What’s the key matchup in this year’s Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl?
Vermont coach Mike Hatt said it’s his team’s offense against the New Hampshire defense.
“We’re gonna have to score to win,” Hatt said. “It’s not gonna be a 10-7 game.”
New Hampshire will carry an eight-game winning streak into this year’s contest, which will be played Saturday (2:30 p.m.) at Windsor (Vt.) High School. New Hampshire leads the all-time series 40-13-2. Vermont has failed to score more than seven points in five of the last eight games. New Hampshire won last summer’s game, 42-0. It was the 11th time in the game’s history that Vermont failed to score.
“If you look at their offensive formations they’re all spread formations,” New Hampshire coach Greg Husband said. “They selected all speed. Clearly they want to get us in space.
“They run a lot of traps, a lot of option. They also throw a lot of quick passes. I obviously feel if our defense is effective that’s a huge key to the game.”
Husband said Bishop Guertin’s Andy Vailas will be the only two-way starter for New Hampshire. Vailas will play quarterback and safety. Vailas will be joined in the offensive backfield by fullback Chris George (Pinkerton Academy), tailback Ray Boulay (Keene) and wingback Auystyn Turner (Franklin).
Vermont may have an edge at the skill positions. Grant White, who guided Springfield High School to an 11-0 record and the Division III championship, will be Vermont’s starting quarterback. White holds the Springfield record for career touchdown passes (52). He completed 109 of 165 passes for 1,821 yards and 26 TDs last fall.
Tailback Mick Wong will be another player to watch when Vermont has the ball. Wong, who was Vermont’s Gatorade Player of the Year last season, helped Hartford win the Division I title. Wong rushed for 1,427 yards (9.7 per carry) as a senior, but was hampered by a bruised shoulder throughout training camp.
“We did a really good job of selecting our skill kids,” Hatt said. “We’re gonna have to stop New Hampshire’s running game. Can we stop New Hampshire and can we protect Grant? That’s what it’s gonna come down to.”
In addition to Vailas, the New Hampshire secondary will feature Exeter’s Andrew Kukesh, Manchester Central’s Jake Tremblay and Dover’s Tyler Long.
“The biggest surprise (in practice) has been Tyler Long,” Husband said. “He’s just a great athlete. We have a pretty good corps in the secondary and at linebacker, and if they start to move it against us we have a Plan B.”
The Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl is usually played at Dartmouth College, but was moved this year because of improvements being made to Dartmouth’s Memorial Field. Saturday will be the second time the game has been played in Vermont. The 1967 game was held at Burlington’s Centennial Field.
It will also be a homecoming game for Husband, who graduated from Windsor High School in 1982.
"I’m equally confident on both sides of the ball,” Husband said. “We feel confident in the kids we have and the scheme we have.”