Garrett Dredge of Frontier Regional announced his commitment to play football at Saint Anselm College over the weekend.
Saint Anselm is a Division II college in Goffstown, N.H. Goffstown is a hilly town just outside of Manchester. Dredge will receive a partial scholarship for his athletic services and will major in criminal justice. The Hawks play in the Northeast-10 conference. Dredge had a good connection with his regional recruiting coach, Val Honorable.
“Really just the people there,” Dredge said. “Talked to the coach in my recruiting area. He was super kind and helped me through everything, he was a good person to be around. I got that feeling from the whole coaching staff and the players as well.”
Honorable is the defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach for the Hawks. Dredge rushed for 1,120 yards and 19 touchdowns in his senior season for the Redhawks. He also played defensive back, where he will be primarily utilized as a college freshman. Specifically, a nickel corner in the Saint Anselm defense.
The position sets up a potential family rivalry. Garrett Dredge’s brother, Aiden Dredge, is a quarterback at Pace University. Scott Dredge, Garrett Dredge’s father and coach, now has a conundrum. Pace University is in the Northeast-10 conference. What merchandise will Scott and Megan Dredge wear to these games? Will they wear a Hawks’ sweatshirt, or will they display the Setter mascot of Pace University?
“It’s going to be fun for us to go to those games,” Scott Dredge said. “We have to figure out how to do that. That will be a nice family rivalry that will happen. We are just so excited that the recruiting process worked well for him [Garrett Dredge] and he landed in the best possible place.”
Garrett Dredge now has his sights set on his brother when the Hawks play the Setters.
“Now they have this rivalry,” Scott Dredge said. “They’ve always been competitive. More so now. Garrett has made it very clear that if they are ever on the field together his dream is to either sack him or pick him off. I think that would be awesome.”
A snowy visit to the campus played a part in Dredge’s decision. Established in 1889, Saint Anselm has a student population of about 2,000 students. The Hawks play football at Grappone Stadium, which can hold 4,500 fans. The playing surface at Grappone is now synthetic turf. The school made the switch in 2022 from natural grass.
“The campus is just beautiful,” Dredge said. “Stunning. Great facilities. Everything about it.”
Saint Anselm is known as the “Hilltop” due to its location. Joe Adam is the coach of St. Anselm. Adam was the 2023 Northeast 10 Conference Coach of the Year. He’s coached at Saint Anselm since 2016.
“Big blue-collar mentality guy,” Garrett Dredge said of Adam. “I love that. That’s what attracted me to them. The whole coaching staff as well.”
Frontier has a student population that averages around 600 kids. Seeing a high school athlete move on to playing in big time college athletics can only be good for the existing athletes at the school.
“I think it’s exciting for the program,” Scott Dredge said. “Exciting for the younger kids to see. You can achieve things when you put the work in. We are a little school. It’s nice when anyone can go on to play college ball.”