Castleton, Vt.
Sure, Rossiter said. He made hasty plans to get time off from work before hitting the road. Both New Hampshire and Vermont’s all-star football teams began their weeklong workouts at Castleton University over the weekend in preparation for Saturday’s annual contest at Spartan Stadium to support the region’s Shriners’ Hospitals for Children. The game has raised close to $4.5 million in 64 years.
Rossiter’s family has a history at the Shrine Game. His grandfather, Robert Rossiter, also of Newport, took part in the 1967 game, a 27-12 New Hampshire victory at Centennial Field in Burlington. Robert finished the game with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, which still stands as a Shrine Game record 51 years later.
“He has a record in the Shrine Game; I don’t know if I’ll be able to fill his shoes for that,” Rossiter said. “But he’s always told me it’s a really exciting time. … It’s important. It’s for a good cause.”
Touchdowns have been hard to come by for New Hampshire teams over the last couple of years. Vermont has dominated the last two meetings of the annual showcase, outscoring the Granite State, 69-2, in that stretch. The Green Mountain State team dominated in 2016, 50-2, to end a 15-year run for New Hampshire, which must divide its players between the Shrine game and the CHaD New Hampshire East-West High School All-Star Football Game. Vermont claimed a 19-0 shutout last year, the first for the Green Mountain State in its history. Saturday will be the game’s fourth straight at Castleton; New Hampshire won the first meeting in 2015, 24-12.
Competitive balance is something Kristi Morris, general chairman of the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, is keeping a close eye on this time around.
“This is our fourth year under this format of not taking CHaD players,” Morris said. “We’re looking at it. … I am very conscious of that, and so are the Vermont ADs to try to put a good product on the field. We want to be as fair as we can be and be as competitive as we can be. Ultimately, put a product on the field that people will come to.
“We talked about (changing things) this year,” he added. “Knowing what we did going in, with some of the available players that did not get selected for CHaD, we felt comfortable that we could pull enough to make this game competitive. We said, ‘No, we won’t change it this year.’ But we’ll see what happens in August, and then we’ll make a determination.”
This year’s game will feature 11 athletes from five Upper Valley schools. Windsor High, the two-time undefeated Vermont Principals Association Division III champions, have sent the largest contingent to Castleton, including Yellowjackets coach Greg Balch and assistants Matt Meagher, Jamie Richardson and Hunter Patenaude, a former Windsor running back and Shrine Game participant.
“It’s definitely a way to keep football in my life,” said Patenaude, who competes professionally in snowcross and was picked up by Scheuring Speed Sports’ factory team in Minnesota for the upcoming winter season. “It’d be weird to just not have anything to do, just going from playing football every single year since I was in third grade to doing nothing. It’s something to keep my mind off of everything during the offseason in snowcross.”
Patenaude, who played for Vermont in last year’s Shrine Game, also helped out on the Windsor sidelines as an occasional assistant last fall. Working with his former head coach in an all-star game, he said, has been worth the experience.
“Honestly, not playing is the biggest difference,” Patenaude said. “Just seeing last year how all the kids adapted. This year has actually been pretty similar. Everyone is pretty shy the first couple of days but, midway through the week, they get to know each other pretty well.”
Balch said Patenaude’s personality has brought a new dimension to the coach’s room.
“I was really excited when he told me he’d do it,” Balch said. “I think all the players look up to him when they understand his background. … He understands what the players are thinking better than we do. We’re all getting old. He has a little bit better feel for it.
“I’ve already tried to get him on my coaching staff (at Windsor),” Balch added. “He’s a pretty busy guy in the fall.”
For New Hampshire, Rossiter is one of five wide receivers, a group that includes Hanover’s Graham Penfield, Bishop Brady’s Richard Sullivan, Hollis Brookline’s Matt Simco and Bedford’s Cole Glennon. Hanover’s Michael Staiger will play defensive end, and the Stevens High duo of Aidan Cahill and Nick Stone are positioned to play on the offensive line.
Windsor quarterback Seth Balch, running back Jake Tucker, defensive end Ben Meagher and defensive back Dakota Page have all joined Vermont’s squad, maxing out the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl limit of four athletes from a single school. Hartford quarterback Tyler Hamilton is slated to play as a wide receiver for the Green Mountain side. Kody Rhodes, the Canes’ shifty running back, will also share time in the backfield with Rutland running back Jared Miglorie.
Coach Balch has a 34-13 record in five seasons at the Windsor helm and served as the offensive coordinator of the South squad in the annual North-South Game at Middlebury College last fall. The team he’s helped assemble is built on speed, he said.
“I was told I’m the first Vermont coach with the pressure of a winning streak in 30 or 40 years, but I don’t look at it that way,” Balch said. “We’re going to do the best that we can. We’ll go out there and see what happens.”
Saturday’s festivities begin with a parade at 3 p.m. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.