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Interscholastic Hall of Fame to induct 3 from Bristol County
Three of the most recognizable names in the history of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League will be enshrined during the organization's annual Hall of Fame induction ceremonies May 4 at the Quidnesset Country Club in North Kingstown. On the induction list are Pat "Doc" Abbruzzi, the former Warren High School All-state running back and coaching legend; Ann Chandler Morris, former physical education teacher, Warren High School coach, league official and administrator, and Karen McAvoy, former Barrington High School multisports star and field hockey and softball coach. Joining them will be other key figures in the state's school sports history, including Bobby Brooks, Lenore Cranston, Joe Hassett, Frank Morey, Al Morro and Haig Varadian. Pat Abbruzzi, set a standard for football excellence, both as a player and coach, which is unrivaled. He was named one of the greatest Rhode Island sports figures of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated. A bruising running back at Warren High School, Abbruzzi was named to the All Class C football team in 1948. He followed in the footsteps, literally, of his older brother, Duke, who gained several All-State honors as an athlete at Warren High a decade earlier. Pat was a catcher on the 1949 Warren/Bristol American Legion baseball team that won the Eastern United States regional championship, and later that year, as a senior at Warren High, was named to the All-State football team. After a starring career at URI where he set many rushing and scoring records while being named All-Yankee Conference and Little All-America, Abbruzzi took part in the annual North-South All-Star game and scored on a 52-yard run. In his first two years at URI, Abbruzzi recorded the longest runs from scrimmage in the nation, 99 yards in 1951, and 98 yards in 1952. As a sophomore, he ran for three touchdowns and 306 yards in a 27-7 defeat of New Hampshire, and during his junior year, he scored on a last-minute TD pass in a victory over Connecticut. Abbruzzi held 10 all-time URI and New England rushing records for 40 years, including that 306-yard rushing effort against UNH. He was named Little All-America in 1953 and 1954, and was the only player in Yankee Conference history to be selected to the All-Conference team four years in a row. He was named Rhode Island "Athlete of the Year" in 1954 and was also honored as the Rhode Island Italo-American "Athlete of the Year" in 1953 and 1954. Abbruzzi was drafted by both the Baltimore Colts of the NFL and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, but opted for the Alouettes, who reportedly were willing to give him a $500 bonus to help pay for his honeymoon. From 1955 to 1959, Abbruzzi dominated the CFL with his power running. He broke the league's rushing record in 1955 and 1956 and was named the "Outstanding Player of the Year" in Canada in 1955. He was also inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame. Once his playing days were over, Abbruzzi turned to coaching, and in 1961, replaced the great Charlie Burdge as coach at Warren High School. He led the Redskins to divisional championships in 1964, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1983 and 1986. He also won the Class B Super Bowl title in 1975. It was during that stretch in the 1970s that his team set an interscholastic league record of 31 victories in a row. Following two "premature" retirements, Abbruzzi returned as an assistant coach for the Pop Warner Football Junior Midgets, who captured the Northeast League championship in 1993. Abbruzzi also came back to coach high school at Mt. Hope as an assistant under Tom Vendituoli and was part of the Huskies' 1995 Class B co-championship team. He also had a chance to coach his grandson, All-State back Jason Proulx. Abbruzzi was named to the URI Athletic Hall of Fame in 1972; honored as the Rhode Island "Schoolboy Coach of the Year" in 1975; and was elected to the Rhode Island Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1976. He was later elected to the Sons of Italy Athletic Hall of Fame. He died in June 1998 and in 1999, he was inducted posthumously as a charter member of the Warren Athletic Hall of Fame. "Pat was one in a million," said his brother, John Abbruzzi. "To me, he was the best. My brother Duke may have been a better all-around athlete, but Pat gave me my greatest thrills in football. Plus, he was a great coach. I think if he were still alive, he'd be very happy and honored to be a member of the Interscholastic League Hall of Fame." Pat's son, Michael, echoed the same sentiments. "This would have been very important to my father," he said. "His one goal was to come back home and make a difference."
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