It started out as just an interesting early-season nonleague game.

Two schools from neighboring cities that have been playing football for a long time -- but never had any type of gridiron rivalry -- finally getting together for a game.

It was interesting, but how important can a game between a Division I parochial school and a Division II public school be, especially in early September?

Then Sports Illustrated said Shea High would be the best high school football team in Rhode Island this season.

Suddenly, tonight's Shea-La Salle game has become a Rhode Island classic.

In case you missed it, in its Aug. 28 edition, Sports Illustrated published a special 12-page high school football section. One of the features of the section was the selection of the preseason top team in every state in the country.

Most Rhode Island readers of the magazine probably were expecting to see La Salle, the team that has played in the last six Division I Super Bowls, or defending Division I state champion Barrington, or maybe even East Providence, Portsmouth or Hendricken listed as Rhody's top team.

Instead, Sports Illustrated named Shea, a basically innercity, Division II school that only a little more than a decade ago was playing Division IV football.

"I don't know where it came from, but it's an honor for our players and our school," said Shea coach Dino Campopiano .

It also could be a very astute prognostication by the people at Sports Illustrated.

"Some people around the state knew we had a lot of players coming back, so that may be how it happened," said Campopiano.

The Raiders have more than just a lot of players returning from last year's team, which posted a 10-3 record in only Shea's second year of Division II competition.

They have a lot of fast players.

"We've got good speed," Campopiano said, in something of an understatement. "We have the entire backfield returning from last year. They have been together as starters since their sophomore year, plus we added another running back who transferred from East Providence."

That speedy backfield includes senior running back Matt Bryson . Last fall, Bryson, who scored 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,353 yards on 110 carries, was the only underclassman among the Providence Journal's 25 first-team All-State selections.

Also back is Jermaine Cabagro , a 5-foot-6, 135-pound senior quarterback who constantly frustrates opposing defensive linemen with his ability to scramble out of seemingly certain sack situations.

Add three-year starters Tyler Kingsbury and Curtis McBride , along with transfer Andre Rogers , and you have one of the most explosive backfields in recent years on the R.I. high school football scene.

They are not very big. While Cabagro is, by far, the smallest, Kingsbury is only 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, and Bryson and Rodgers both are listed at 5-8, 180. McBride is the only player over 6-foot and 180 pounds, at 6-1 and 185.

But they are exciting.

The question is, can they compete against a much bigger team that has been the most successful one in R.I. in the new millennium?

Last year, La Salle matched the state record with its six consecutive trips to the Division I Super Bowl. The only other schools to make six straight Super Bowl appearances were Rogers, from 1985 to 1990, and Hendricken, from 1994 to 1999.

Nobody will be surprised if La Salle makes it a state-record seven straight this season.

The Rams lost some key members of last year's Super Bowl team through graduation and transfers, but they still have talent and experience. They also have some of the biggest linemen in the state, with 6-5, 295-pound John Moorookian and 6-1, 290-pound Alex Ianetta on the offensive line and 5-10, 265-pound Stan Sturgis on both the offensive and defensive lines.

The La Salle-Shea game was scheduled last spring, but it took on a whole new meaning when Sports Illustrated made its prediction.

"For us, this is as big a game as any game that's not a Super Bowl," said Campopiano. "(The Sports Illustrated recognition) is nice, but we still have to go out and prove we are a good team. If we can play with La Salle, that will prove we are a good team. I think (tonight's game) is great for Rhode Island football."

And it's only the first week of the season.

jgillool@projo.com / (401) 277-7340