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CHaD FOOTBALL: Swan songs for BG’s Junod, South’s Swisher; game time now 11 a.m.

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Jun 24, 2022

Bishop Guertin's C.J. Junod is set to wind up his football career in Saturday's annual CHaD East-West All-Star Game at Saint Anselm College. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MANCHESTER – He’s the only starting lineman to graduate from Bishop Guertin High School.

That tells six-foot-5, 220-pound former Cardinal C.J. Junod one thing: That he left a really good team.

“BG has a really strong senior class coming in,” Junod said. “They’re going to be good this year. It’s going to be a problem for people.”

Junod could also be a problem for the East squad, playing for the West in Saturday’s annual CHaD East-West All-Star Football Game at 11 a.m. at Saint Anselm’s Grappone Stadium. The game time has been changed from its original 1 p.m. kickoff due to the forecast of extreme heat in the 90s.

Junod is a Manchester native who played his youth football with the Manchester Bears, and went to BG because his sister went there.

He was a pass rusher at defensive end for the Cards and on offense he was matched up on the line against a lot of the faster defensive ends. Junod has always been a lineman, but at times in his career has been used as a tight end.

Saturday will be his final game in the gridiron, as he’s not planning to play in college at Coastal Carolina. He has fond memories of last fall’s 7-3 season that unfortunately for Junod & Co. ended with a loss to Salem in the Division I quarterfinals.

“It was good, it was fun, it’s the best season of BG football I’ve ever had, and the season we’ve ever had in (Division) I,” he said.

And Saturday, he said, “I’m going to leave it all out there.”

SOUTH ALUM SWISHER SET TO PLAY

Another local on the West squad is Nashua South’s Brady Swisher, the Panthers’ former two-way lineman.

“I was a smaller lineman at that, pretty undersized,” he said, adding he’ll study finance at Southern New Hampshire University.

His older brother Alex played line for South, and when Brady was a freshman, he basically followed suit. He felt he struggled his first three years, and than in his junior year off-season, he dedicated himself to working out. “Just got a lot better in general,” he said. “Really came out good for senior year, I had a lot of fun.”

Swisher was an All-Conference player and spent most of all season as a defensive end, leading the Panthers in defensive points. He hopes to make the most of his final game Saturday.

“It’s really exciting, playing football for the last time, with a great group of players,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting time, two great teammates (South’s Connor Rowsell and Josh Compoh).”

EAST LOCALS

Don’t forget, there are a couple of locals on the East Squad as well – Alvirne tight end Brendan Graham, who is set to play at the University of New Hampshire, and receiver-safety Andrew Porter. The East is loaded with five players each from last year’s Division I finalists, Lonodnderry and Winnacunnet.

DOLPHINS’ LONG ON HAND

Former CHaD player Hunter Long of Exeter, now a tight end with the Miami Dolphins, will be on hand for the event, joining the teams for their usual day-before-game barbecue and also will be participate along with the team captains in pre-game coin toss.

Long, a Boston College alum, was a third round pick of the Dolphins last year, the first CHaD player ever to make it to the NFL. In 2016 he caught a TD pass in the East’s 28-14 win.

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