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Who’s best? East or West

CHaD NEW HAMPSHIRE EAST/WEST ALL-STAR GAME

When and Where: Saturday (5:30 p.m. kickoff) at Saint Anselm College.
Series: The West leads the series, 3-1.
2015 Result: The East overcame six turnovers and erased a 15-0 deficit to prevail 29-15. Londonderry’s Eric Fairweather (pictured) rushed for a game-high 108 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchowns for the East.
Noteworthy: Laconia High School coach Craig Kozens will be trying to guide the East to back-to-back victories. Kozens also coached the East last year, when it ended the West’s three-game winning streak. “The question is I don’t know how we’re going to match up up front,” Kozens said. “In football that’s the area that gets overlooked the most. Guys who score touchdowns and make big plays sometimes overshadow the guys up front, and last year we won the war in the trenches.” … Paul Lavigne, who was an assistant at Bedford High School last season, is the West’s head coach. Lavigne coached the West to a 24-7 victory in the 2014 game. “We’re more finesse, they’re more ground and pound,” Lavigne said. “I will say I think our backs are hard runners, but we do it from the spread.”… Each team is allowed to use four offensive formations in the game, which will feature 15-minute quarters. … Goffstown, last year’s Division I champion, has five players on the West roster, including running back Connor Bourque, who was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Bourque finished the 2015 season with 1,554 yards rushing and 26 rushing touchdowns on 158 carries. He also caught 17 passes for 163 yards and two TDs, and scored twice on kickoff returns. … Mason Wallace (Exeter), Bennett Parkinson (Alvirne) and Jason Hughes (Timberlane) are the East captains. Hughes will be the East’s No. 1 quarterback. … Greg Stanton (Nashua North), Kody Palladino (Milford) and Casey Gervais (Goffstown) are the West captains. Gervais will likely share the QB duties with Bishop Guertin’s J.T. Hiscoe. … Tyler Furey, who was expected to be the East’s starting tailback, will likely miss the game after having a cyst lanced on Wednesday. . … West wide receiver Nick Lorden (Bishop Guertin) will play for the University of New Hampshire next season. … East right end Hunter Long (Exeter) received a scholarship offer from the University of Connecticut on Tuesday. It was his sixth Division I offer. … Proceeds from the game benefit programs at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, including the Kristen’s Gift Endowment Fund for children fighting cancer at CHaD.

—– Roger Brown

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