Negaunee tight end Eli Luokkala, front, holds the ball out over the goal line as he scores a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Will Luke while defended by Manistique’s Wyatt Gierke, partially hidden, during the second quarter of their game played at the Miners’ field on Sept. 18. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — Players from last season’s two most successful high school football teams from the area, Negaunee and Marquette, each had a player sign a National Letter of Intent to play the sport and attend Northern Michigan University.

The Wildcats announced the signings on Wednesday, during the usual February signing period. In all, 10 players from four states, three players on defense and seven on offense, signed with the NMU program and will join the team for next fall’s season.

The signees from the area are Eli Luokkala of Negaunee and Kam Karp of Marquette.

Karp, 6-foot and 175 pounds, made news on signing day as he plans to play both football and basketball at NMU.

Luokkala, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound tight end for the Miners, helped NHS advance to the MHSAA Division 6 regional championship game against Grayling after the Miners previously won road games at Gladstone, Westwood and Calumet to open the playoffs.

Luokkala was named West PAC First Team and All-Upper Peninsula Dream Team. He was also recognized by the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association and the Detroit Free Press as First Team all-state.

Luokkala also played basketball, baseball and track and field for the Miners as his parents are also former NMU students.

Here are brief sketches of the other NMU signees:

• Jack Borree, a 6-3, 290-pound offensive lineman, is the third Upper Peninsula native to sign with NMU as he played at Houghton. He was a team captain and earned West PAC First Team honors, All-U.P. First Team recognition and all-region awards while being an honor roll student.

He was named Houghton High School Student of the Month in December. Borree hails from a Wildcat family as both his parents attended Northern as his dad also played football.

• Rashad Harris, a 6-1, 250-pound defensive lineman, is from New Orleans, where he won three district championships with his high school team and was named First Team all-district last fall.

• Kade Manzo, a 5-11, 175-pound defensive back, is from Lake Orion. He helped his team to the Oakland Activities Association Red Division championship while twice being named all-state and all-league. He also competed in baseball, hockey, soccer and basketball and joins his brother, Kobe, who also plays for the Wildcats.

• Tim Shannon, a 6-3, 195-pound defensive back, is from Chicago. He played at St. Joseph High School, where he earned Chicago Catholic League all-conference and All-Class 2A defensive first team honors.

• Trevor Leigh, a 6-5, 290-pound offensive lineman, is from Milford and was a three-time All-Lakes Valley Conference honoree and twice named honorable mention in the Detroit News All-North awards. He earned scholar-athlete recognition the past three years and starred on his high school basketball team, being named MVP in 2018.

• Christopher Bornhoeft, a 6-3, 285-pound offensive lineman from Plainfield, Ill., attended Plainfield South High School, where he earned numerous all-conference and all-area honors while helping his team to the playoffs multiple times.

• Jack Chappelle, a 6-6, 310-pound offensive lineman is from Goodyear, Ariz. He had a stellar career at Shadow Ridge High School, where he was a captain and won all-state, all-region, all-district and All-West Valley honors. He was also an honor roll student all four years of high school.

• Caleb James, a 6-2, 190-pound wide receiver, played at Carrollton High School near Saginaw and was a First Team All-Tri-Valley League wide receiver and defensive back, as well as First Team all-region honoree. He was also a member of the Saginaw-area Dream Team at both of his positions, along with an honor roll student throughout high school.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.