Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com

MERIDEN -- The New Hampshire Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl team spent a day away from the practice field Sunday, when it visited the Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield, Mass.

New Hampshire coach Chris Childs said there were more restrictions this year than when he visited the hospital as a player in 1995.

"There are more laws now than back then, but the kids were brought out of their rooms so we could interact with them," Childs said. "They gave us a presentation on a screen and there was a boy about 5 who didn't have any legs. How much more do you need than that?

"One of the kids wanted a t-shirt so Gregory (Kearsarge's Doug Gregory) took off his shirt  and then took off his white -t-shirt, found a permanent marker and had the team sign it. He gave him the shirt off his back, and that was pretty neat. The kid wanted a shirt and that made his day.

"I think the visit opened the eyes of a lot of them.I told them, '15 years from now, when you have their own kids, it'll mean even more to you.'"

New Hampshire will return to the field for three practices Monday. Childs said full contact will be kept to a minimum this week.

"We'll probably hit one more day," he said."'We want to keep the kids healthy at this point."

This year's game will be played Saturday at Windsor (Vt.) High School. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

New Hampshire stretched its winning streak to 10 last summer, when it posted a 34-20 victory. New Hampshire leads the series 42-13-2.

"The defense is always ahead of the offense at this point," Childs said. "We've got some work to do there. Then there's our kickoff and kick-return teams -- we still have that to work on."

Tickets for this year's game are $8 in advance and $10 on game day. Reserved tickets are also available for $20. For more information contact the Shrine Football Office at (603) 448-1042.

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Childs said offensive lineman Tom Baxter (St. Thomas) left the team Sunday. Baxter, who lives in York, Maine, was sick during the first three days of practice. Childs said Baxter will not be replaced on the roster. ... Shrine rules force each defense to play a four-man front with no blitzing. A six-man front can be used in short-yardage situations. A team will also receive the kickoff if it scores but still trails by 10 points or more. That rule drew heavy criticism last year, when Vermont received a kickoff after is scored a TD in the second quarter. ... Childs said Bishop Guertin's Mike Kelly has shown no lingering effects from the leg injury that forced him to miss all but two games last season. Kelly will play wingback Saturday.