Team West QB Cody Jackson, formerly of Nashua South, scores a two-point conversion beyond the reach of Team East's Joseph Osanya during Friday night's annual CHaD East-West All-Star Game at Saint Anselm's Grappone Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

GOFFSTOWN — The chant was heard from the Team West sideline late in the third quarter of Friday night’s rain-filled 14th annual CHaD East-West All-Star football game.

“Co-dy! Co-dy! Co-dy!,”the West players were shouting, paying tribute to the night their quarterback, former Nashua High School South Cody Jackson was having.

As well they should. Jackson was the only QB available on the West roster, running for one TD and throwing for another in a 27-14 West win over Team East. Jackson threw for 238 yards and one TD and rushed for 61 and another score plus a two-point conversion.

No wonder they chanted his name, as he was the clear choice for the game’s MVP.

“I’m going to miss him so much,” former South receiver Josh Tripp, who was a frequent target (game high 10 time) with seven catches for 99 yards. “He’s such a good quarterback, I love him so much. He’s the guy.”

“He’s a winner, man, he’s a winner,” West co-head coach Robin Bowkett said. “He’s a baller, man, he’s a war daddy, he’s a dude.”

Jackson found out pretty quickly in the last week-plus of practice that he’d be the only QB. Bedford’s Bennett Matthews did not participate, and Souhegan’s Michael Fiengo was nursing an injury. Some of his friends from Merrimack on the team were telling him it was going to be the case, “But I didn’t really believe it until the first day,” he said.

“Knowing that I was the only one definitely made me more comfortable,” Jackson, who led South to the Division I semis this past season. “They did a great job coaching me up, even though it was only a week of practicing I felt I had been here longer than that.

“The brotherhood we built in a week, everybody was playing for each other.”

It was like watching a Nashua South game with Jackson at QB protected by linemen like South’s Trevor Stevens and Kevin Hamel protecting him up front, and back Sam Levine getting the bulk o the carries (19) at running back for 67 yards and a TD.

As Tripp said, “Everyone balled out. We all came together as a team, but especially the South guys. We were locked in.”

All that despite a thunder-lightning delay of over 30 minutes just over two minutes into the contest, during which came the first of two monsoons on the night, the second during halftime (no delay).

“It was kind of a madhouse in the locker room under the stadium with everybody else there,” Bowkett said of the delay. “We just control what we can control … Don’t let that rain delay stop us.”

They didn’t, as the West also won the real estate battle, 394-231 yards. Jackson opened the scoring by capping a seven-play, 45 yard drive with a 1-yard TD plunge and a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter. And that was after he had come close earlier in the period, stopped short on fourth down inside the 5.

It stayed that way until he found one of his friends from Merrimack, Cayden Dine, in the end zone with nine seconds left in the half. Then for an encore Jackson ran wide for a 2-point conversion and West took a 14-0 lead into the locker room, seeking its sixth straight win in a series it now leads 11-3.

The second half was more of the same, although it included two East scores. Levine, though, made it a 20-0 game with a 1-yard TD run less than two minutes into the half to cap an 18-yard drive set up by a David Durepo (Trinity) interception. Did he think he’d get a heavy workload?

“We only had three backs, I was kind of expecting a heavy workload,” Levine, who will continue his football career at Plymouth State, said. “It’s nice to run behind this big line … And being in the backfield, man, I love it. You don’t know who’s going to take it, me or Cody. You don’t know.”

Team West players celebrate their 27-14 win over the East in the 14th annual CHaD Football Game Friday night at Saint Anselm’s Grappone Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Team East got on the board less than a minute late on a 22-yard run by QB Andy Brown (Portsmouth), but with 30 seconds left in the third quarter Merrimack’s Shea Scott scored from a yard out, capping off a workmanlike night for him (35 yards on 11 carries). That helped make it 27-7 heading into the final 12 minutes (the final three quarters were reduced from 15 to 12 minutes to offset the delay).

Londonderry’s Adrian Cruz wrapped up the night’s scoring with the longest run of the night for either team, 52 yards, with 9:34 left.

But the night belonged to Jackson, and, really, Nashua, as a dozen players from the city’s three high schools (North, South, Bishop Guertin) were on Team West and gathered for a photo after.

“It felt great,” said Jackson. “It was like a blast from the past. I’ve been looking forward to this because I used to go to Merrimack, too, so I’ve played with those kids my whole life. A lot of familiar faces, this was great.”

And a win his final high school game.

“It was great, it means a lot,” he said. “Obviously (in the playoffs, a loss to Bedford) things didn’t go exactly how we wanted, so it was a good way to go out on top.”

And standing as the tallest player on a night he won’t ever forget.

Forme Nashua South standout Cody Jackson beams as he receives his CHaD Game MVP award Friday night at Grappone Stadium. in Goffstown. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)