Middlebury, Vt.
It’s an invention that Fair Haven Union High’s Tim Fyles, Drew Eddy, Jacob Stoodley, Seth Park and Austin Ellis have had no use for. Until this week.
Those players have been practicing as members of the South team in preparation for Saturday’s Vermont North-South Senior All-Star Game to be played Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Middlebury College.
“It was the first time I have ever been in a huddle on offense. I had to ask how I line up in the huddle,” Ellis said.
The Vermont Principals Association Division II state champion Slaters dispensed with a huddle for their hurry-up offense during the seniors’ careers.
There is a lot that is new for the players of the two squads this week, but they quickly assimilated into a team.
“It is a lot of fun playing against guys for three or four years and then getting to play with them,” Ellis said.
“It was a little rocky at first. We didn’t know each other,” said the North’s Trent Cross, a wide receiver from Milton High. “Then we started doing drills, and it was fun to play with other seniors who were serious about football.”
The South has been practicing at Rutland’s Alumni Field this week and the North at Burlington High.
Like the Fair Haven players, Windsor High quarterback Seth Balch was returning to the same Rutland High field for practice where he and his teammates had won a Division III state championship on Saturday.
“It was definitely a little different coming back the day after we played in the state championship game in Rutland and playing with guys you haven’t played with before,” Balch said.
“By the third practice, we looked like a team,” Ellis said. “You would not have thought we started just a couple of days ago.”
The head coaches for the game are North Country’s Lonnie Wade for the North and Springfield’s Rich Saypack for the South.
“We have two offenses. We will run the wing-T and the spread,” said North running back Nate Parady of BFA-St. Albans.
Parady, like a number of these athletes, will be going on to play football at the next level. He wants to play college football above the Division III level and is strongly considering prep school first.
“I know I can play at a higher level,” Parady said.
Parady rushed for more than 100 yards in every game this season and reached 200 or more in three games. He finished with 1,637 yards and 14 touchdowns in 10 games.
The South will likely have Balch and Jay McCoy as quarterbacks. Hartford QB Tyler Hamilton was injured in the VPA Division I state championship game but is on the team. Rutland quarterback Jared Miglorie was also selected for the team but is unable to play due to injury.
“Both quarterbacks (Balch and McCoy) have looked good. They have a great knowledge of the game,” said Ellis, a tight end.
In addition to Hamilton and Balch, Upper Valley players chosen for Saturday’s game include Hartford’s Hunter Perkins and Kody Rhodes; Windsor’s Duncan Frazer, Ben Meagher, Dakota Page and Jacob Tucker; and Woodstock’s Patrick Potter, Brendan Schwartz and Elliot Shoemaker.