West team looks for 3rd win in a row in CHaD East-West All-Star Football Game

The first time Caleb Yianakopolos lined up with the first-team defense, he noticed something was very different.

Yianakopolos, who recently graduated from Hopkinton High School and played for Hillsboro-Deering/Hopkinton, is one of almost two dozen players on the roster for the West team for Saturday's CHaD East-West All-Star Football Game. As the team was getting going in one of its first practices, he took one look at the scout team on the other side of the line of scrimmage and knew he was in for a change.

"It’s really cool, being from a D3 school and getting to play with these D1, high-level guys," Yianakopolos said. "Usually, I’m not used to a scout team being almost as good as the starting team is, but that’s what we’re seeing here."

The West all-stars will try to win their third game in a row in the series at 6 p.m. Saturday when they take on the East at the University of New Hampshire.

Yianakopolos expects to be starting at free safety when the game begins, part of a defense that's come together with guys stepping into roles that maybe they didn't have to fill for their high school teams, according to Eric Brown, from Concord, who will be coaching the West for the second year in a row.

"They’re all very versatile," Brown said. "We could take any of our running backs and put them in as slot guys. Same with our defensive backs, they can play safety, corner, they’re very versatile. We took Chandler Matson, from Monadnock, he’s a running back and linebacker, and we’ve got him at defensive end. He’s one of our better ones right now."

After leading the West to a 24-20 win a year ago, Brown had a better idea of what kind of players he was looking for when putting the 2019 team together. The first place he looked was along the line, specifically on offense.

"We realized last year the importance of numbers regarding the offensive and defensive line, especially playing in the heat last year," Brown said. "That was a priority for us. We were looking for the right number of linemen. The skill guys we have this year are just phenomenal. We’re not as big as we were last year, but we’re a lot more athletic. Even our linemen, they’re not as big, but they’re quicker and more athletic."

One spot where Brown has felt comfortable - for a couple of reasons - is at running back, where Bedford's Ryan Toscano, who was New Hampshire's Gatorade Player of the Year, leads a talented offensive backfield.

"Comforting," Brown said of what it was like seeing Toscano on his team now. "He’s a pleasure. All these kids, you tell them ‘this is what we’re doing’ and they all just absorb it."

Toscano, who will attend UNH in the fall, is excited to get one more chance to play at Wildcat Stadium - Bedford won the D1 title over Pinkerton at UNH last season - before stepping onto the field as a college athlete.

"It’s cool to come off a championship season in football and get to meet all these guys I’ve played against, all these guys who have been opponents," he said. "On this team, you have the best kids from each team around the state and having that opportunity to play with the best is a really great opportunity. Having those kids who bring the same energy and bring the same heart has been a lot different and I think it’s been an insight, not only to this game, but next year for college as well."

The West has had a three-way battle at quarterback, with Manchester Central's Alex Hawkom and Concord's Zach Miles taking the early lead in practice while Bedford's Thomas Morgan came on strong as preparations continued. The teams has three other players who were quarterbacks for their respective teams - Monadnock's Tim Santaw, Goffstown's Charlie Keith and Yianakopolos - who have all taken on different roles.

"It’s a tight competition," Brown said. Hawkom and Miles have both thrown the ball pretty well and made good reads. Morgan is picking it up and he’s starting to throw better than he had been earlier. They’re all really good. I expect them to keep getting better."