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Sports in RI: Burrillville High School’s QB, Logan Gelinas – John Cardullo
by John Cardullo, sportswriter
Photos: Trish Hebert & Bob Gelinas
Burrillville’s Logan Gelinas is wrapping up a great high school career as a three-sport athlete and looking ahead to the future.
It didn’t seem all that long ago that the record-setting Burrillville HS quarterback, Logan Gelinas, would go outside and play with his friends. Living in Burrillville, it wasn’t very hard to find an available school yard, vacant field, or a tiny parcel of grass land. Young Logan would gather up some of his friends and a game would break out. In the summer it was baseball, the fall into winter, football, and when they were chased indoors because of the cold and bad weather, it was basketball. The same group of boys and some girls along the way would go and play some type of sport for hours at end.
Going from pick-up games to organized sports for Gelinas was an easy transition. “I played baseball in Little League and some recreational basketball. But for Gelinas and his posse it was football that they LOVED playing! For a small town such as Burrillville, the athletes often grew up playing for the local teams and with a small population the players knew each other well. Some of the boys excelled in baseball, others it was basketball, but for Logan it was always football.
Joining the Burrillville Patriots of the Rhode Island Pop Warner league, it was here, at 8 years old, Gelinas and his friends started playing the game that would have a huge impact on all their futures. As Logan’s career just began, he was able to watch his older brother, Jake, play at the high school level. Jake led his Burrillville teams to championships as he smashed all the team records at quarterback. Logan, who was 6 years younger, sat and watched his brother play at the high school level as he climbed up the Pop Warner ladder, playing quarterback, smashing records as well. But they were his brother’s records that he was breaking. “I never felt any pressure to be better than him, as a matter of fact he helped coach me along in many cases. Between my brother and my father coaching me, I was in good hands.”
His father, Bob Gelinas, was a good athlete in his own right. He settled on playing competitive softball before recognizing that both his sons had a real talent playing quarterback. So, he did what every good father would do, give up playing his sports to coach his sons. It wasn’t too long before the Burrillville legendary head football coach, Gennaro Ferraro, ask Bob to join his coaching staff as the quarterback’s coach.
As for Logan, he was enjoying playing the game of football and was teamed with his lifelong friends who shared the same burning passion as he did. His boys like Dan DelMonaco, Jack DiChiaro, Darren Brum, Riley Hebert, Joant De La Cruz, Andrew Boiteau, Norm Soullier, Leland Kelleher, Kyle Maciel, Dean Parrillo, Nate Njoes, Jimmy Boss, Cameron Laramee, Jim Provost and Kyler Fague made a pack, they were going to start high school together and finish together.
Even when other schools came knocking on the door, promising a bigger program, more exposure, more opportunities. “I was determined to stay with my guys!”. Coming into the high school level as freshmen, our coach kept up together on the freshman team, that’s what coaches with successful programs do. “Our sophomore year was a learning experience. We didn’t win very many games, but we learned many lessons!” What they learned was that in order to be where they wanted to be as players, as a football team, they would have to work harder than they ever thought possible, and everybody had to commit, or it wasn’t going to work. Gelinas and Kelleher took control and organized off-season workouts.
Starting in the summer most mornings at 6. And often going to noon time. No coaches, no adults, just the team. The Broncos season was totally different from the season before. They were in better shape and better prepared and very disciplined. Mistakes that would derail them the year before were gone. The Broncos displayed a passing attack that make some college teams green with envy. The offense was a thing of beauty, led by Gelinas running the offense, and Kelleher running the ball and receiving corp that hasn’t been seen in this state in a very long time, or at least since Jake Gelinas was leading his Broncos team a few years earlier. But this was Logan’s team, and these were his guys, and what they did was to go on to make it to the D2 semi-finals before losing to the Cumberland Clippers. Even in defeat the team managed to stay upbeat and positive as they were going to head into the next football season.
The question for Logan was, what was he going to do while he waited to get back on the football field in the fall? Well, there is always basketball! Admittedly basketball wasn’t his best sport, but he made an impact on the Bronco hoops squad as they made it into the D2 playoff tournament winning their “play-in” game. “Basketball was a way for me to keep in shape and I like to run! The team also discovered that they were pretty good. But as soon as the season was over, it was back to football mode for me and my boys!”
Burrillville was moved up into Division I during the off-season, but instead of feeling upset the team felt excitement. “This was a challenge that we were prepared for, we wanted to take on Hendricken, LaSalle, Central, North and South Kingstown and the Westerly’s of the division. We knew that we could compete with anyone and beat any of those teams on any given day!” So, as it was the summer before, the team got back to work and even though they didn’t think it was possible, they worked even harder. Hitting the weight room, running and drills, drills and drills! The Broncos finished the season with an 8-2 record and the Division I title. Using a “power ratings” system, the Broncos were put into the Division I Super Bowl bracket where they made it to the championship game only to lose to a re-charged North Kingstown Skippers team 37-7. “Although it wasn’t the ending that we wanted, the team came a long way as each and every member of the team contributed.” Gelinas was the leader of the team, but he never hesitated to give credit to his teammates, pointing out that it was a “we effort, not just me!”
As for Logan, his career stats at Burrillville were 72 total touch downs, with 5,450 total yards (ironically his bother Jake’s career numbers were 72 total touch downs and 5,105 total yards). A career that began at the Pop Warner level, Logan led his Patriots to the Pop Warner JV Super Bowl Championship; 12u All Star baseball District 4 Championship. In football as a sophomore he was named 2nd Team All-League Quarterback by the RIIL; and 2nd team All-League in basketball by the RIIL; Football in his Junior year he was named 2nd team All State at Quarterback by the RIIL, 1st team All Division and the All-Academic team by the RIIL; He was once again named 2nd Team All-League in basketball in his Junior year by the RIIL; His senior year he was named 1st Team All-State and 1st Team All Division at Quarterback by the RIIL; and in basketball he was named 1st Team All Division by the RIIL, 2nd Team All-Conference by the RIIL and he Played in the States All Star game.
This Spring he will be suiting up for the Broncos baseball team in a sport that he hasn’t played since middle school. His making the team after such a long lay-off, is a testament to his talent and competitiveness. When interviewing Logan, he gives all the credit to his teammates who pushed him to become the player they expected. He also gives credit to all the coaches that he had on this journey. His father being the most important, for treating him like an adult. His brother who was there to bounce ideas off of to get advice from when he needed to. His basketball coach, Kevin Randall, who took a chance not on a basketball player, but an athlete that happened to play basketball. Coach Gennaro Ferraro for believing in him. “When I made the decision to go to Burrillville, there were those that said that I should go to a bigger program, but I found that staying here to play was the right fit!”
The next stop for Gelinas will be UMass-Dartmouth where he will take his talents to play football this fall. He will partner up with his wingman since elementary school, Leland Kelleher. Seeing what these two have achieved in high school, the sky’s the limit for both these athletes, watch out UMass, the Broncos are stampeding your way!
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John Cardullo, sportswriter. John is a lifelong Rhode Islander. His sports experience is extensive, as a player, coach and sponsor of youth and high school sports. He has been the Public Address Announcer for the CCRI Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams. Both the Cranston East and Cranston West football, Cranston East Boys and Girls basketball for 12 years before moving onto the Central, Juanita Sanchez and Mt. Pleasant football teams. Also, Central HS Boys and Girls Basketball, Scituate High School Boys and Girls Basketball, Johnston High School Girls Basketball, Boys Volleyball, Girls Softball, Boys and Girls Soccer teams, and CLCF football.
John has been involved in Men’s softball for 61 years, starting as a batboy for his father’s team in 1964. He moved to the teams scorekeeper then became a player in 1975, and created the men’s team, Players Corner Pub, that went on to win 20 State Championships in their 35 year history. In the 1990’s he published the statewide softball magazine “The Fielders Choice” which was dedicated to all topics related to adult softball. As a feature writer, John and the publication won several media awards. In 2019 he was elected and inducted into the Rhode Island Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame which he also helped create. John is a softball umpire in Warwick, Rhode Island.
In his spare time John golfs with his life long friends in season. After retiring from the printing Industry after a 45-year career, he now writes specialty sports columns for RINewsToday.com, is still actively engaged in the high school sports scene, and will soon launch a radio show/podcast on high school sports.