GOFFSTOWN – Predicting all-star games is a futile, and maybe even pointless, endeavor. But there was a consensus going into Saturday’s CHaD NH East-West NH All-Star game that the West had better athletes and offensive firepower that would be too much for the East to stop.
That consensus was wrong. Team East quarterback Jason Hughes of Timberlane went 13-for-20 for 170 yards and three touchdowns and was named the MVP as he led his team to a 28-14 win at Saint Anselm College’s Grappone Stadium in front of a crowd of 1,819.
“Everybody projects scores and what’s going to happen and how they were that much better than us and how they were going to spread it and be explosive and we were going to pound it, and I don’t think we got 10 yards rushing, but we threw it all over the place,” said East Coach Craig Kozens of Laconia. “Our team had heart and passion. They worked hard, they wore full pads every day and they’re just a great group of kids. They deserve it.”
The one local player on the East team was Winnisquam’s Christian Serrano. He was known more for his offensive skills after throwing for 1,192 yards and rushing for 1,017 more last season for the Bears, but with Hughes under center, Serrano moved to the defensive side.
Serrano didn’t start, but he played most of the second half and had the hit of the game. It came late in the fourth on a pass over the middle to Nashua North’s Devin Leonard, who caught the ball, but paid the price as Serrano arrived at the same time. The crowd gasped, Leonard came off the field (uninjured, just shaken up) and Serrano had a moment to remember.
“It felt great to go in and get some big hits,” Serrano said. “I saw them throw that ball over the middle, I saw (Leonard) was uncovered and I thought, this is mine.”
Kozens added, “(Serrano) had a good second half … he came in and cranked some hits. I’m proud of how he showed he can compete and hit with the big boys.”
Yet it was getting to know those “big boys,” the guys from the Division I and Division II schools, that Serrano, a D-III player, liked the best.
“It was amazing, honestly, one of the best high school experiences I had,” Serrano said. “Practicing with all these D-I and D-II kids, we only had a week and we walked in that first day not knowing anybody and we came out like brothers.”
It was a similar experience for Concord’s Leo Sudieh, a West All-Star.
“It was awesome getting to know players that you played against,” Sudieh said. “And it was for a great cause and I really liked meeting all the kids and raising the money and going to the CHaD (Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth) hospital and the experience there. I really enjoyed all of it.”
The players raised more than $70,000 for CHaD, the most ever by a group of players in the game’s five-year history, and overall, the event raised more than $252,000.
Like Serrano, Sudieh was more known for his offensive exploits. But the former Crimson Tide running back also was a tough defensive player for Concord, and that’s where he was Saturday, starting at defensive back in the West’s 4-2-5 scheme.
“Leo is a natural athlete. We had him at one spot and then with a couple days to go we shifted him around a little bit and he picked it right up,” West Coach Paul Lavigne said. “He’s a good kid, he works hard, he does what he has to do and I was just proud to coach him.”
Sudieh was the only local to start, but Kearsarge’s Austin Hogancamp saw significant time at defensive tackle for Team West. Bow’s Christopher Robbins also got major minutes playing a rover position that had a mix of linebacker and defensive back responsibilities. And John Stark’s Zach Hamilton, who will play at Saint Anselm next year, saw long stretches at left tackle on the West offensive line.
The scoring started when West quarterback J.T. Hiscoe was staring down his Bishop Guertin teammate Nick Lorden (bound for the University of New Hampshire) in the flat. It was supposed to be a wide receiver screen. Instead, it was an interception returned for a touchdown by Winnacunnet’s Brian Auffant, who read Hiscoe’s lingering eyes, stepped in front of Lorden, made the pick despite some contact and went 58 yards the other way to give Team East a 7-0 lead with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
That lead was pushed to 14-0 with just 58 seconds left in the first half when Hughes found Londonderry’s Nick Donnelly for a 12-yard touchdown.
Hughes and Donnelly renewed their connection in the third quarter. Exeter tight end Hunter Long (four catches, 87 yards) put the East in scoring position with a 49-yard catch, and Donnelly turned that into points when he hauled in a nice 20-yard fade pass from Hughes with 6:30 left in the third to make it 21-0.
Long caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 11:18 left in the fourth as the lead ballooned to 28-0. Team West’s first points came on a pretty 38-yard touchdown pass from Goffstown’s Casey Gervais (7-for-13 for 128 yards) to Merrimack’s Ian Roberts midway through the fourth. Gervais also connected with Lorden for a 6-yard touchdown with 3:42 left on the clock.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Lavigne said. “I don’t think they gave up. They played hard right to the end. And the East team, they played very well. They were well-coached and I give them a lot of credit. They were prepared, they took advantage of our mistakes and they deserve it.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or at tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)