Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com

The New Hampshire roster for the 2009 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl does not include Nashua South's David Zocco or Kennett's Ian White -- two players who will be playing Division I football in the fall -- but New Hampshire coach Greg Husband said his team has plenty of talent and isn't lacking depth.

Zocco, a running back/defensive back was selected as New Hampshire's Mr. Football and was also the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. He's expected to play outside linebacker at the University of Rhode Island. White will play offensive line at Boston College.

"Right across the board this is a good group of kids, " Husband said. "There are always some bumps in the road during the selection process. White is going to be playing Division I football and Zocco will be playing Division I-AA. In one case the decision not to play was his choice, in the other the player felt a commitment to the school in terms of what they wanted him to do over the summer.

"Our mindset was to select the linemen first. If you look we're pretty deep in the line. I'm pretty pleased with the depth and the talent."

The 36-player roster features eight players from Division I, nine from Division II, five from Division III, five from Division IV, five from Division V and four from Division VI. Twenty-four schools are represented.

The following schools have two representatives: Laconia, Keene, Concord, Londonderry, Bishop Guertin, Pinkerton Academy, Souhegan, Pelham, Exeter, Plymouth, Franklin and Manchester Central. There are no players from Nashua South, which won last year's Division I championship.

"We had a lot of kids on the bubble who we really wanted to take," Husband said. "I'm looking forward to meeting all the players. I've already written each of them a letter with our expectations."

The 56th Annual Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl will be played Aug. 1 at Windsor (Vt.) High School. New Hampshire and Vermont will both practice at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden. Practices begin July 22.

Both teams will attend a luncheon in Lebanon on March 1.

New Hampshire extended its winning streak to eight games when it beat Vermont, 42-0, in the 2008 game. New Hampshire has a 40-13-2 edge in the series.

Husband guided Franklin to the Division VI championship last season. Springfield's Mike Hatt will serve as Vermont's coach. Springfield completed an 11-0 season by winning the Division III championship last season.

Husband said the New Hampshire offense will be a mixture of I and spread formations. He said a 4-3 alignment will likely be the team's base defense.

"Our staff has had offensive and defensive meetings all winter," Husband said. "We're really excited to participate in this and working with the kids. It's gonna be fun." 

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The New Hampshire coaching staff includes Kerry Glew (defensive coordinator/Franklin High School), Mike Stone (offensive coordinator/Franklin High School), Jeff Davis (special teams/Franklin High School), and Jeff Kaplan (offensive and defensive line coach/Gilford High School). Franklin High School's Mark D'amour will be the team manager.