CASTLETON — On Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Castleton University Vermont will try to make it two straight wins in the annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, which pits recently graduated all-star high school football players from the Green Mountain State against their New Hampshire counterparts.
In 2016 eight athletes from the Otter Valley, Middlebury and Mount Abraham/Vergennes union high school collective teams helped Vermont snap a lengthy losing streak by pounding New Hampshire, 50-2. But the Granite State still holds a 47-14-2 lead in the series.
OV running back and linebacker Brent Nickerson was the only local player named in March to the Vermont team, which will be led by Bellows Falls head coach Bob Lockerby.
Practices at Castleton began on Sunday, and both teams are staying on the Castleton campus.
Game day will include a parade starting at 3 p.m. featuring Shrine units from throughout New England and parts of Canada. Pregame introductions at Spartan stadium will start at 5 p.m., and also featured will be an all-star high school and alumni band made up of more than 80 musicians from both states.
The Shrine Bowl is played for the benefit of the Shriners’ Hospitals for Crippled and Burned Children. In its first 63 years the game has raised nearly $5 million. The game is one of 30 such games played annually across the country. Two Vermont Shrine Centers, Cairo (Rutland) and Mt. Sinai (Montpelier), sponsor the Vermont-New Hampshire contest.
Game day tickets will be priced at $15. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.shrinemaplesugarbowl.com by selecting the “Game Ticket” heading. Parking will be offered at $10 per car.
NSN Sports will also be streaming live coverage of the game at nsnsports.net.