East looks for second straight win over West in CHaD All-Star Football Game

Craig Kozens knows just what his East all-star team is up against.

The Laconia High School coach looks up and down the West roster and sees the names of several players who put up some big offensive numbers during their senior football seasons.

As crazy as it may sound, he thinks that might work to his team's benefit.

"The depth and the equality, the other side has some superstar names and they're going to have a hard time getting them the ball, and over here, it's a system," Kozens said. "We're filling the cogs and hopefully that will helps us out. I'm hoping that will cause a problem where they’re trying to run plays to get it to a certain person while we're running plays within a system."

The East will be looking for its second win in a row over the West when the teams kickoff Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Saint Anselm College. Proceeds from the game benefit the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth.

Kozens also served as the East coach last year, getting that first win in the series, and he's gone into this year with somewhat of a different approach when it comes to the offense.

"You try to find a happy medium," he said. "Last year, I thought I put too many plays in and we were cutting them out at the end of the week. This year, we're a little more vanilla and it seems like we've added at the end of the week."

The West will also have a second-time head coach, as Paul Lavigne will lead the team for the second time in three years, and it will be his third game overall.

"I think these kids have all meshed together nicely," he said. "We've got a great mixture and I think the key is they all came in in shape and they all have a nice personality. I love our defensive players. I think we're going to be physical up front and we have to be a little bit cautious back there because (the East) has some good runners."

Lavigne turned the offense over to assistant coach Dante Laurendi (Nashua North) with the task of mixing together some of the top players in the state, including Goffstown's Casey Gervais and Connor Bourque, and Bishop Guertin's JT Hiscoe, Nick Lorden and Jackson Housman.

"It's very exciting," Lorden said. "I've been getting reps with JT and Jackson, and I've been getting reps with Casey and Connor. We already have the chemistry down that we had during the season. Building chemistry with the other players, my position in particular, has not been hard. At this point, it's not am I going to get it with this quarterback, it’s when am I going to get it."

Part of what has made for an easy transition has been the attitudes of guys on the roster, according to Gervais.

"You've got some D1 kids and some D2 kids, going to college, you think about how good they could be, but it's a bunch of nice guys," he said. "We're bonding and building friendship. We're just here to have fun."

While the West's offense will be more up-tempo, the East will look to be a more physical attack, led by it's offensive line.

"Our offensive line is really clicking chemistry-wise, we're executing our blocks and we're playing with authority," Alvirne's Bennett Parkinson said. "Our quarterbacks and our running backs are having great chemistry. They're reading our blocks and hitting the holes hard and doing everything they've got to do. We have excellent receivers. Everyone is coming together and learning their role and doing the best that they can."

One player who has taken on several roles for the East is Winnisquam's Christian Serrano, who, as one of just six Division III players in the game, is looking to show what he can do. Serrano has lined up at defensive back but could also see time on offense at quarterback, running back and receiver.

"They have me really shifting around a lot," he said. "I feel like I'm pretty diverse. You've got to know a lot. I just want to show people that I can actually compete with the D1 and D2 kids. We don't get our names out there much when you're D3, but it would be nice to show people what I actually have."

The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and gates open an hour before kickoff. Tickets will be available at the gate.