New Hampshire Football Report

CHaD game returning to UNH

Craig Kozens photo courtesy of CHaD media relations

BEDFORD – After four years of growth and success at St. Anselm College, the CHaD New Hampshire East-West High School All-Star Football Game is returning to its roots.  The seventh edition of New Hampshire’s only intrastate all-star football game will be played  June 30 at the University of New Hampshire’s Wildcat Stadium, the site of the first two all-star contests.

The annual game benefits the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD), and features 80 of the state’s top graduating football players divided into East and West squads along the north-south routes of I-93 and Route 3 (Everett Turnpike).  Nomination letters have been sent to high school coaches who have until Nov. 10 to state the reasons why their seniors should be chosen to participate in the fundraising showcase.

Leading those players are this year’s coaching staffs.  The defending champions, Team West, will be led by Eric Brown, a Concord High School coach for 27 years and the Crimson Tide’s head coach for the last eight seasons.  He will bring his Concord coaching staff to CHaD’s sidelines – Kevin Nyhan, Mike Pelletier, Hamilton Munnell, Colin Brown, and Brian Beane – as well as veteran CHaD coach Pat O’Neil of Manchester.  The 2018 CHaD game will be Brown’s second after serving as an assistant for Jim Schubert in 2013.

Team East’s sidelines will host a very familiar group.  Laconia athletic director and head coach Craig Kozens returns for a fourth consecutive year, and for a sixth time in the game’s seven-year history.  The East’s head coach from 2015-17, Kozens led the East to its first two victories before falling in last year’s tilt.  His CHaD coaching staff remains unchanged – Laconia assistants Rod Roy, Jeff Hebert Steve Orton from Somersworth; Portsmouth’s Kevin Mills; Spaulding’s Kevin Hebert; Somerworth’s Dan Hodsdon; Jimmy Lauzon of Londonderry; and CHaD veterans Mark Tilton and Jimmy and Andy Vailas.  An East victory in June would make Kozen’s the game’s only three-time winner.

Once players are nominated, coaches will select their rosters in November before acceptance letters are sent to the players in December.  In January, the rosters will be unveiled to the public before players and coaches gather to learn about the game and tour CHaD at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon.

The game enters its season having raised over $1.5 million for CHaD.  Proceeds are generated through corporate sponsors and tickets and merchandise sales.  While not a requirement to play in the game, the players often support the fundraising mission as well.  Since the game’s creation, players have voluntarily raised over $320,000.

UNH hosted the game in its first two years before the move to St. Anselm in 2014.  The West leads the all-time series, 4-2, including a pair of wins in Durham.

Tickets go on sale for the game in January once teams are selected. Fans can purchase tickets, get team roster information, and support the game by visiting www.CHaDAllStarFootball.org.

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