Merrimack's Jackson, Londonderry's Lauzon to coach CHaD teams
Dec. 3—The head coaches for the 2023 CHaD New Hampshire East-West All-Star Game were announced at the Joe Yukica Foundation's annual Jeff Francoeur Huddle held last Thursday night in Manchester.
Merrimack High School head coach Kip Jackson will coach the West, and Londonderry's Jimmy Lauzon will serve as the East's head coach.
The 2023 game is scheduled to be played Friday, June 30, at Saint Anselm College. The West won the 2022 game 26-0 and leads the series 7-3.
"It's going to be a night game," said Nick Vailas, the game's founder. "We tried to play at night a few years ago and because of thunderstorms we had to finish the game at Memorial High School (the following day). We're going to try it again."
Lauzon guided the East to a 17-13 victory in 2019. He was also named the East's head coach in 2020, but that game was canceled because of COVID.
Jackson has been involved in the CHaD All-Star Game as an assistant coach, but this will be the first time he will be a head coach. He has also been an assistant coach in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.
Lauzon's Londonderry team beat Jackson and Merrimack 21-7 in the Division I playoffs this season.
Selections for the CHaD Game will be made Tuesday night.
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The head coaches from each of the four NHIAA championship teams were among those recognized at Thursday's event. Each received an award named after former Plymouth Regional head coach Chuck Lenahan, whose Plymouth teams won 20 championships. Lenahan finished his coaching career with a 356-70-1 record.
—Zach Matthews guided Bedford to a 10-3 record and a 15-14 triumph over Londonderry in the Division I championship game. The Bulldogs became the first NHIAA team to win four playoff games in one season, and all four victories came away from home.
—Tom Babaian led Pelham to a 35-6 victory over Souhegan in the Division II championship game. The Pythons finished the season with a 12-0 record and the program currently owns a 30-game winning streak.
—Glen Costello steered third-seeded Campbell (9-2) to a 16-14 victory over a previously unbeaten Trinity team in the Division III championship game. Trinity beat Campbell 36-22 when the teams met during the regular season.
—Jeremy Lambert and Somersworth (9-0) repeated as the champion in Division IV by posting a 14-6 victory over Newport. Somersworth and Pelham were the only teams that completed the season undefeated.
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Windham's Jack Byrne accepted the award for Most Improved Team. The Jaguars had a 1-8 record in 2021, but went 6-2 during the 2022 regular season and qualified for the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. Windham lost to Bedford, which went on to claim the Division I championship.
"Our guys were dedicated to the weight room in the offseason," Byrne said. "They just kept working hard to get better."
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Paul Smith was selected as the NHFOA Official of the Year. Smith, a Hopkinton resident, played high school football at Manchester Memorial. ...The Yukica Foundation will sponsor a coaches clinic this spring. The date and location will be announced later this month. ... The Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl will be played Aug. 5 at Castleton (Vermont) University. It was announced last month that Plymouth's Chris Sanborn will coach the New Hampshire team against Vermont in the 2023 game.
