By Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com

Practice for this year's Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl will begin Wednesday at Plymouth State University. The New Hampshire and Vermont teams will each have 10 days to prepare for the game, which will be played Aug. 4 (2:30 p.m.) at Dartmouth's Memorial Field.

New Hampshire won last year's game 24-7 and leads the series 38-13-2.

Milford's Keith Jones is the New Hampshire head coach. The Spartans are 42-40 in his six-year tenure at the school and have made the playoffs each of the past five seasons. Milford lost to Portsmouth in the Division III semifinals last season.

Otter Valley's Dennis Perry is Vermont's head coach. Perry was also Vermont's head coach in 2001, when New Hampshire prevailed 21-0.

Otter Valley was undefeated and won a state championship in 2005, Perry's first season as the program's head coach. His overall record, which includes a stint at Fair Haven, is 60-27.

Vermont will be seeking its first victory in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl since 2000, when it won 47-40.

Each team will hold an intra-squad scrimmage on July 28 at PSU. Both scrimmages are open to the public.

General admission tickets for the game are $8, but will cost $10 on game day. Reserve seats are also available for $20. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl office at (603) 448-1042.