Football fans anxiously awaiting the arrival of fall will enjoy a respite from the doldrums of a football-free summer when Dartmouth hosts the 55th annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl at Memorial Field on August 2. The contest will feature high school all-star teams from New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth has hosted the game for the last 47 years.
Starring in the game are 72 graduated seniors from New Hampshire and Vermont, handpicked from more than 200 seniors nominated by high school football coaches. Skyler Schlenker from Hanover High is one of the 36 named to the New Hampshire roster.
The teams will be lead by two coaches that are new to the summer classic. Mike Law of East Montpelier's U-32 High School will head the squad from Vermont. Law was named head coach at U-32 in 1994, and has led the school to an 82-35 record and four Vermont state titles during his 13-year tenure.The boys from New Hampshire will be led by Craig Kozens of Laconia High School. Kozens became head coach at Laconia in 2001 and has since led the team to a 49-21 record. In 2007, Laconia won the Division IV title and Kozens was named coach of the year.
The Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl was founded in 1954, when the New Hampshire team beat Vermont, 12-7, at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H. That day, $4,500 was raised to support nearby Shrine Hospitals.
Since then over $4.5 million have been raised to support the Shrine Children's Hospitals in Springfield, Mass., and Montreal, as well as the Shrine Burns Institute in Boston.
The Shriners, an appendant body of Freemasonry whose members are known for wearing red fezzes, administer a network of pediatric hospitals that offer care free of charge.
In the 54 meetings between the young men of New Hampshire and Vermont, New Hampshire has emerged victorious 39 times, losing only 13 times and tying twice. Last August saw the Granite State prevail over the Green Mountain State, 23-20, as a last-minute field goal stymied a stunning second-half Vermont rally.
The Vermont-New Hampshire game is the third best-attended Shrine game, after the East-West Shrine Game, a college football all-star game, and the North Carolina-South Carolina high school all-star game.
In the run up to the big game, both teams will gather at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H., this July for nine days of practice. The teams will also take their traditional trip to a Shriners Hospital, which allows the players and coaches to learn about the Shriners organization and meet some of the children being treated at one of the 22 Shrine facilities in North America.
The Shrine Game has raised over $4.5 million for the Shrine Hospitals in 54 years.
The Shrine Parade -- featuring Shrine Units from around the Northeast and an incredible display of miniature vehicles, motorcycle groups and brass bands -- will precede the Maple Sugar Bowl.
