Telegraph photo by TOM KING Former Bishop Guertin QB Hayden Moses, center, was one of several locals who were to play in the Shrine Game, which was cancelled on Wednesday.

The 66th Annual New Hampshire-Vermont Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl Game has been cancelled, Shrine officials announced Wednesday.

Word began to filter out late Tuesday night that the Shrine Board of Governors had voted to make the move, but it did not become official until yesterday morning. The football game was set to be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Castleton (Vt.) University.

The announcement came about a week after it was announced the other big school related charity football event, the N.H. East-West CHaD All-Star Game, set for the same day at Saint Anselm College, was also cancelled.

“As disappointing as this decision is, it was made out of concern for the safety of the players, coaches, families, friends and fans that would be involved,” Shrine Game officials said in a release. “It would be counterproductive to play the game and have the virus spread while playing for the benefit of the patients treated at Shriners Hospitals for Children.”

There were as many as 13 local high school graduates set to play in the Shrine game for New Hampshire, which was to be coached by Alvirne High School’s Tarek Rothe. Add to that the number of locals in the CHaD Game, and about 35 local athletes saw their All-Star hopes dashed.

The locals who were named to the New Hampshire Shrine roster back in January were Grady Hudson, Tommy Keegan and Morgan Williams (Alvirne); Nick Connerty and Hayden Moses (Bishop Guertin); Cam Barrett and Paul Taraszuk (Campbell); Cole Chamberlain and Noah Clark (Merrimack); Kyle Forsley and Samson Hodges (Milford); Ruben De Jesus Munoz (Nashua North), and Glen Preston (Nashua South).

“Over the past several months,” Shrine officials said, “we met with a Castleton University representative for on-campus requirements and communicated with the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) for recommendations and guidance on crowd capacities and contact sport provisions…

“Currently, contact sports remain prohibited and large crowd capacities, such as our game, will not be allowed and could potentially put attendees in jeopardy of spreading the virus. One only has to look at the status of the virus in surrounding states to realize it is only a few hours away and resurgence is seen in several states throughout the country. It is imperative that we do not see a resurgence in N.H. or VT that could prevent fall activities and schools to resume.”

Officials said they are working on other ways to honor and recognize the players from both teams.

Newsletter