Notable CT high school football players make signing day choices.
ANSONIA — A city’s mayor isn’t usually the kind of dignitary who attends the local high school’s National Signing Day ceremony. But Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and his family were proudly present at the Ansonia High School library on Wednesday afternoon.
There, his son David Cassetti Jr. and fellow captains Alex Romanowski and Chris Kaminski were putting a cherry on their 2022 S-class championship season by announcing their college football destinations: Cassetti signed to play NCAA Division II University of New Haven and Romanowski and Kaminski both announced they would play at UMass-Dartmouth Division III.
“With Ansonia, school and community go hand in hand, so everyone is extremely proud,” said coach Tom Brockett.
Although not a blockbuster event, it was once due to the introduction of an early signing period at the end of December, National Signing Day – the start of the official signing period for the NCAA for Division I and II athletes – again saw some notable players in the state make their varsity decisions. Wednesday.
Cassetti, who along with Romanowski was a New Haven Register First-Team All-State selection, will be joined at UNH by fellow Connecticut players Giovanni Vicens (OL) from Derby, Brian Rose (WR) from Stamford and Nehemiah Johnson (WR) off Capital Prep.
Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic back Freddie Camp, another Register first-team player, has signed with Rhode Island. Granby/Canton quarterback Will Migliaccio (to Marist), Hartford Public defensive back Elijah Perry (Central Connecticut), Hamden Hall quarterback Ethan Coady (Pace) were among other notable state signatories .
For Cassetti, who rushed for 2,204 yards and 33 touchdowns as Ansonia went 13-0 and won its first state championship since 2016, New Haven’s appeal came from its strong football tradition and its rapidly growing athletic program and facilities as the University prepares for a potential move to Division I.
“They definitely have something there,” Cassetti said of UNH. “They definitely put a lot of money into their football program. They have a brand new facility (the Peterson Center), which is crazy. I really liked that.”
The advice Mayor Cassetti gave his son when he was a young footballer applies again to UNH. “I told Dave from the very beginning, since he was little, that you have to start at the bottom and work your way up and prove yourself,” he said. “It’s all up to him.”
Romanowski and Kaminski reveled in their college decisions and nodded to their younger brothers — freshman lineman Jacob Romanowski and junior winger Preston Dzubina — to continue Ansonia’s storied tradition. “Stay in the weight room and he’ll be there too for the next three years,” Alex Romanowski said of his brother.
“Preston wants to be here too, next year,” Kaminski said of his brother. “You will have to keep working and get another championship.”
A number of top players have announced they will join state programs as favorite players, including two state players of the year: quarterback John Neider and Barlow’s Danny Shaban. Neider was the Gatorade and Connecticut High School Coaches Association Player of the Year. Shaban was the Register’s Player of the Year.