Castleton, Vt.
Belt, a Stevens High graduate who played linebacker for the Cardinals for four years, was a quiet leader for coach Paul Silva’s program. He led by example, according to Silva, who was asked to join Justin Leonard’s New Hampshire coaching staff, which Belt did largely under the radar as his offensively-talented teammates racked up statistics, headlines and attention.
Six athletes from four Upper Valley schools were selected for Saturday’s Shrine game, including a Hartford linemen Justin Pero and Tanner Potter for Vermont and Lebanon’s Calvin Hunnewell, Stevens’ Belt and the Newport’s Christian Lawrence and Stephen Nix for New Hampshire. Lawrence has been absent from New Hampshire camp this week.
For Belt and the other athletes, many of whom haven’t seen a football field since last fall, the experience of training camp this week has been both surreal and eye-opening.
“I just felt honored,” Belt said at Tuesday’s media day at Castleton University. “To even play in this game is a huge honor. To be a captain is just surreal.”
Belt took a particular liking to Franklin High defensive lineup Patrick Kaplan early on in camp who, during a particularly strenuous Cardinals’ game this past season, was his blocking matchup in the trenches.
“It’s cool because I’ve played against a lot of these guys,” Belt said. “We’re kind of enemies on the field, but then you come here and you find out that they’re actually cool people.
“(Franklin’s) Patrick Kaplan … we get pretty chippy in there, and that was a particularly chippy game. But we’re pretty good now. … We talk about that game all the time.”
Nix, who helped lead Newport to an undefeated NHIAA Division III championship, is one of the few D-III athletes to make the squad. Given Newport’s record last season, its representation on a New Hampshire All-Star squad is not a surprise. But being from a D-III program, Nix said, changes his perspective.
“Being picked is an honor because it’s such a prestigious game,” Nix said. “But being from Division III is more of an honor because it just means you worked really hard. They look at you and say, ‘We want you over D-I or D-II players.’ It’s an honor to be picked.”
Lebanon’s Hunnewell, a lineman who blocked for Raiders’ star runner Ryan Milliken, was surprised to get the call.
“It could have been anyone,” he said. “Not as much credit was given to the blockers. That’s understandable. It was cool just to finally get recognized for something like this.”
Hunnewell worked out at home during the spring to prepare for training camp. But even with all the work beforehand, he wasn’t prepared.
“It’s been so tough,” he said. “I was just not ready for what they threw at us. I worked out and stuff, but I wasn’t ready for something like this. But I think we’re really handling it well, especially with this group of guys.”
Despite the tough workouts and the early practices, Hunnewell feels better among strangers knowing that they’re all working toward the same goal.
“I feel it’s good because I know everyone here is committed and that everyone is some of the best on their team,” he said. “There’s no slack-offs. Everyone wants to just come and play.”
For Pero and Potter, the pair who played on opposite sides of the line for Hartford, the game represents the end of a portion of their lives that they know they will never get back.
Pero, committed to studying legal studies at Ithaca (N.Y.) College, and Potter, headed to Paul Smith’s College (N.Y.) to study forestry, said neither will be continuing their football careers in college. With their freshman years right around the corner, the Hartford pair are making it a point to take their time with everything they do this week. They want to take it in.
“It was awesome getting that letter knowing that you have one last game. Neither one of us are playing in college,” Pero said. “Last hurrah for us.”
Added Potter: “You don’t take anything for granted. Just try to enjoy every second of it.”
That helps when the locker room chemistry comes quickly, particularly for a Vermont team that has not won since 2000. The Hartford duo are doing their best to fit right in and enjoy their time while doing so.
“We were saying this a couple of minutes ago, some of us don’t even know each other’s names,” Potter said.
“We talk like we’re best friends,” Pero added. “But we don’t know each other. We just spent the entire break learning each other’s names.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.