For many of the New Hampshire players working through practices under the summer sun at Castleton State University, the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl game is just a tune-up. College football awaits, and this evening’s game is essentially a send-off to a whole new chapter.
Chris Thurber and Matt Fogarty are not in that group. For the former Bishop Brady teammates, tonight is a final hurrah. One last chance to strap on the pads, put on a helmet and play a game that was a significant part of their high school years.
And they’re soaking in every minute of it.
“It’s a blessing,” Thurber said. “I’m not going to go play football again, so it’s my last time to step it up and go out there and make the best of it.”
Thurber, a tight end and linebacker at Brady, and Fogarty, an offensive and defensive lineman, had to break up with the gridiron after the season ended and it became time to set a plan for the future.
For Thurber, as ambitions to pursue mechanical engineering grew, first at NHTI and potentially at UNH down the road, it became more and more clear that football had a shrinking place in the grand scheme.
“It was a very tough decision,” he said. “Most people want to keep playing, it’s a great sport. I’ve been playing since the third grade, it’s a tough thing to let go.
“My family and I sat down and said the opportunities aren’t there to move on. So I said ‘All right, I’ll just focus on my career.’ ”
Fogarty, likewise, had his eyes on the sciences as an aersopace engineer, and soon found his ideal school in Indiana’s Purdue University – where walking on would mean competing with Division I, Big Ten recruits.
“I kind of thought about it, especially junior year,” Fogarty said about continuing his career. “But overall, I knew what I wanted to do in terms of aerospace. I had already committed to it.”
The goodbyes to football were put on hold, if only temporarily, when the invitations arrived to play in the Shrine Game. The offers carried weight for different reasons. For Thurber, it meant a chance to follow in the footsteps of an uncle, Ronnie Bourque, who played in the Shrine Game as a running back for Brady.
“I have been looking forward to this,” he said. “I’ve been introduced to this game for a long time. It’s a great experience.”
For Fogarty, it was a chance at a proper farewell. He didn’t get one on senior night last fall, when an opposing player rolled up on his ankle and knee. The impact tore his MCL, and Fogarty knew even before the trainer arrived that his season – and, presumably, career – was over.
“As soon as it happened, I hit the ground, I kind of knew it was over,” he said. “There was no anger in it, I guess. It was just kind of ‘this is it.’ ”
A tough period of rehab and recovery lay ahead. Once the Shrine invitation came along, however, Fogarty found his second wind.
“I kicked it into overdrive,” he said. “I really put in the hard work to be ready for this game, because I knew what it felt like to not be able to play again.”
Given one more crack at the field, Thurber and Fogarty have turned heads. Thurber’s size and vise hands have given New Hampshire a playmaking tight end, and Fogarty has made his mark as a road grader for the Granite State’s spread offense.
“Thurber’s going to be a great tight end for us. … He catches everything that’s thrown to him. He has some of the softest hands on the team,” New Hampshire Coach Justin Leonard said. “And (Fogarty) is going to be fine. We haven’t officially named starters, but I don’t think he’s got anything to worry about.”
Starting is great, but the two have just been happy to be back on the field. The practices and morning runs are a welcome throwback to one grueling August after another at Brady, as even unpleasant memories become sentimental when viewed through nostalgia’s sepia tint.
“It brings back memories of being on the hill at Brady with the coach blowing the whistle,” Thurber said, laughing. “When coach wakes us up at 5:30, I still get nightmares from those whistles.”
The Shrine dynamic has been different from the one at Brady, where the two players were captains – Thurber quiet and a leader by example, Fogarty loud and eager to pump up his teammates.
With the New Hampshire squad, and with talent all around, the task has not been as much about taking control as blending in.
“(At Brady), especially as a captain, you’re kind of used to teaching, helping other kids,” Fogarty said. “And now I’m here with the best of New Hampshire. … We all have respect for each other. It’s a great atmosphere because we’re all serious when it comes to football, and we also know how to have fun and keep it light.”
And with so much unfamiliarity that comes with players from different schools thrown into the mix, it never hurts to have a former teammate close by to help with anything lost in translation.
“It’s been really helpful,” Fogarty said. “If we’re not understanding one of the schemes on offense, we can compare it to something Coach (Matt) Shaw ran at Brady, or we can talk about it in terms of what we ran or what we’re used to.”
And after four years together, the two have developed chemistry. Thurber often lined up near Fogarty, either next to him at offensive tackle, or as a linebacker behind him on the line – and with enough reps, they learned to read each other on the field.
“Towards the end of the season, especially on defense, I’d say … we could talk a lot easier even before the snap on the field about what was happening,” Fogarty said. “We’ve translated that pretty well into Shrine.”
Not a bad bonus for an already memorable week.
“I see a familiar face repping the gold and green, and obviously it’s a lot of fun out there because I know him and we both know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Thurber said. “We’ve been best friends through high school. It’s fun to play together again.”
(Drew Bonifant can be reached at 369-3340, abonifant@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @dbonifant.)