocking on the door time and time again in recent years. Just last season, they lost to La Salle in the semifinals. Their stunning victory over the Rams this year represented a major breakthrough.

“Being here shows that we have what it takes,” Giorgi said. “If kids buy in and find ways to win, we’ll be fine. Getting that big win against La Salle last week was very big for our program. And I think it’s going to take our program to the next level.”

The Skippers embraced the opportunity that so many of their predecessors had just missed out on.

“Honestly, I poured my heart out,” Encarnacion said. “I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Giorgi grew up watching North Kingstown High School games and played quarterback for the Skippers. He was on staff as Joe Gilmartin rebuilt a program that had fallen to the lowest of lows and remained on the sidelines as Fran Dempsey took the torch. Getting his alma mater back to the Super Bowl in his first year at the helm was an achievement to savor.

“It was special,” Giorgi said. “I talk about the history of the program, being at Pierce Field 30 years ago, reaching out to my coach, Keith Kenyon, and talking to him gave me some motivation. It is — it’s a dream come true. It’s not the ending I want, but to be here, to continue to put our program on the map — it’s a good feeling. It means a lot. It’s emotional. It’s going to take a long time to get over, but that’s part of playing sports. You learn from it.”

The stands behind the Skippers were full. From afar, players, coaches and fans from other schools were undoubtedly rooting for North, too, for a public school to take down the Hawks. It seemed possible this year. North Kingstown became the first team to beat Hendricken or La Salle in the semifinal round since Portsmouth topped the Rams in 2010. And on the same night that the Skippers punched their Super Bowl ticket, Central took Hendricken to overtime in the other semifinal.

“I’ve been saying this for a while, and people don’t always believe me, but I think it validates that we’ve got a good thing going in the state of Rhode Island,” Hendricken coach Keith Croft said. “People always talk about the private schools, the private schools, but I think you do a discredit to these programs like NK, like Central, like Barrington, like Cumberland, who have had a lot of success now and are building programs the right way. I think high school football in Rhode Island — we’ve got a lot of good things happening and we should celebrate it.”

Perhaps this is just a blip and it will be a private-school show for years to come. But programs like Central and North Kingstown have embraced the challenge that has been laid out for them in the current RIIL alignment. And while they both nearly made the title game, they weren’t miles ahead of their fellow publics. Cumberland beat North Kingstown and Barrington was a Hail Mary away from doing the same. Westerly and Woonsocket owned victories over Central.

North’s willingness to take on the challenge of the four-team Division I circuit has become a core piece of the program’s identity.

“Everybody asked me, 'Who did you want to play?' I wanted to play Hendricken,” Giorgi said. “No disrespect to coach [Mike] Washington. He runs a phenomenal program at Central. It would have been fun to have two public schools, but Hendricken has been in 15 straight championships. Who else do you want to play? We’re getting there. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take a lot of hard work. But I have a great group coming back. Getting that big step last week is what we needed because kids believe it can happen.”

Whatever the landscape looks like in the coming seasons, it’s a safe bet the Skippers will be a player in it. They fully believe it won’t be 30 years between Super Bowls this time.

“We’ll be here again,” Giorgi said. “I promise you. We’ll be here again.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: North Kingstown football proves that public schools can compete