And the young man who will be leaving the Tantramar Titans in order to make a contribution to the Mount Allison Mounties this season says his goal is to emulate the success of Dylan Cormier, who moved to the Mounties last season following an illustrious career with the Titans and found himself seeing a lot of playing time on Alumni Field.
Not only was Rose to take control of a highly skilled position last season but he also faced the added challenge of attempting to meet the “norm” set by Cormier, one of the most skilled players to come out of the Titan system.
He is realistic about making the transition from high school to university ball but believes the fact he has enjoyed playing under the most outstanding coaching corps in the province plus the addition of having received some sound advice from the Mountie “brain trust” provides him with an edge over those coming from other parts of the country.
And the young man who will be leaving the Tantramar Titans in order to make a contribution to the Mount Allison Mounties this season says his goal is to emulate the success of Dylan Cormier, who moved to the Mounties last season following an illustrious career with the Titans and found himself seeing a lot of playing time on Alumni Field.
Not only was Rose to take control of a highly skilled position last season but he also faced the added challenge of attempting to meet the “norm” set by Cormier, one of the most skilled players to come out of the Titan system.
He is realistic about making the transition from high school to university ball but believes the fact he has enjoyed playing under the most outstanding coaching corps in the province plus the addition of having received some sound advice from the Mountie “brain trust” provides him with an edge over those coming from other parts of the country.
“Our coaching staff led by three of the most outstanding coaches in the NBHSFL has played an intricate role in the Titans winning back-to-back provincial high school championships and having a fantastic 19 game winning streak on the line,” says Rose. “When you realize you have a 25-year veteran in David Burns handling the special teams, Peter Estabrooks, a former university defensive coordinator in charge of the defense and a really talented, committed and knowledgeable Scott O’Neal leading the team and doubling as offensive coordinator it should be no surprise the Titans have achieved such goals. And the assistant coaches are also knowledgeable and have proven to be really helpful.”
Aaron Rose began playing football at the atom level and continued up through the ranks, culminating with four years with the Titans. Along the way he had teammates, including Aidan O’Neal and Dylan Estabrooks, along with many others, who will be graduating this year. These boys combined to win provincial honours at both the atom and peewee levels before spearheading the Titans to a pair of high school titles.
The 18-year old stands 5’11” and weighs in at 215 pounds. Mountie head coach Scott Brady has urged him to add a few pounds of muscle and so he has joined the Mount Allison veteran players in their training regimen since signing on a few months ago.
Prior to signing he was recruited by several schools and visited St. F.X. and St. Mary’s. But he knew all along that Mount Allison was the place to be and felt “right at home” the minute he signed.
Last season Rose, along with seven other Titans, formed a nucleus of the New Brunswick U-18 team that, for the first time, won a game at the national championships, defeating Manitoba.
Asked to compare the two championship Titan teams, Rose said that would be a challenge. But he believes that the Titans, after winning in 2015, had learned how to win and those in Grade 12 decided they were going to repeat – it was as simple as that. But he said losing players like Dylan Cormier, Campbell MacKenzie and Nevin Becker was a blow but others stepped up and the final result was the same.
Rose was fortunate to have played behind a huge line and this allowed him the luxury of roaming into the opposition backfield to seek out ball carriers. As a result, he was often in the face of the quarterback or ready to knock the ball carrier for a loss.
Looking ahead, Rose notes that the Titan playbook is much like that of the Mounties – almost like a carbon copy – so this, too, should provide him along with Dylan Estabrooks, Aidan O’Neal and Isaac Humber with some advantage.
They will be attending the Mountie spring camp and be prepared for an early pre-season camp in August.
Meanwhile, Rose, who carries a 94 percent school average and who has qualified for the Tantramar Advantage by carrying a calculus at Mount Allison, will be setting his hat on receiving a degree in commerce, which he sees as far more of an advantage than any dreams of a pro career.
