It’s worth having BIG dreams for All-Upper Peninsula Dream Team high school football players
11-Player teams
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Dream Team Offense
Position/Player/School Yr. Ht. Wt.
Center — Carter Berger, Menominee Sr. 6-3 250
Guard — Preston Toutant, Negaunee Sr. 6-0 260
Brett Schlenvogt, Escanaba Jr. 6-0 220
Tackle — Nathan Lundin, West Iron County Sr. 6-3 315
Lucas Tappy, Kingsford Jr. 6-0 290
Quarterback — Austin Ridl, Marquette Jr. 5-9 160
Back — Caleb Evosevich-Hynes, Iron Mountain Sr. 5-10 190
Nash Hillier, Negaunee Sr. 5-9 165
Dryden Nelson, Calumet Jr. 5-9 165
Receiver/End — Kam Karp, Marquette Sr. 6-0 160
Zach Person, Kingsford Jr. 6-5 220
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Dream Team Defense
Tackle — Caleb Burklund, Iron Mountain Sr. 5-10 210
Tye Parker, Marquette Sr. 6-1 260
Kahler Geyer, Escanaba Sr. 5-11 180
End — Parker Cain, Negaunee Sr. 6-3 240
Xander Zapolnik, Houghton Sr. 6-2 245
Linebacker — Chet Hyrkas, Calumet Sr. 6-1 185
Daylan Lujan, Sault Ste. Marie Sr. 6-0 221
Garrett Mann, Westwood Sr. 6-0 195
Back — Desmond Mullen, Marquette Jr. 5-8 160
Ty Lotterman, Marquette Sr. 6-3 180
Tyler Racicot, Bark River-Harris Sr. 6-2 170
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Dream Team Special Teams
Kicker — Diego Przeslakowski, Kingsford Jr. 5-10 165
Punter — Nathan Thomson, West Iron County Sr. 6-2 180
Returner — Desmond Mullen, Marquette Jr. 5-8 160
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First Team Offense
Center — Harrison Hogenmiller, West Iron County Sr. 6-1 245
Guard — Elliott Johnson, Kingsford Sr. 6-0 200
Peter Noblet, Gladstone Sr. 6-0 225
Tackle — Jake Borree, Houghton Sr. 6-3 285
Dominique Ortega, Bark River-Harris Jr. 6-0 300
Quarterback — Jakob Davie, Sault Ste. Marie Jr. 5-8 165
Back — Kris Pearce, Sault Ste. Marie Sr. 6-0 200
Aidan Bellisle, Menominee Jr. 6-0 170
Brady Wright, Marquette Sr. 6-0 190
Receiver/End — Bryant Maki, Escanaba Sr. 6-3 185
Cam Ballard, Gladstone Sr. 6-0 180
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First Team Defense
Tackle — Lenny Bjorn, Calumet Sr. 6-0 220
Reid Hill, Gwinn Sr. 6-1 245
Cooper Conway, Menominee Jr. 6-4 255
End — Riley Lamb, Escanaba Sr. (unavailable)
Jon Carrion, Iron Mountain Sr. 6-0 175
Linebacker — Ryan Polley, Gladstone Sr. 5-8 150
Carter Kreski, Kingsford Sr. 5-10 200
Bryce Pietrantonio, Iron Mountain Sr. 6-2 205
Back — Tyler Lawson, Escanaba Sr. 5-8 155
Nathan Erva, Houghton Sr. 5-8 165
John Robinson, Sault Ste. Marie Jr. 5-10 170
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First Team Special Teams
Kicker — Cooper Conway, Menominee Jr. 6-4 255
Punter — Connor Johnson, Marquette Sr. 5-9 150
Returner — Kaeden Calcari, Menominee Jr. 5-10 170
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Source: Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association
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MARQUETTE — It seems like every year there are several high school football players from Marquette County who will earn spots on the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association All-U.P. Dream Team.
This season was no different as eight local athletes made the prestigious squad, Marquette leading the way with five.
On offense, quarterback Austin Ridl and receiver Kam Karp each made the team. Ridl completed 94 passes for 1,723 yards and 16 touchdowns, while also rushing for 239 yards and seven touchdowns, but got edged out by Karp for Offensive Player of the Year.
On the defensive side, tackle Tye Parker and backs Desmond Mullen and Ty Lotterman filled slots, with Mullen also making it as a return specialist.
“All well deserved,” Marquette head coach Eric Mason said. “There’s not much I can say on all of them that they haven’t said themselves with their play. They’re just great kids. Coaching is a breeze when you have kids like this. It makes it really easy.”
Negaunee had three players make the Dream Team, with guard Preston Toutant and running back Nash Hillier on offense and end Parker Cain making it on defense.
Toutant was the West PAC Co-Lineman of the Year and head coach Paul Jacobson said he’s a pure lineman.
“Preston has become a tremendous leader for us and he’s worked so hard to get where he’s at,” Jacobson said. “He’s probably the most complete lineman we’ve had in quite some time here at Negaunee. Preston is just a strong, smart, skilled person and that has enabled him to have success.”
When it comes to Hillier, Jacobson said he’s different from other talented Miners’ running backs in that he likes to plow over defenders instead of breaking free. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have speed, as he rushed for 976 yards on 119 carries and 12 touchdowns to get West PAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year.
“Nash is just a physical running back,” Jacobson said. “We’ve had some good running backs here, but Nash is probably one of the more physical backs we’ve had. Kind of a (throw)back to the old school-Jim Brown-break-through-the-line, look for the safety and run at him, instead of running to daylight. He’d rather run at someone than run away from them.”
Then there’s Cain, who like Toutant, helped anchor Negaunee’s defensive line, and according to Jacobson, brought a lot to the table with 85 tackles, 10 for a loss, and five quarterback sacks to make the All-West PAC First Team.
“Parker, on the defensive side of the ball, is a two-year starter for us,” Jacobson said. “Consistency, he plays physical, he plays tough, but he’s a real athletic person on the edge for us. He knows where to be, he’s smart, he puts his time in the film room and he’s athletic to get where he needs to be on every play.”
Finally, Westwood had one player get a Dream Team nod as Garrett Mann got in as a linebacker after earning West PAC Defensive Player of the Year. He gets lots of praise from Patriots head coach Scott Syrjala.
“Garrett is a program kid,” he said. “He’s a team player. He’s a three-year starter on our defense and was a focal point, obviously, of our offense and has been the focal point of our defense, not only this past season, but the season before that as a junior.
“He’s a great kid inside the classroom, outside the classroom, very humble.
“And the work that he has put in over these last several years, I wish for not only my seniors but all seniors (for) all that hard work that they put in, I wish it would’ve been a little bit more rewarded, but unfortunately due to COVID, the seasons were cut short. We weren’t able to play and we weren’t able to practice.
“It was kind of screwed up, but he was one of the kids who just tried to make the best of it and kind of rolled with the punches. Through the past season, I don’t know what the word is, through this past season, ‘chaotic’ I guess, he was the one that led our players and was a great team leader, and I’m really, really proud of coaching a kid like Garrett Mann. He’s a great human being.”
Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.